View source for USS McConnell

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{refimprove|date=November 2007}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[Image:USS McConnell (DE 163).jpg|300px]]
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= 
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=USS ''McConnell''
|Ship namesake=[[Riley Franklin McConnell]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Newark, New Jersey]]
|Ship laid down= 19 October 1942
|Ship launched= 28 March 1943
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 28 May 1943
|Ship decommissioned= 29 June 1946
|Ship in service=
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|Ship struck=1 October 1972
|Ship renamed=
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|Ship honors=3 [[battle star]]s (World War II)
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping 21 March 1974
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|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Cannon|destroyer escort}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1240|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} standard
*{{convert|1620|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length=*{{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
*{{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length at the waterline|w/l]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|36|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|11|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=4 × GM Mod. 16-278A [[diesel engine]]s with electric drive, {{convert|6000|shp|0|abbr=on}}, 2 [[Propeller#Marine|screws]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|21|kn|lk=in}} 
|Ship range= {{convert|10800|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=15 officers and 201 enlisted
|Ship armament=*3 single × Mk.22 [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm Mk.4 AA guns]]
*3 × {{convert|21|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s
*1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] Mk.10 [[anti-submarine mortar]] (144 rounds)
*8 × Mk.6 [[depth charge]] projectors
*2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks
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'''USS ''McConnell'' (DE-163)''' was a {{sclass|Cannon|destroyer escort}} built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]].  She served in the [[Pacific Ocean]] and provided escort service against [[submarine]] and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.  At war's end, she returned Stateside proudly with three [[battle star]]s.

She was laid down by [[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Newark, New Jersey]], on 19 October 1942; launched on 28 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Grace Otteson McConnell; and commissioned at [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]] on 28 May 1943, Comdr. D. D. Humphreys in command.

== World War II Pacific Theatre operations==
After [[sea trial|shakedown]] off [[Bermuda]] and training out of [[Norfolk, Virginia]], ''McConnell'' sailed for the [[U.S. West Coast|west coast]] 24 August, transited the [[Panama Canal]] the 31st, and reached [[San Francisco]], [[California]], on 10 September. Departing ten days later, she escorted ships to [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Samoa]], [[New Caledonia]], and the [[New Hebrides]] and on 29 October arrived off [[Guadalcanal]], [[Solomon Islands|Solomons]], for patrol and escort duty.

Assigned to [[CortDiv|Escort Division]] 11, ''McConnell'' carried out extensive escort and [[anti-submarine warfare|ASW]] patrol operations in the South Pacific during the next seven months. Operating primarily out of New Caledonia and the New Hebrides, she escorted ships to American bases throughout the Solomons from [[Tulagi]] to [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]], as well as to the [[Fiji]]s and Samoa. She departed the Solomons on 12 June 1944 in the screen of a [[convoy]] bound for the [[Marshall Islands|Marshalls]] and reached [[Eniwetok]] on 18 June.

== Supporting the recapture of Guam == 
''McConnell'' patrolled between Eniwetok and [[Kwajalein]] until on 23 July when she sailed to escort ships carrying men and supplies for the recapture of [[Guam]]. She closed the western coast of Guam on 28 July, protected off-loading ships from enemy [[submarines]], thence returned to Eniwetok in convoy on 29 July to 2 August. Departing the Marshalls on 20 August, she arrived [[Manus Island|Manus]], [[Admiralty Islands|Admiralties]], the 26th; and, on 1 September, sailed with ships of the Logistics Support Group (TG 30.8). During much of the month she escorted [[Oiler (ship)|oilers]] and supply ships as they replenished ships of the Fast Carrier Task Force, then carrying out devastating air strikes in the [[Palau]]s and the [[Philippines]]. In October she screened logistics ships as they provided at sea support for the hard hitting carriers pounding enemy positions from [[Taiwan|Formosa]] to [[Mindanao]].
 
''McConnell'' departed Eniwetok on 5 November, touched at Pearl Harbor the 12th, and reached San Francisco on 22 November. Following overhaul at [[Mare Island, California]], on 16 January she departed for [[Hawaii]] to perform, patrol and escort duties until sailing for the Marshalls on 11 March. Between 24 March and 4 May she made three round trips to the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]] and back while escorting convoys to Guam and [[Saipan]].

== "Mopping Up" operations == 
''McConnell'' steamed to [[Majuro]] on 6 May and during the closing months of World War II patrolled off the bypassed islands in the Marshalls. She conducted periodic shore bombardments, and she provided air-sea rescue service during air strikes against enemy-controlled islands. She rescued eight Marshallese natives off [[Jaluit]] on 13 May. On the 14th, and again on the 21st, she captured two surrendering Japanese soldiers from Enejet and the island of Bokku. Following the Japanese capitulation on 15 August, she carried American occupation troops to [[Mili Atoll|Mille Atoll]] on 28 August; at Jaluit, Japanese came aboard to surrender their forces on the island on 5 September.

== Post-War decommissioning == 
''McConnell'' departed the Marshalls on 16 September and steamed via the west coast to [[New York City]], arriving on 20 October. She sailed to [[Green Cove Springs]], [[Florida]], 13 to 16 November, decommissioned there on 29 June 1946, and entered the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]]. She remained with the Atlantic Inactive Fleet at Norfolk, Virginia until she was sold for scrapping on 21 March 1974.

== Awards ==
''McConnell'' received three [[battle star]]s for World War II service.

==See also==
* [[List of United States Navy ships]]
* "Victory at Sea" documentary film featured DE 163 being christened and launched in the episode titled "Killers and the Kill".

== References ==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m7/mcconnell.htm}}

==External links==
* {{navsource|06/163|USS McConnell (DE-163)}}

{{Cannon class destroyer escort}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell (DE-163)}}
[[Category:Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]