USS Fechteler (DE-157)

History
United States
Name	USS Fechteler
Namesake	Rear Admiral Augustus Fechteler
Ordered	1942
Builder	Norfolk Navy Yard
Laid down	7 February 1943
Launched	22 April 1943
Commissioned	1 July 1943
Decommissioned	5 May 1944
Honors and awards	1 battle star (World War II)
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by U-967 in the Western Mediterranean, 5 May 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Buckley-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,422 t) light 1,673 long tons (1,700 t) standard
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draft	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion	2 × boilers General Electric turbo-electric drive 12,000 shp (8.9 MW) 2 × solid manganese-bronze 3,600 lb (1,600 kg) 3-bladed propellers, 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) diameter, 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) pitch 2 × rudders 359 tons fuel oil
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Complement	15 officers, 198 men
Armament	3 × 3"/50 caliber guns 1 × quad 1.1"/75 caliber gun 8 × single 20 mm guns 1 × triple 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 8 × K-gun depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Fechteler (DE-157) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1944. She was sunk by the German submarine U-967 in the Western Mediterranean on 5 May 1944.

The destroyer escort was named in honor of Augustus Fechteler, a rear admiral who served in the United States Navy during World War I. Fechteler was launched on 22 April 1943 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard; sponsored by Miss Joan S. Fechteler, granddaughter of Rear Admiral Fechteler and commissioned 1 July 1943.

Between 8 September 1943 and 31 December, Fechteler made two voyages on the key convoy route New York – Netherlands West Indies – North Africa, escorting vulnerable tankers carrying fuel and other oil products essential to modern warfare. After overhaul at New York City, she took part in experimental antisubmarine exercises in Narragansett Bay, from which she sailed on 28 February 1944 for the Azores and Derry, Northern Ireland. Arriving on 6 March 1944, she joined the escort of a New York-bound convoy, reaching the United States on 22 March.

On 1 April 1944, Fechteler sailed from New York for Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she joined a convoy for Bizerte, arriving on 22 April after coming under heavy enemy air attack two days before. Homeward-bound, Fechteler was torpedoed by U-967 commanded by Albrecht Brandi on 5 May in the Western Mediterranean. As the ship began to break in two and sink, it was abandoned. Twenty-nine of the crew were killed and 26 wounded. USS Laning and other ships of the convoy rescued 186 survivors.

Fechteler received one battle star for World War II service.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Fechteler (DE-157).

• Photo gallery of USS Fechteler (DE-157) at NavSource Naval History
• Norfolk Naval Shipyard – Fechteler

36°7′N 2°40′W / 36.117°N 2.667°W / 36.117; -2.667