I have attached a document about the Camp's history from a source other than the one the originator of the article used. But
this too is incomplete. There is a big "hole" in it and I was aboard the Camp for part of that period. I went aboard Camp in March of 1961 and served aboard her until late in
1962. I was amused that the DESA article* mentioned "Not since the ending of hostilities in WWII has the USS CAMP or any other DEs visited Portsmouth, England, or any other ports in
England or Ireland...". Camp was HOMEPORTED in Greenoch, Scotland from November of 1961 through February of 1962. We were making pickets on the so-called United Kingdom Barrier
which put us on station midway between Norway and Iceland. We were a part the Berlin Crisis and the crew received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for that service. During
that time, we were the first American ship to visit Copenhagen, Denmark since the end of WWII.
During 1962 Camp spent a lot of time off Cuba. When we weren't patrolling Windward Passage (entrance to Guatanamo Bay), we were
stationed on the Cay Sal Bank off the North Coast of Cuba where we could track air traffic in and out of Havana. We also rescued several boat loads of refugees which we took to
Miami Harbor and turned over to the Coast Guard. The crew received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for that service.
I made two cruises to Vietnam--one was aboard the USS Roark (DE-1053) in 1971. I saw the "Tran Hung Dao" in Pearl Harbor on the
way to Vietnam. It was like seeing an old friend--the Camp was still alive! I feared the worst when Vietnam collapsed but was happy to find out that she wasn't captured by the North
Vietnamese.
The taxpayers of the United States certainly got their money's worth from the Camp. I hope you will give the Camp her due by
continuing the article that appeared in the DESA news.
Sincerely,
Wayne F. Gibbs
wfgibbs@usintouch.com
From the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships," (1969) Vol. 2,
pp.21-22.
Information courtesy of HyperWar and Transcribed by Michael Hansen
CAMP DE-251
Born 27 August 1916 in Jennings, La., Jack Hill Camp enlisted in the Naval Reserve 20 January 1941 and was appointed a naval aviator 29 December 1941. Attached to
Patrol Squadron 44, Ensign Camp was killed in action 7 June 1942 during the Battle of Midway.
DE-251
Displacement: 1,200 t.
Length: 306'
Beam: 36'7"
Draft: 8'7"
Speed: 21 k.
Complement: 186
Armament: 3 3"; 3 21" torpedo tubes;
2 depth charge tracks;
8 depth charge projectors;
1 hedge hog
Class: EDSALL
CAMP (DE-251) was launched 16 April 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; sponsored by Mrs. O. H. Camp; commissioned 16 September 1943, Lieutenant Commander P. B. Mavor,
USCG, in command; and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.
After duty as school ship for precommissioning crews for other escort vessels, CAMP cleared Norfolk, Va., 14 December 1943, escorting a convoy bound for Casablanca with
men and supplies for the operations in Italy. CAMP returned to Norfolk 24 January 1944 to begin a year and a half of convoy escort operations from New York to ports of the United
Kingdom, guarding convoys whose ships brought troops and mountains of equipment and supplies for the buildup and support of the assault on the European continent. Fighting
the foul weather common in the North Atlantic, CAMP's alertness against submarine attack and diligence were rewarded by no losses in any of the convoys she accompanied.
A collision with a merchantman, in which one of CAMP's crew members was killed, required a repair period during which CAMP received a new bow and acquired 5" guns; otherwise her
escort duty was uninterrupted until 19 June 1945.
CAMP cleared Charleston, S.C., 9 July 1945 for the Pacific, and after serving as a training ship at Pearl Harbor, proceeded to Eniwetok for occupation duty. She supervised the
evacuation of the Japanese garrison from Mili, then took on air-sea rescue duties off Kwajalein until 4 November, when she sailed for home, arriving at New York 10 December. She was
decommissioned 1 May 1946.
Reclassified DER-251 on 7 December 1965, CAMP was recommissioned 31 July l956 for duty as radar picket ship in the early warning system. She reported to Newport, R.I., 19
February 1957 and operated from that port to Argentia, Newfoundland, and into the North Atlantic through 1960.
Update:
[In 1965, her large radar antennae was removed and CAMP was sent to Indo-China for coastal patrol and interdiction by the US Navy (Operation Market Time). She was transferred to
South Vietnam on 6 February 1971. Renamed frigate TRAN HUNG DAO (HQ-01), the ship was stricken from the US Navy Register on 30 December 1975. Following the surrender of the South
Vietnamese government on 29 April 1975, TRAN HUNG DAO escaped to the Philippines which acquired the ship later that year. Formally transferred on 5 April 1976, former TRAN HUNG DAO
was commissioned into the Philippine Navy as frigate RAJAH LAKANDULA (PS-4). Deleted in 1988, she was
retained and acted as a stationary headquarters ship as recently as 1995.]
"Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1947-1995," p.307, 638.
K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, "Register of Ships of the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990," p.225.
"Jane's Fighting Ships, 1975-76," p.619; "1976-77," p.367; "1977-78," p.373; "1989-90," p.434.]
CAMP (DE-251)
Named for Ensign Jack Hill Camp, b. 27 August 1916,
Jennings, LA; served with Patrol Squadron 44, YORKTOWN
(CV-5); KIA 7 June 1942, Battle of Midway (see WHITMAN,
DE-24)
Type:
FMR
Builder: BST
Keel laid 01/27/43
Launched 04/16/43
Commissioned 09/16/43
First CO: Lt Cdr P. B. Mavor, USCG
Decommissioned 05/01/46
Redesignated DER 12/07/55
Recommissioned 07/31/56-1971
To South Vietnam as TRAN HUNG DAO 06/02/71
Stricken (US) 12/30/75
To The Philippines 04/05/75
Renamed RAJAH LAKANDULA (PS-4)
(The most powerful warship in The Philippines)
Stricken (PN) 1988, still in use as stationary barracks ship
in Subic Bay as of 1999; scraped on unknown date.
Unit of CortDiv 20
Collided with merchant ship during a North Atlantic storm in
April 1945; one of crew killed; received new bow and
five-inch guns
Rescued several boat loads of refugees who were taken to
Miami Harbor and turned over to the Coast Guard in 1962
From
the research of Anne McCarthy,
with contributions by Pat Perrella and Pat Stephens,
webmaster. March 2008
Photo 1 | Photo 2 | Photo 3
| Ship History
