From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” 
(1968) Vol. 3, pp.272-273.


HAVERFIELD

DE-393
Displacement:  1,200 t.
Length:  306’
Beam:  36’7”
Draft:  8’7”
Speed:  21 k.
Complement:  186
Armament:  3 3”; 2 40mm; 8 20mm; 3 21” torpedo tubes;
	2 depth charge tracks;
	8 hedge charge projectors;
	1 hedge hog
Class:  EDSALL

	HAVERFIELD (DE-393) was launched 30 August 1943 by 
Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston; sponsored by Mrs. Tracy 
Haverfield, mother of Ensign Haverfield; and commissioned 29 
November, Lt. Comdr. Jerry A. Matthews in command.

	After shakedown in the Caribbean, HAVERFIELD joined 
escort carrier BOGUE’s (CVE-9) hunter-killer group in 
patrolling Atlantic convoy lanes in search of marauding 
German U-boats.  Departing Norfolk 26 February 1944, the 
hunter-killer group, aided by a Canadian corvette and 
British aircraft, sank U-575 on the 23rd of March.  With 
some seven survivors of the Nazi submarine aboard, 
HAVERFIELD continued her patrol to Casablanca, where she 
reported to Commander, Moroccan Sea Frontier, and turned 
over the German prisoners 18 March.  After returning to 
Norfolk, HAVERFIELD sailed on her second offensive combat 
cruise with the BOGUE group 5 May.  Operating with another 
HUK group under escort carrier BLOCK ISLAND (CVE-21), the 
BOGUE force sank RO-501, ex-U-1224, at 18d 08m N., 33d 13m 
W., 13 May as the former German ship was heading for her new 
home in Japan.

	Reaching Casablanca 29 May, HAVERFIELD was ordered out 
that same night to render emergency assistance to survivors 
of escort carrier BLOCK ISLAND, sunk by a German torpedo off 
the Canary Islands.  HAVERFIELD rescued one of six BLOCK 
ISLAND fighter pilots who had been aloft when the carrier 
sank, but a long search failed to locate the remaining five 
men.  After this, HAVERFIELD continued to operate until the 
European War ended in May 1945 on trans-Atlantic HUK 
missions as well as on patrol along the icy Great Barrier.  
When all German U-boats still at sea had been accounted for, 
the destroyer-escort underwent a Boston overhaul; and, after 
intensive training in Cuban waters, sailed for the Pacific 
19 July to be ready for the invasion of Japan.  Reaching 
Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Diego 1 August, 
HAVERFIELD was there when the war ended in mid-August and at 
the end of the month assumed convoy escort duty from Saipan 
to Okinawa.  She patrolled the China coast and then streamed 
her homeward-bound pennant, reaching Boston 15 February 
1946.  HAVERFIELD sailed to Green Cove Springs, Fla., 25 
March 1946, decommissioned and went into reserve 30 June 
1947.

	Reclassified DER-393 in September 1954, HAVERFIELD was 
converted to a radar picket ship at the Philadelphia Navy 
Yard and recommissioned there 4 January 1955.  Fitted with 
the latest electronic detection equipment and with 50 tons 
of ballast in her keel to compensate for the topside weight 
of the new radar antennae, HAVERFIELD trained off the East 
Coast and then reported to her new home port, Seattle, via 
the Panama Canal and San Diego 23 July.  HAVERFIELD served 
as flagship of the newly created CortRon 5 in addition to 
regular radar picket patrol off the Pacific coast.  After 5 
years of this duty, she reported to Pearl Harbor 10 April 
1959 for similar employment along the Pacific Barrier. 
Departing Pearl Harbor 16 May 1960, HAVERFIELD sailed to a 
new homeport, Guam, to make surveillance of the Trust 
Territory Islands and to ensure the safety and welfare of 
the islanders.

	After participating in Operation Cosmos, which provided 
navigational aids for and was prepared to render emergency 
assistance to President Dwight Eisenhower's plane as the 
Chief Executive crossed the Pacific on a good will tour, 
HAVERFIELD operated with the famed bathyscaph Trieste as it 
descended the Marianas Trench to a near-record dive of 
19,300 feet 30 June 1960.

	Following her support of this scientific endeavor, 
HAVERFIELD conducted antisubmarine and search and rescue 
patrols among the Bonins, the Marianas, and the Caroline 
Islands.  For almost 5 years, she served primarily in the 
Trust Territory of the Pacific, though twice she deployed to 
the Far East.  Steaming to Japan in October 1960, she became 
the first radar picket escort ship to operate with the 7th 
Fleet in the Western Pacific.  In mid-October 1961, she 
returned to the Far East; and, upon relieving destroyer JOHN 
R. CRAIG (DD-885) on patrol in the Formosa Strait, she 
became the first of her type to join in this important 
peace-keeping operation.  She continued intermittent patrols 
off Taiwan until 10 January 1962 when she steamed via Japan 
to resume patrol duty out of Guam.  In November, Typhoon 
Karen left widespread destruction on Guam, and HAVERFIELD, 
the first ship to return to the storm-wracked Apra harbor, 
provided valuable supplies and services.

	HAVERFIELD returned to Pearl Harbor March 1965 and, 
after joining Escort Squadron 5, sailed 19 June for duty off 
South Vietnam.  There, she participated in "Market Time" 
patrols to guard against infiltration of North Vietnamese 
troops and supplies by sea.  She served "Market Time" for 7 
months, then returned Pearl Harbor 2 February 1966.  
Departing for the Far East 23 May, she resumed "Market Time" 
operations 9 June.  Eleven days later, she participated in 
the most significant action of the operation up to that 
time.

	A 100 foot, steel-hulled North Vietnamese trawler, 
attempting to infiltrate "Market Time" patrols with a large 
cargo of arms and ammunition for the Viet Cong, was detected 
by U.S. Coast Guard patrol craft POINT LEAGUE (WPB-82304) 
near the mouth of the Co Chien River in the Mekong Delta.  A 
chase and fire fight followed, during which the patrol craft 
forced the enemy trawler aground.  The enemy abandoned the 
burning ship; after wiping out enemy shore resistance, 
"Market Time" units, including HAVERFIELD, sent volunteers 
on board to fight fires and salvage the captured cargo.  
While American and South Vietnamese teams extinguished the 
fires, other volunteers offloaded almost 80 tons of 
ammunition and arms, including mortars, recoilless rifles, 
machine-guns, and antitank weapons.  This represented the 
largest seizure of the "Market Time" operation and thwarted 
a determined attempt by the North Vietnamese to supply Viet 
Cong.

	HAVERFIELD continued "Market Time" patrols during the 
next 5 months.  In addition, she provided gunfire support 6 
September against the enemy on Phu Quoc Island, South 
Vietnam.  She returned to Pearl Harbor 6 December, remained 
there until late April 1967, and then resumed patrol duty 
off South Vietnam.

	For her participation in World War II, HAVERFIELD was 
awarded one battle star as well as the Presidential Unit 
Citation for her antisubmarine work in the Atlantic.

	[Stricken from the Navy Register on 2 June 1969, 
HAVERFIELD was sold on 15 December 1971.

K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, “Register of Ships of 
the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.226.
“Jane’s Fighting Ships, 1966-67,” p.427.]


Transcribed by Michael Hansen
mhansen2@attbi.com