Vammen

Clarence Earl Vammen, Jr. - born in Aberdeen, Wash., on 17 October 

1919 - attended Pomona (Calif.) Junior College before he enlisted 

in the Naval Reserve on 17 February 1941 at Long Beach Calif. After 

his initial duty at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base, Long Beach, 

Seaman 2nd Class Vammen was transferred to the naval air station 

at Pensacola, Fla., on 27 March. On 3 April, he was discharged at 

his own request to accept an appointment as an aviation cadet.

Vammen reported to the Naval Air Station (NAS), Pensacola, on 

4 April for flight training. Detached on 19 August and transferred 

to (NAS), Miami, for further training, Vammen was appointed a naval 

aviator (heavier-than-air) on 23 September. Completing his 

instruction on 20 October, he accepted the rank of ensign that day.

Assigned to Advanced Carrier Training Group, Pacific Fleet, soon 

thereafter, Vammen continued his training until joining Torpedo 

Squadron (VT) 6, based on the carrier Enterprise (CV-6), on 28 April 

1942. He joined the ship within two weeks of the completion of the 

famous Halsey-Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, 18 April 1942, and just before 

his carrier and Hornet (CV-8) proceeded south toward the Coral Seato 

meet an expected Japanese thrust. Unfortunately, the two flattops 

were too late to assist the Lexington (CV-2) and Yorktown (CV-5) 

in the critical Battle of the Coral Sea which took place from 4 to 8 

May.

Although she missed the Coral Sea action, Enterprise - "The Big E" - 

did participate in the pivotal Battle of Midway one month later. 

Ensign Vammen, by that point assigned to Scouting Squadron (VS) 6, 

did not take part in the strikes of 4 June against the Japanese carrier 

fleet. He received his baptism of fire, however, soon enough.

On Friday evening, 5 June, Vammen - flying a Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless, 

with Aviation Machinists Mate 2nd Class M. W. Clark in the rear seat - 

took off with eight other planes of VS-6, as part of the strike launched 

to locate and sink what had been erroneously reported as two enemy carriers.

Subsequently, the SBD's from Enterprise and Hornet found and attacked 

what they reported to be a "Japanese CL" (light cruiser) - a ship that 

turned out to be the destroyer Tanikaze. The Dauntlesses that made the 

dusk attack failed to score any hits with their 500-pound bombs on the 

twisting, turning destroyer. Vammen, who had never received instruction 

in night carrier recoveries, made his first night landing - not on Enterprise, 

but on Hornet.

The next morning, on 6 June, Vammen joined Hornet's planes in attacking 

the fleeing Japanese heavy cruisers Mogami and Mikuma, a strike that 

inflicted such severe damage on the latter that she sank later that day.

Unfortunately, Vammen and his gunner failed to return from that mission. 

For his part in the Battle of Midway, however, Ensign Vammen - cited for 

"courage and unflinching devotion to duty" - was awarded the Distinguished 

Flying Cross, posthumously. 

(DE-644: dp 1,400; l. 306'0"; b. 37'0"; dr. 9'5" (mean); 

s. 23.5k; cpl 186;

a. 3 3", 4 1.1", 10 20mm., 3 21" tt., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (hh.); 

cl. Buckley)

Vammen (DE-644) was laid down on 1 August 1943 at San Francisco, 

Calif., by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched on 21 May 1944; sponsored 

by Mrs. Earle Morgan, aunt of the late Ens. Vammen; and commissioned on 

27 July 1944, Lt. Commdr. L. M. King, Jr., USNR, in command.

Following commissioning, Vammen fitted out through mid-August 1944 

and later conducted her shakedown out of San Diego, Calif., into late 

September before undergoing a post-shakedown availability at her builder's 

yard.

Underway for Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 13 October, the 

new destroyer escort convoyed SS Phillipa to the Hawaiian Islands 

before reporting for duty to Commander, Service Force, Pacific, on 

21 October.

For the remainder of October and all of November, the destroyer 

escort trained out of Pearl Harbor, operating in company with various 

submarines and aircraft carriers, perfecting the techniques of antisubmarine 

warfare and escort duty. She then escorted SS Cushman Davis via Funafuti in 

the Ellice Islands to Espiritu Santo, before she steamed independently to 

Pearl Harbor, arriving at the Pacific Fleet's main base three days after

Christmas 1944.

Vammen plane-guarded for Bataan (CVL-29) early in January 1945 before 

escorting the merchantman, SS Exira to Eniwetok in the Marshall from 9 

to 16 January. While returning to Pearl Harbor, Vammen responded to a 

radio request for assistance from LST-598 which had an ill crewman. 

The destroyer  escort rendezvoused with the landing ship at sea on 

20 January and took the sick man on board. The following day, off 

Johnston Island, Vammen transferred the man to the hospital boat, 

sent form that outpost, for medical treatment ashore. The destroyer 

escort arrived back a Pearl Harbor on the 23d.

At the end of the month, Vammen sailed for the Marshalls, escorting 

Convoy PD-278-T, consisting of the attack transports Montrose (APA-212) 

and Mountrail (APA-213). Departing Pearl Harbor on 30 January, PD-278-T 

arrived at Eniwetok on 7 February. Vammen then headed for Hawaii the next 

day and, on the 10th relieved Witter (DE-667) as escort for the escort 

carriers Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) and Salamaua (CVE-96) en route. The subsequently

reached Pearl Harbor on the 17th.

The destroyer escort conducted one more convoy escort run to the Marshalls 

before she participated in her fist major action. She shepherded PD-310-T -the 

attack transports Meriwether (APA-203), Menard (APA-201), and Allendale 

(APA-127) - from 22 February to 2 March, the day of their arrival at 

Eniwetok.

Three days later, she (as one of nine escorts) sortied with a 10 ship 

convoy bound of Ulithi and Kossol Roads. Detached on 9 March, she escorted 

the merchantman SS Westward Ho to Kossol Roads and two days later departed 

the Palaus and proceeded to the Philippines in company with the landing

ship Ozark (LSV-2) and Westward Ho, reaching Rizal, Leyte, on the 13th.

After patrolling the entrance to Leyte Gulf from 14 to 18 March, Vammen

underwent an availability at San Pedro Bay alongside the tender Markab

(AD-21). With those repairs completed within a week's time, the destroyer

escort sortied on 25 March, bound of Okinawa and her baptism of fire.

Steaming as part of the screen for Tractor Group "Easy," Vammen reached 

the Ryukyus on 1 April, the day of the initial landings on Okinawa. 

Detached from duty with Task Unit (TU) 51.14.2 - for which the ship's 

commanding officer had been screen commander - Vammen was assigned to 

the western half of the screening station A-39. Later that day, she 

received orders to screen LST Group "Dog" during its night retirement. 

While maneuvering at 15 knots through the congested transport area under 

poor visibility conditions, the destroyer escort struck a heavy floating 

object with her bow at 2100. A few seconds later, an explosion occurred 

beneath her stern, as though a depth charge had exploded under the ship.

After noticing marked vibrations, Vammen reduced speed to 10 knots. 

Repair parties reported no evident damage, but the vibrations indicated 

damage to shafts or propellers. As it turned out, the ship's starboard 

propeller had been damaged and required replacement. Nevertheless, she 

completed her assigned mission proceeding to rendezvous with the LST group 

on its night retirement. 

At 0645 the next day, she resumed her screening station, A-39, but 

because of her reduced speed capacity, was ordered to take station 

A-50. Fortunately for Vammen, she was never attacked by enemy aircraft. 

Vammen remained on station off Okinawa until 8 April. Due to the frequent

enemy air raids, her crew spent an average of 10 to 12 hours a day at their

general quarters stations, but, as Commdr. King noted in his report of the

ship's operations, "no undue fatigue of effect on moral or efficiency"

resulted. Offered no opportunity to fire at enemy aircraft during her time

off Okinawa, Vammen conducted two "hedgehog" attacks on suspected submarine

contacts, neither with observable results.

With the additional problem of a burnt-out drive motor in her 

surface-search (SL) radar, Vammen departed Okinawa on 8 April, screening

LST Group 17 to Leyte. Arriving at San Pedro Bay on the 14th, she underwent

repairs alongside Markab before she was drydocked in ARD-16 to have the

damaged starboard propeller replaced. Undocking on the 17th, Vammen

returned to Okinawa at the end of April, screening LST Group 41.

Detached from that escort duty on 2 May, Vammen received orders to head for

the scene of a submarine sighting at 1514 on the 5th. She arrived on the

scene at 1723 and commenced a search plan in company with Halloran

(DE-305), but found nothing. The ships abandoned the search at 1100 the

following day, and Vammen soon resumed her screening role off Okinawa.

The destroyer escort remained off Okinawa, screening incoming ships and off

transport areas, for the rest of May. On 28 May, while anchored at the

northern end of the transport area in Hagushi Bay, Vammen picked up TBS

reports of incoming aircraft - "bogies" - commencing beyond 50 miles. A

short while later, the destroyer escort's radar picked up one enemy plane,

a "Tony," first at 10 miles and then at one mile away as it circled across

the ship's bow.

The "Tony" suddenly emerged from the low clouds on the escort's starboard

quarter, and all of Vammen's 20-millimeter Oerlikons that could bear opened

up, joining the other ships nearby in putting up a fierce barrage of fire.

The "Tony" strafed a tug nearby but - hit in the tail and right wing -

burst into flame, lost altitude and crashed into the water without

exploding, clear of any ships.

Underway on 3 June, Vammen - awarded an "assist" in the downing of the

plane on 28 May - escorted an Okinawa-to-Leyte convoy between 3 and 8 June,

sinking a Japanese mine with gunfire en route. After repairs alongside

Markab and a docking in ARD-18 for repairs to her sound gear - which had be

inoperable since 22 May - the destroyer escort sailed for Lingayen in

company with sistership Cole (DE-641), on her way back to Okinawa.

For the remainder of June, Vammen preformed the unglamorous but vital duty

of screening transports and of providing local escort services to incoming

convoys. She ultimately departed the Ryukyus in early July and steamed to

Ulithi before returning once more to Okinawa on the 15th, commencing patrol

at station D-1, off Buckner Bay, on the 22d.

Subsequently returning to Ulithi in early August, the destroyer escort

returned to Okinawa on the 12th and, after fueling, got underway on the

13th, as part of the screen for the Okinawa-to-Ulithi convoy. It was while

underway with that convoy two days later that the ship received the welcome

news of Japan's capitulation. Vammen's commanding officer recorded the

event: "1745, On basis of communique No. 467, all offensive action against

Japanese ceased."

Vammen reached Ulithi on the 18th and, after escorting Convoy UOK (Ulithi

to Okinawa) 52 to Okinawa from 27 to 31 August, returned to Ulithi at the

beginning of September. Subsequently visiting Guam and Saipan, Vammen

reached Pearl Harbor on 9 November on her way back to the west coast of the

United States.

The ship underwent a lengthy availability at the Puget Sound Naval

Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., that lasted into 1946. She shifted southward to

San Diego and departed that port on 20 February, bound for the Hawaiian

Islands, reaching Pearl Harbor on 27 February. She sailed from Oahu on 4

March and proceeded via Guam to China.

Vammen supported the American occupation forces in their operations from he

spring of 1946 into the autumn, touching at ports such as Tsingtao and

Shanghai, China; and Kowloon. Departing Shanghai on 1 July 1946, the

destroyer escort reached Pearl Harbor on 16 July via Guam and Eniwetok. She

then set out for the west coast, reaching San Diego on 28 July.

The destroyer escort next underwent an availability at Terminal Island,

Calif., and San Pedro in early September and shifted to San Diego in

mid-month. Vammen was subsequently decommissioned at San Diego on 3

February 1947 and placed in reserve. She was inactivated on 2 April 1947.

The Korean War meant a new lease on life for Vammen; she was reactivated

and heavily modified to enable her to perform a specialized antisubmarine

warfare (ASW) role. With a redesigned bridge, trainable forward-firing ASW

projectors ("hedgehogs") and improved sonar capabilities, Vammen thus

became one of the most modern ASW vessels in the Fleet.

Recommissioned at Mare Island, Calif., on 15 February 1952, Vammen operated

off the west coast, out of San Diego and in the southern California area,

into the summer of the following year, training. On 19 July 1953, she left

San Diego behind, bound for her first deployment to the Western Pacific

(WestPac) since her recommissioning.

After proceeding via Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Yokosuka, Vammen arrived at

Sasebo, Japan, on 23 August but go underway the next morning for the key

port of Wonsan on the eastern coast of North Korea. She operated off

Wonsan, preforming patrol and gunfire support duties, from 25 August to 17

September before she returned to Sasebo.

Vammen returned to Wonsan at the end of October and, after performing a

second tour of gunfire support and patrol there, returned to the west coast

of the United States. Departing Wonsan on 11 November, the destroyer escort

reached San Diego on 2 December via the Shimonoseki Straits, Yokosuka,

Midway, and Pearl Harbor.

Over the next six years, Vammen alternated in training operations off the

coast of California - operating primarily out of San Diego - and conducting

regular WestPac deployments.

The latter provided her with excellent training opportunities. In 1955 and

again in 1958, she made cruises through the Western and Central Carolines,

the Bonins, the northern Marianas, and the Volcano Islands, parts of the

Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands administered by the Navy. She kept

a figurative "eye" on local conditions on the various atolls and islands,

keeping a lookout for illegal activities in trading and shipping. Her

surveillance missions varied in format. On some occasions, she would send a

landing party ashore via motor whaleboat or outboard motor-powered rubber

raft; and, on other occasions, Vammen would remain offshore while her men

scanned the island with binoculars. During the former, a pharmacist's mate

(the ship's doctor) would accompany the landing party to provide medical

care and advice for the sick.

On another occasion while en route to WestPac in company with LeRay Wilson

(DE-414), Vammen visited Port Lyttleton, New Zealand, the seaport for

Christchurch. From 3 to 8 February 1958, the two destroyer escorts remained

there, while Vammen transferred 51 sacks of mail destined for Operation

"Deepfreeze" personnel in Antarctica.

In April 1960 Vammen was selected as a Group I Naval Reserve Training (NRT)

ship; on 21 May, she was redesignated a Group II NRT ship. On 18 June 1960,

the destroyer escort was decommissioned and placed "in service."

After becoming an NRT ship, Vammen soon began to provide training for

reserve surface divisions of the 11th Naval District. Those men came on

board for both dockside and underway training. On the third weekend of each

month and for two weeks each summer, Vammen embarked her selected reserve

crew. She then conducted ASW, gunnery, and other shipboard training drills

off the coast of California between Long Beach and San Diego. In August

1960, Vammen conducted her first annual two-week training cruise with her

selected reserve crew embarked. For her performance during those

evolutions, the destroyer escort received the highest grade assigned to an

NRT ship of her type.

She subsequently conducted her second two-week cruise the following summer,

1961, ready for instant mobilization that came sooner than anyone in her

crew probably realized. That autumn, the Cold War tensions that escalated

over Berlin and in the Far East resulted in the reactivation of 40 NRT

ships for active duty. Accordingly, on 2 October 1961, Vammen was

recommissioned at Long Beach, Commdr. Charlie S. Nelson, USNR, in command.

Following her recommissioning, Vammen underwent her regularly scheduled

overhaul at Todd Shipyard. Transferred to Pearl Harbor as her new home on

15 December 1961, Vammen sailed for another WestPac deployment on 6 January

1962. She deployed with the hunter-killer group and arrived at Pearl on the

12th. She began refresher training soon thereafter.

Assigned to Escort Division (CortDiv) 72, Vammen sailed for the Philippines

on 24 February. After logistics stops at Midway and Guam for fuel and minor

voyage repairs, the destroyer escort reached Subic Bay on 11 March. After a

brief period of upkeep, Vammen visited Manila in company with Marsh

(DE-699) and Charles E. Brannon (DE-446) from 16 to 18 March. On the 19th,

the three ships got underway for the Gulf of Siam.

Arriving of the southern tip of South Vietnam on 21 March, Vammen and

Charles E. Brannon relieved Wiseman (DE-667) and Edmonds (DE-406) on the

following day and assumed the duties of training units of the small South

Vietnamese Navy in that area. From that day until 9 April, Vammen remained

on station in the Gulf of Siam, off the coast of South Vietnam, maintaining

American presence in that area. Heavy pressure form communist Viet Cong

forces inside South Vietnam had brought about a commitment of force there

as the United States sought to bolster the American-backed regime. After

visiting Subic Bay for a week of upkeep and conducing a port visit to Hong

Kong, Vammen returned to her station in the Gulf of Siam. Originally, the

ship's schedule had called for the ship to visit Japan and return to Pearl

Harbor after visiting Hong Kong, but - as Vammen's commanding officer

reported "... the efforts of Vammen and the other ex-NRT ships on the

South Vietnam training mission were apparently of such value that it was

decided to retain Escort Division 72 on the mission through mid-May."

There where further changes of plan afoot for Vammen, as was evidenced

during the second deployment in the Gulf of Siam. On 13 May, Vammen and

Charles E. Brannon were diverted form their training duties under Task

Force 72 and were ordered to report for duty to commander, TG 76.5.

Complying, the two destroyer escorts subsequently screened Valley Forge

(LPH-8), Navarro (APA-215), and Point Definance (LSD-31) while that group

took a Marine Corps expeditionary force to Bangkok, Thailand. The 3d

Battalion, 9th Marines, embarked in the amphibious group were sent to

Thailand in an effort to provide the friendly regime with troops to deter

any communist moves across the Mekong River. Following that operation,

Vammen and her sistership escorted TG 76.5 back to Subic Bay, arriving

there on the 23d.

Vammen subsequently visited Yokosuka, Japan, and participated in Exercise

"Powerdrive" - with 7th Fleet units in the Japan area - before she returned

via Midway Island to her home port Pearl Harbor, on 18 June. At Pearl from

18 June to 11 July, Vammen enjoyed the longest consecutive in-port period

since February of that year, undergoing much-needed repairs and

maintenance. On 11 July, Vammen, in company with Colahan (DD-658), Marsh,

and Wiseman, sailed for the west coast of the United States.

After her arrival at Long Beach on 17 July, Vammen was decommissioned on 1

August, resuming her role as an NRT ship. For the next seven years, Vammen,

continued her duties as an 11th Naval District NRT ship, based at Long

Beach, and operating primarily in the Long Beach-Los Angeles-San Pedro

area. During that time, she ranged as far north as British Columbia and as

far south as Ensenada, Mexico. Age ultimately caught up with the veteran

destroyer escort; and, in the summer of 1969, she was adjudged unfit for

further service.

Placed out of service on 12 July 1969, Vammen's NRT crew was transferred to

Maddox (DD-731); and the ship herself was turned over to the Naval Inactive

Ship Maintenance Facility, San Diego. Struck from the Navy list on 12 July

1969, Vammen's stripped hulk was utilized in a "Condor" missile test on 4

February 1971 and, as a result of damage suffered on that date, sank on 18

February.

Vammen (DE-644) earned on battle star for her World War II service and one

engagement star for her Korean War service.

Taken from Dictionary of American naval fighting ships Page 445-448

Dictionary of American naval fighting ships.  Washington : Navy Dept., Office

of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division : For sale by the

Supt. of Docs., U.S., 1959-1981.  8 v. : ill. ; 27 cm.

LC CALL NUMBER: VA61 .A53

SUBJECTS:

   United States. Navy--Lists of vessels.

OTHER NAMES:

   Mooney, James L.

   United States. Naval History Division.

   Naval Historical Center (U.S.)

OTHER TITLES:

   American naval fighting ships.

NOTES:

   "An alphabetical arrangement of the ships of the Continental and United

   States Navies, with a historical sketch of each one"--Pref., v. 1.

   Vols. 7-8: James L. Mooney, editor, in association with Richard T. Speer.

   Vols. 7-8 issued by: Naval Historical Center, Dept. of the Navy.

   Includes corrected reprint (1969) of vol. 2.

   Includes bibliographies.

GEOG. AREA CODE:  n-us---

DEWEY DEC.:  359.3/2/50973 19

CATALOGING SOURCE:  DLC DLC DLC

LCCN:  60-60198 r82

Neils Wammen

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