Figure
1: USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) is christened by Mrs. Grace
Joyce Bermingham, widow of Lieutenant Commander John M. Birmingham, at the
Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 17 November 1943. Rear Admiral
Robert A. Theobald is at left. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships
Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: Launching of USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 17 November 1943. In the right center distance is the hull of USS Mason (DE-529), which had been launched earlier that day. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) off Boston, Massachusetts, 15 August 1944. Her camouflage scheme is Measure 31 Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS John
M. Bermingham
(DE-530) off Boston, Massachusetts, 15 August 1944. Her camouflage scheme is
Measure 31 Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the
US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) off Boston, Massachusetts, 15 August 1944. Her camouflage scheme is Measure 31 Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) off Boston, Massachusetts, 15 August 1944. Her camouflage scheme is Measure 31 Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: USS John
M. Bermingham
(DE-530) off Boston, Massachusetts, 15 August 1944. Her camouflage scheme is
Measure 31 Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the
US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) off Boston, Massachusetts, 15 August 1944. Her camouflage scheme is Measure 31 Design 1d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after Lieutenant Commander John M. Bermingham (1905-1942), a
decorated naval hero who was killed while in command of the destroyer USS Peary,
the 1,140-ton USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) was an Evarts class
destroyer escort that was built by the Boston Navy Yard at Charlestown,
Massachusetts, and commissioned on 8 April 1944. The ship was approximately 289
feet long and 35 feet wide, had a top speed of 21 knots, and had a crew of 198
officers and men. John M. Bermingham was armed with three 3-inch guns,
four 1.1-inch guns, nine 20-mm guns, and depth charges.
After completing her shakedown cruise off Bermuda, John M.
Bermingham left Boston, Massachusetts, on 14 June 1944 to escort a convoy
to the English Channel (in support of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France).
She then continued her journey to Belfast, Northern Ireland, arriving there on
23 July. The ship returned to Boston on 2 August 1944. After undergoing some
additional training off the coast of Maine, John M. Bermingham reached
New York City on 28 August to join an unusual convoy.
John M.
Bermingham left New York City on 19 September 1944 with several other escort
vessels to convoy a large group of US Army tugs and barges for use in the vital
captured ports of northern France. During the terrible crossing that followed,
rough weather claimed several tugs and many of the badly needed harbor barges.
Only through the heroic efforts on the part of the escorting warships was the
balance of the convoy able to make it to Plymouth, England, on 20 October.
After roughly a week of searching for straggling barges, John M. Bermingham
joined another convoy and returned to New York City, arriving there on 21
November.
After some additional training, John M. Bermingham was assigned
to regular convoy runs between American ports and Oran, Algeria, in support of
the huge land offensive that was underway in Europe. The ship made three
voyages to Oran in the months that followed, arriving at New York City on 29
May 1945. Evidently, the ship’s career ended as soon as the war in Europe was
over. John M. Bermingham arrived at Miami, Florida, on 20 July 1945 for
duty as a training ship at the Naval Training Center there. The ship steamed
back north after the end of the war in the Pacific and arrived at Boston on 9
September. USS John M. Bermingham was decommissioned on 12 October 1945 and
scrapped in March 1946. American shipbuilding productivity was so enormous
during the war, and so many escorts were built, that the US Navy didn’t need John
M. Bermingham anymore, even though it was less than two years old.
