USS Edwin A. Howard

History
United States
Name	Edwin A. Howard
Namesake	Edwin Alfred Howard
Builder	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas
Laid down	15 November 1943
Launched	25 January 1944
Commissioned	25 May 1944
Decommissioned	25 September 1946
Stricken	1 December 1972
Identification	DE-346
Honours and; awards	1 battle star for World War II
Fate	Sold for scrapping 12 September 1973
General characteristics
Class and type	John C. Butler-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,350 long tons (1,372 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	36 ft 8 in (11.18 m)
Draft	9 ft 5 in (2.87 m)
Propulsion	2 boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp (8,900 kW); 2 propellers
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	14 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	2 × single 5 in (127 mm) guns; 2 × twin 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns ; 10 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) AA guns ; 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes ; 8 × depth charge throwers; 1 × Hedgehog ASW mortar; 2 × depth charge racks;

USS Edwin A. Howard (DE-346) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort acquired by the United States Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket. Post-war, she returned home with one battle star to her credit.

Namesake

Edwin Alfred Howard was born on 6 July 1922 in Phoenix, Arizona. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on 23 September 1941. On 3 November 1942 at Guadalcanal, Corporal Howard was in charge of a communication wire team trying to reestablish vital lines to the rear under enemy fire when he was killed trying to move a wounded comrade to safety. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.

Construction and commissioning

Edwin A. Howard (DE-346) was launched 25 January 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. Julia W. Howard, mother of Corporal Howard; and commissioned 25 May 1944.

Operational history

Pacific Theatre operations

After one convoy escort voyage to the Mediterranean in September and October 1944, Edwin A. Howard sailed from New York 10 November for the South Pacific. From Hollandia she shepherded a convoy to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, arriving 6 January 1945. Edward A. Howard reinforced Destroyer Squadron 49 on antisubmarine patrol in Leyte Gulf. She took a convoy through from the Palaus to San Pedro Bay, and continued escort service between New Guinea and Leyte.

Supporting Leyte landings

Edwin A. Howard arrived in Polloc Harbor 30 April 1945, and for the next month escorted convoys to supply troops ashore around Davao Gulf, on the second such voyage bombarding targets on Samal Island in the gulf, and other points on the shore. On 10 June she sailed from San Pedro Bay with a convoy of landing craft bound for Morotai, from which the destroyer escort returned to Tawi Tawi escorting an ammunition ship. She left Tawi Tawi 26 June to escort a squadron of motor torpedo boats and their tender to Balikpapan, arriving 27 June, four days before the invasion. Edwin A. Howard screened minesweepers operating off the coast, and covered the landings, then escorted reinforcements from Morotai to the beachheads before returning to Leyte on 26 July.

The escort vessel remained in the Far East on occupation duty, escorting convoys from Leyte to Ulithi, Okinawa, and Japan.