>From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” 

(1968) Vol. 3, p.545.





JOHN R. PERRY





	John R. Perry was born 24 May 1899 in Waco, Texas.  He 

enlisted in the Navy for service in World War I, then 

entered the Naval Academy and was commissioned Ensign, 

8 June 1923.  After serving in destroyer MARCUS (DD-321), he 

earned a master’s degree in civil engineering at Rensselaer 

Polytechnic Institute.  He then served in the Bureau of 

Yards and Docks; in Cuba, the Great Lakes region, Florida, 

and the Philippines.  He returned to the Bureau of Yards and 

Docks in 1938 and in 1941 became Director of Administration 

and Personnel.  In this post he performed with such 

proficiency that he was awarded the Legion of Merit for 

remarkable initiative and excellent judgment in recruiting, 

organizing, training, equipping and distributing to outlying 

bases, the Navy’s construction battalions.  In the course of 

one year, he made available for service in the field some 

70,000 men who formed a vital component part of our military 

organization in World War II.



	In 1944, Perry became Officer in Charge of the 2d Naval 

Construction Brigade with additional duty on the staff of 

Commander, Service Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.  The following 

year, he additionally became Commander, Construction Troops 

of the 7th Fleet.  He was awarded a second Legion of Merit 

for the development of the Leyte-Samar area into a large 

naval base and assisting in the planning and construction of 

an air station, air strips, a fleet hospital, the Navy 

Receiving Station at Tubabao, a Navy Supply Depot, and 

ammunition depot and a ship repair base at Manicani.  

Through his engineering ingenuity, he greatly improved 

transportation facilities, sanitary installations and water 

supply lines, lines of communication, housing 

accommodations, storehouses and dumps, docking facilities 

and dredging operations.



	At the close of World War II, Perry became Public Works 

Officer at the Naval Academy until 1948.  He then was 

designated Assistant Chief for Operations in the Bureau of 

Yards and Docks.  In July 1951, he assumed command of the 

Naval Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme, Calif.  

>From June to October 1953, he served as Director of the 

Pacific and Alaskan Division, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 

with headquarters at San Francisco.  He then became Chief of 

Civil Engineers of the Navy and Chief of the Bureau of Yards 

and Docks, Navy Department, serving until he died of a heart 

attack 25 September 1955.  Rear Admiral John R. Perry is 

buried in the Naval Academy Cemetery, Annapolis, Md.





DE-1034

Displacement:  1,750 tons 

Length:  310’

Beam:  37’

Draft:  18’

Speed:  classified

Complement:  167

Armament:  2 3”; 6 21” torpedo tubes;

	1 depth charge track

Class:  CLAUD JONES



	JOHN R. PERRY (DE-1034) was laid down 4 January 1956 by 

Avondale Marine Ways, Avondale, La.; launched 29 July 1958; 

sponsored by Mrs. John R. Perry, widow of Rear Admiral 

Perry; and commissioned 5 May 1959, Lt. Comdr. W. L. 

Atkinson in command.



	JOHN R. PERRY made a shakedown cruise to Northern 

Europe and Scandinavian countries, thence sailed to 

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  She then became a school ship for the 

Fleet Sonar School, basing at Key West, Fla., for 

antisubmarine warfare operations that took her to principal 

Caribbean and Gulf ports, sailing as far east as the Azores, 

and up the eastern seaboard to Norfolk.  She was one of the 

Atlantic Fleet's warships responding to the President's call 

for a quarantine of Cuba (24 October-20 November 1962), 

which was being developed as a Soviet offensive base.  She 

patrolled off the island to help choke off the flow of 

military supplies to Cuba and enforce American demands for 

the withdrawal of Soviet missiles.  After American demands 

were substantially complied with, the persuasive tentacles 

of force were withdrawn.  



	JOHN R. PERRY resumed sonar schoolship duties out of 

Key West which continued through 1965.  This principal 

service was interrupted by overhauls in the Charleston Navy 

Yard, special antisubmarine warfare tactics in the Caribbean 

and along the eastern seaboard with Task Force Alpha, and 

joint operations with units of the Venezuelan Navy (2-8 

February 1964).  During these years, JOHN R. PERRY has 

helped train the men of the Navy in the latest ASW 

techniques and has steadily perfected her own ability to 

defend the Nation against the threat of a growing Soviet 

submarine force.  



	JOHN R. PERRY was transferred to the Pacific Fleet 1 

May 1966.  She departed Key West on the 16th, transited the 

Panama Canal 3 days later, and arrived Pearl Harbor 4 June 

to operate in the Hawaiian area through mid-1967.



	[Stricken from the Navy Register on 20 February 1973, 

former JOHN R. PERRY was sold to Indonesia the same day.  

Commissioned as frigate SAMADIKUN (D-1), she quickly became 

fleet flagship.  Refitted at Subic Bay, Philippines between 

1979 and 1982, her hull number changed to “341.”  As of 

May 1999, she remained on active duty as a frigate with 

the Indonesian Navy.]



“Jane’s Fighting Ships,” 1975-76, p.174.

“Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, 

1998-99,” p.337.

Internet Web Site:

  United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum

    www.uss-salem.org/worldnav/asiapac/indones.htm#surf





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com