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

(1968) Vol. 3, pp.265-266.





HARVESON





	Harold Aloysius Harveson, born 7 August 1913 at Lake 

Charles, La., graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy 3 June 

1937.  After serving in light cruiser LOUISVILLE (CL-28) and 

on the staff of the Pacific Fleet Scouting Force, Lt. (j.g.) 

Harveson was assigned to training ship UTAH (AG-16) 

19 August 1941.  Operating out of Pearl Harbor, the aged 

ex-battleship, converted to a target ship, served the fleet 

as the major antiaircraft training ship, as well as a key to 

developing carrier air-to-ship attack tactics.  During the 

sneak attack on Pearl harbor 7 December 1941, the Japanese 

concentrated much of their strike force on UTAH in the 

assumption she was aircraft carrier SARATOGA (CV-3).  

Torpedoed twice early in the attack, she had overturned and 

sunk by 0812.  Like so many of her crew, Lt. Harveson gave 

his life in the opening moments of World War II.





DE-316

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



	HARVESON (DE-316) was laid down by Consolidated Steel 

Corp., Orange, Tex., 9 March 1943; launched 22 May 1943; 

sponsored by Mrs. T. L. Herlong, mother; and commissioned at 

Orange, 12 October 1943, Lt. Comdr. P. L. Stinson, USCG, in 

command.



	Manned entirely by a Coast Guard crew, HARVESON 

completed shakedown out of Bermuda only to be seriously 

damaged in collision with a merchantman 15 December 1943, on 

a foggy night off the Virginia Capes.  Repairs were 

completed at Portsmouth, Va., by February 1944, and the 

destroyer-escort joined Escort Division 22.  Departing New 

York 1 March, HARVESON escorted a convoy to Londonderry, 

Ireland, via Halifax.  In the next 14 months she escorted 

nine more convoys carrying vitally needed supplies for the 

European theater safely across the dangerous North Atlantic.



	When V-E Day came, CortDiv 22 was ordered to the 

Pacific; and HARVESON reached Pearl Harbor via the Panama 

Canal and San Diego 11 July to begin refresher training.  

HARVESON was still engaged in tactical training at Pearl 

Harbor when Japan capitulated, but soon she participated in 

the occupation of the defeated enemy's homeland.  Departing 

Pearl Harbor 3 September, she escorted a convoy of LSTs to 

Japan, where she arrived Sasebo 24 September.  During the 

next few weeks, she operated along the coast of Honshu, 

escorting amphibious force flagship MOUNT McKINLEY (AGC-7) 

and supporting occupation landings at Wakayama, Hiro, and 

Nagoya.  She departed Yokohama for the United States 4 

November and arrived Jacksonville, Fla., in December for 

duty with the Atlantic Fleet.  She decommissioned at Green 

Cove Springs, Fla., 9 May 1947, and entered the Atlantic 

Reserve Fleet.



	HARVESON was towed to the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1950 

for conversion to a radar picket ship.  She recommissioned 

at Vallejo, Calif., 12 February 1951, Lt. Comdr. W. S. 

Slocum III in command; and, as the first of a new class of 

radar picket ships, she was redesignated DER-316.  After 

intensive tests and vigorous tactical training, HARVESON 

joined Escort Squadron 10 at Newport, R.I., 30 May to begin 

duty as a radar picket ship.  While on patrol, the former 

destroyer escort outfitted with the most modern radar and 

early detection warning devices, cruised off the coast of 

the United States to provide adequate early warning of any 

enemy attack.  From her usual station in the North Atlantic, 

HARVESON also sailed to the Caribbean for frequent 

antisubmarine and tactical exercises.



	Departing Newport 15 July 1957, HARVESON reported for 

radar picket duty at Pearl Harbor 18 August.  There she 

joined the Barrier Forces, Pacific Fleet, to strengthen 

America's warning system in the vast and lonely reaches of 

the Pacific.  After almost 3 years of barrier patrols out of 

Hawaii, HARVESON steamed to San Francisco for inactivation.  

She decommissioned 30 June 1960 and joined the Pacific 

Reserve Fleet, Stockton, Calif.  Her name was struck from 

the Navy List 1 December 1966.  She is scheduled to be used 

as a target.



	[HARVESON was sunk as a target off southern California 

on 10 October 1967.



K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, “Register of Ships of 

the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.225.]





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com