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

(1969) Vol. 2, pp.10-11.





CALCATERRA





	Born 7 April 1920 at Escalon, Calif., Herbert A. 

Calcaterra enlisted in the Navy 14 December 1939.  Motor 

Machinist’s Mate First Class Calcaterra was commended 7 July 

1942 for his performance as a member of the crew of 

submarine POMPANO (SS-181), and was awarded the Silver Star 

Medal posthumously for conspicuous gallantry as a member of 

a 3-inch gun crew until fatally wounded during an action 

against an armed enemy patrol ship, 4 September 1942.





DE-390

Displacement:  1,200 t.

Length:  306’

Beam:  36’7”

Draft:  8’7”

Speed:  21 k.

Complement:  186

Armament:  3 3”; 3 21” torpedo tubes;

	2 depth charge tracks;

	8 depth charge projectors;

	1 hedge hog

Class:  EDSALL



	CALCATERRA (DE-390) was launched 16 August 1943 by 

Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.; sponsored by Mrs. G. 

M. Stites; commissioned 17 November 1943, Commander H. J. 

Wuensch, USCG, in command; and reported to the Atlantic 

Fleet.



	Assigned to the vital duty of escorting convoys between 

the United States and the Mediterranean, CALCATERRA made 

eight round trips between 13 February 1944 and 10 June 1945.  

The ships she guarded provided the men and equipment which 

insured the success of the invasions of Italy and southern 

France.  Twice the escort vessel met the challenge of enemy 

opposition when she depth charged a suspected submarine 

contact and fired on two aircraft.  Her alert action helped 

prevent damage or loss to the ships under convoy.



	On 9 July 1945, CALCATERRA headed for the Pacific to 

tackle a new job, but the war ended shortly before her 

arrival at Pearl Harbor.  She lifted passengers back to the 

west coast, then sailed on to the Atlantic.  CALCATERRA was 

placed out of commission, in reserve, at Green Cove Springs, 

Fla., 1 May 1946.



	Reclassified DER-390, 28 October 1954, CALCATERRA was 

converted to a radar picket ship at Norfolk and commissioned 

12 September 1955.  Based on Newport, the radar picket ship 

has almost continuously served in the violent weather of the 

North Atlantic to maintain her link in the extension of the 

Distant Early Warning system.  Except for exercises with the 

fleet in the Atlantic and Caribbean, and a cruise to Europe 

(August-October 1958), CALCATERRA continued this duty 

through 1960.



	[Stricken from the Navy Register on 2 July 1973, 

CALCATERRA was sold on 14 May 1974.



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

the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.226.]





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com