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

(1969) Vol. 2, p.317.





EARHEART





	James Edward Earheart, Jr., born 25 April 1913 in 

Cincinnati, Ohio, enlisted in the Marine Corps 7 January 

1942.  On 8 November 1942, Private First Class Earheart was 

a member of a naval antisabotage party embarked in a British 

warship which was damaged during the entry into Oran, 

Algeria.  Heroically, he volunteered, in the face of 

continuous shelling, to swim to a harbor tug whose movements 

were endangering the men abandoning the warship.  Killed in 

this effort, he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.





APD-113

Displacement:  1,390 t.

Length:  306’

Beam:  37’

Draft:  12’7”

Speed:  24 k.

Complement:  204

Armament:  1 5”

Class:  CROSLEY



	EARHEART (APD-113) was launched 12 May 1945 by 

Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, Mass.; sponsored 

by Mrs. James Earheart, mother of Private First Class 

Earheart, and commissioned 26 July 1945, Lieutenant 

Commander N. M. Goodhue in command.



	EARHEART conducted shakedown training at Guantanamo 

Bay, then sailed to Providence, R.I., to celebrate Navy Day, 

27 October 1945.  EARHEART was placed out of commission, in 

reserve, up the St. Johns River, Fla., 29 April 1946.



	[Stricken from the Navy Register on 12 December 1963, 

former EARHEART was transferred to Mexico as fast transport 

H-4 the same day.  The following year, she was designated a 

destroyer escort and renamed PAPALOAPAN (pennant number 

B-4).  With her pennant number changed to IB-04, PAPALOAPAN 

was discarded in 1976.



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

the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.234

“Jane’s Fighting Ships, 1964-65,” p.175; “1965-66,” p.176; 

“1976-77,” p.322; “1977-78,” p.323]



Some sources spell the ship’s name “EARHART.”





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com