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

(1968) Vol. 3, pp.16-17.





GANDY





	Seaman Second Class Andrew Jackson Gandy was born 20 

October 1924 in Chattanooga, Tenn.; enlisted 21 February 

1942; and gallantly gave his life on board heavy cruiser SAN 

FRANCISCO (CA-38) in a heroic gunnery action against 

Japanese torpedo planes during the Battle of Guadalcanal, 

12-13 November 1942.  He was posthumously awarded the Navy 

Cross.





DE-764

Displacement:  1,240 t.

Length:  306’

Beam:  36’8”

Draft:  8’9”

Speed:  21 k.

Complement:  186

Armament:  3 3”; 2 40mm; 8 20mm; 3 21” torpedo tubes;

	2 depth charge tracks;

	8 depth charge projectors;

	2 hedge hogs

Class:  CANNON



	GANDY was launched 12 December 1943 by the Tampa 

Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, Fla.; sponsored by Miss Ruby Gandy, 

sister of Seaman Gandy, and commissioned at Tampa 7 February 

1944, Lt. Comdr W. A. Sessions in command.



	GANDY, following shakedown training in Bermuda waters, 

joined Escort Division 22 at New York.  After escorting 

store ship YUKON (AF-9) to Norfolk, she departed New York 15 

April 1944 as part of the escort for fast tanker convoy 

CU-21 bound for Northern Ireland.  The second day of the 

voyage, at 0806, 16 April, German submarine U-550 torpedoed 

and sank tanker PAN PENNSYLVANIA.  During recovery of 

survivors by GANDY and sister ships JOYCE (DE-317) and 

PETERSON (DE-152), JOYCE made sound contact with the U-boat 

and delivered a depth charge attack.  When U-550 surfaced 

about 600 yards on GANDY's starboard bow, Comdr. Sessions 

ordered "Right full rudder, come to 320, open fire and stand 

by to ram."



	GANDY headed for the submarine's conning tower but the 

U-boat's deft maneuvers caused the escort destroyer to hit 

it 30 feet from the stern.  GANDY hauled clear, silenced the 

submarine's machine gun battery with a short burst of 

gunfire, then observed the Germans abandoning ship.  JOYCE 

recovered twelve survivors as GANDY, with nearly four feet 

of her bow strake gone and several plates buckled, assessed 

her damage.  U-550 was shaken by a muffled explosion and 

sank.  Four of GANDY's men were injured in the fight.



	GANDY continued with the convoy which reached 

Lisahally, Northern Ireland, 26 April 1944.  She returned to 

New York 12 May and helped escort nine more convoys safely 

out of New York to Lisahally and Liverpool by 24 May 1945 

when she returned from the last of these voyages.  After 

repairs in the New York Naval Shipyard, she sailed 8 June 

for brief training in Cuban waters before proceeding to 

Hawaii.  She departed Pearl Harbor 6 August 1945 en route to 

the Philippines via the Marshalls and the Carolines, then 

sailed from Leyte on the 24th in the escort of an occupation 

force convoy which entered Tokyo Bay 1 September.  Following 

the formal signing of the surrender of Japan the next day, 

she escorted a convoy from Okinawa to Yokohama, Japan, and 

then departed 16 November to serve the Philippine Sea 

Frontier on weather patrol between Manila, Samar, and 

Manicani.



	GANDY departed Samar 1 February 1946 and reached 

Norfolk, via Hawaii, San Pedro and the Panama Canal, 26 

March 1946.  She decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla., 

17 June 1946.  She was in reserve status until 10 January 

1951 when she was transferred to Italy under the Military 

Assistance Program.  She serves the Italian Navy under the 

name of ALTAIR.



	GANDY received one battle star for service in World War 

II.



	[The former USS GANDY was stricken from the US Navy 

Register on 26 March 1951.  Italian frigate ALTAIR (F-591) 

was blown up as a target in 1971.



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

the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.224.

“Conway’s All The World’s Fighting Ships, 1947-1995,” 

p.208.]





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com