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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Charles Lawrence (DE 53 / APD 37)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - W - R - P

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - WWII Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal

Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 15 / 198

Charles Lawrence (DE 53) Building and Operational Data:

01 August 1942: Keel laid by the Bethlehem Steel Corp. Hingham, Mass.

16 February 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. S. Lawrence, mother of AMM2c Charles Lawrence

31 May 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr. L. S. Kintberger in command

23 October 1944: Reclassified APD 37, conversion carried out at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

21 June 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 3 years and 21 days of service

01 September 1964: Struck from the NVR

17 November 1965: Sold for scrapping to the Southern Scrap Materials Co., New Orleans, La.

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
Chas. Lawrence 0605302	172k	05 October 1943 - New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y.	John Klar Somerville, N.J.
Chas. Lawrence 0605303	127k	undated wartime image - location unknown
Chas. Lawrence 0605304	100k	undated wartime image - location unknown
Chas. Lawrence 0605305	278k	undated wartime image - location unknown (seems like a later photo than the last two, the DE is missing on the hull number, and it looks like the 1.1" AA gun on the 01 level aft has been changed to a twin 40MM.
Chas. Lawrence 0605306	278k	13 January 1944: Brooklyn, N.Y. - Two views of Charles Lawrence's stern taken while she was at the New York Navy Yard.	Ed Zajkowski Narvon, Pa.
Chas. Lawrence 0605307	371k		Ed Zajkowski Narvon, Pa.
Chas. Lawrence 0605308	533k	08 June 1944 - location unknown	Darryl Baker PNCM, USNR (ret.) Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum

Charles Lawrence History

View the USS Charles Lawrence (DE 53) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.

View the official War History of USS Charles Lawrence as submitted by the ship at war's end.

Charles Lawrence's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 31 May 1943 - 15 Aug. 1943	Lcdr. Leon Samuel Kintberger, USN (Comm. CO) (Baltimore, Md.)
2.) 15 Aug. 1943 - 03 Jan. 1944	Lt. Francis Kernan, USNR (New York City, N.Y.)
3.) 03 Jan. 1944 - 21 Jul. 1945	Lcdr. George R. Seidlitz, USNR (Kansas City, Mo.)
4.) 21 Jul. 1945 - 02 Jan. 1946	Lcdr. Daniel F. Larkin, Jr., USNR (Westerly, R.I.)
5.) 02 Jan. 1946 - 21 Jun. 1946	Lt. Leonard Matt Matson (Decomm. CO)

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Last Known Reunion:
September 2010 at Lexington, Kentucky

Contact Name: Terry Sims
Address: 120 Newhouse Road
City/State: Wingo KY 42088
E-mail: Terry Sims

Note About Contacts

Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has
been made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list
only a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

Additional Resources

Navsource APD Pages, USS Charles Lawrence
Tin Can Sailors
The U.S. Navy Memorial
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation

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