USS HEMMINGER

DE 746

Cyril Franklin Hemminger enlisted in the Navy May 26, 1920.  Working his way up through the ranks, he was appointed Boatswain April 3, 1942 and reported to cruiser Astoria for duty in the Pacific 8 days later.  Hemminger was commissioned Ensign June 15, 1942 and in the early stages of the Guadalcanal Campaign, was killed during the battle of Savo Island.

Hemminger (DE-746) was launched September 12, 1943 by Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Francisco: sponsored by Mrs. Sue Frances Hemminger, widow; and commissioned May 30, 1944, Lt. Comdr. J.R. Bodler, USNR in command.

Shakedown completed, Hemminger reached Pearl Harbor in August 1944 to train submarines for war patrols.  She also patrolled between Pearl and Eniwetok and worked in hunter-killer antisubmarine operations.  On February 28, 1945 while on a HUK mission with USS Corregidor and CortDiv 53, the destroyer escort was diverted to participate in the fruitless search for Lieutenant General M.F. Harmon, Commander Army Air Forces Pacific, whose plane had disappeared.  After patrol duty in the Marshall Islands, Hemminger sailed April 30, to escort a resupply convoy to Okinawa, where battle still raged.  From May16 to June 20, she acted as a screen for a carrier group engaged in neutralization of Sakishima Gunto and supported ground forces on Okinawa as well as the air attack on Kyushu.

Hemminger joined CortDiv 53 and the Kasaan Bay for further hunter-killer patrol around Guam and Eniwetok until sailing for the Philippines September 27th.  Detached from the Pacific Fleet, Hemminger reached Norfolk December 2nd via Saipan, Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and the Panama Canal.  Training out of Green Cove Springs, Fla., occupied Hemminger until she decommissioned there on June 17, 1946 and went into reserve.

After a period of duty with the reserve training program, Hemminger recommissioned at Norfolk December 1, 1950.  In the following years her career assumed a pattern of local operations along the coast punctuated by reserve training cruses to Canada and the Caribbean.  One reserve cruise in June 1952 took Hemminger to Lisbon while others saw her at Rouen, France; Barranquilla, Colombia; Cadiz and New Orleans.

Hemminger also participated in several fleet exercises and worked with the Turkish submarine Gur in August 1954.  Departing Little Creek, VA November 23, 1957 she reported to New York Naval Shipyard for inactivation.  Hemminger decommissioned there February 21, 1958 and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.  She was loaned to Thailand July 22, 1959 under the Military Assistance Program and serves the Royal Thai Navy as Pinklao.*

Any information that you may have regarding the SS Antigua please contact us at  information@usshemminger.com.

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