The USS Finnegan (DE-307): World War Workhorse!
(Polls are at the Bottom)
Note: My First ever posted suggestion gets a new fresh coat of paint! I have given it a massive overhaul, filling it to the brim with new photos, history, and my newest formatting!
Hello again people of War Thunder!
Hello again friends! I am an avid fan of WW2 frigates and the like, and love the USS Hoquiam despite popular belief, and so why not add more? Thus I wish to suggest the Evarts-Class Destroyer Escort DE-307, the USS Finnegan!
Basic Information
Designation: DE-307
Name: “Finnegan”
Namesake: Ensign William Michael Finnegan, killed on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor
Ship Class: Evarts-Class
Role: Destroyer Escort
Crew: 198 Sailors
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15 Officers
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183 Enlisted
Shipbuilder: Mare Island Navy Yard
Laid Down: July 5, 1943
Launched: January 22, 1944
Commissioned: August 19, 1944
Decommissioned: November 27, 1945
Stricken: December 19, 1945
Fate: Scrapped, June 1946
Awards: 3x Battle Stars
Specifications
Dimensions:
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Length: 289 ft 5 in (88.21 m)
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Beam: 35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
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Draft: 11 ft (3.4 m)
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Height: 32 ft 2 in (9.80 m)
Sailing Performance:
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Propellers: 2x Three-Bladed Screws
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Maximum Speed: 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
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Maximum Range: 4,150 nmi (7,690 km)
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Standard Displacement: 1,140 long tons (1,158 t)
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Max Displacement: 1,430 long tons (1,453 t)
Armament:
“Peekaboo!”
I like Chef Boyardees…
DoReMiFaSolLaTiDo
DoReMiFaSolLaTiDo
Additional Equipment:
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Radar(s):
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Type SL Surface search
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Type SA Air search
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Sonar(s):
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Type 144
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Type 128D
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Directional Antenna(s):
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MF Direction Finding
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HF/DF Type FH 4
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Usage In Battles
The USS Finnegan would play somewhat similar to the USS Hoquiam, with light-caliber guns and a great Anti-Air array for its size, with decent survivability. Being equipped with Mk.22 guns, it would have a noticably faster fire rate, improving damage output. However, it having a single Mk.2 1.1" AA turret, it would have a lighter caliber and spray of fire compared to dual 40mms. Overall, it will be roughly as capable as any other American frigate.
Pros:
- Good Survivability
- Good Anti-Air array
- Improved 3" Guns
Cons:
- Poor Speed
- Small-Caliber Primary Armament
- Uses Ship Spawn
History
“Welcome to the War Effort!”
The USS Finnegan (DE-307) would see her keel laid down on July 5, 1943, at the Mare Island Navy Yard in California, her construction sponsored by Mrs. Charles Schroeder, sister of Ensign William Michael Finnegan, who was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Oklahoma. She would launch on February 22, 1944 for final outfitting, and be commissioned into the fleet on August 19, 1944.
Finnegan would arrive at Pearl Harbor on November 8, 1944 to serve her first duties as an escort for submarines conducting training exercises in preparation for wartime patrols. She then take a short stint to Midway Island, escorting a transport vessel between December 11 and 20, then returning to submarine escorting until January 9, 1945. After amphibious training exercises on the Hawaiian Islands, USS Finnegan sailed again, escorting a group of LSTs and submarine chasers, two of which she had to tow herself for parts off the passage to Saipan.
On February 15, 1945, the USS Finnegan sailed from Saipan for the assault on Iwo Jima, during which she provided cover for the transport ships, screening the transports as they launched their boats for the initial invasion on February 19.
First Duels…
A week later on February 26, while escorting empty transports back to Saipan, Finnegan would detect a surface contact, found by Radarman Robert N. Perry, and departed from her convoy screen to investigate the contact. On approach, the contact would be identified as a Japanese submarine, I-370. Finnegan would be raised to general quarters, and begin her attack run.
In a four-hour long attack, USS Finnegan would drop depth charges, and in a stroke of good luck, a series of charges would be incorrectly set to the wrong detonation depth, and would be the charges that strike the submarine, finally managing to sink I-370, located to be sunk at 22°45′N 141°27′E. Radarman Perry would be credited with the early contact, and be given $50.00 by the captain.
From Saipan, USS Finnegan escorted the transports on toward Espiritu Santo, arriving on March 15, 1945. She then sailed ten days later for the island of Ulithi, the vast base from which the Okinawa assault was to be staged, and on April 9, she reached the newly assaulted island. Sailing on to do anti-submarine patrols, as well as screening assault shipping transports/routes.
On May 28, while screening across the Okinawan coast, Finnegan would pick up an enemy aircraft on approach, found to be a Japanese Kamakaze aircraft attempting to strike the ship. Firing her Anti-Air guns, Finnegan would drive the plane away as it made its final approach. This would be her last major combat event of the war. On July 10, she departed Okinawa for duty in the Philippines on local escort and patrol assignments until September 15.
Deserved Retirement…
Finally, USS Finnegan sailed for Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor, and then Charleston, South Carolina, where she would be decommissioned and placed into reserve on November 27, 1945, and would be sold for scrap on June 1946.
All in all, she would earn 3 Battle Stars for her service.
Sources
Primary Sources:
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/f/finnegan.html
Secondary Sources:
USS Finnegan - Destroyer Escort - US Navy - (DE-307) - Sons of Liberty Museum
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/DE/DE-307_Finnegan.html
USS FINNEGAN (DE-307) Deployments & History
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/USS_Finnegan
Miscellaneous Sources:
hedgehog-projector-mk10-mk11.pdf
3-INCH MOUNT MARK 20, 21, 22 AND MODS
Image Sources:
- Yes
- No
- Tech Tree
- Premium
- Battlepass
- Event
- Squadron
- I already said no
- 3.0
- 3.3
- 3.7
- 4.0
- 4.3
- Again… I said no