Finch (DER 328) - Naval Cruise Book

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Tele , 1,-7, f...., . .f-'A' ,. 29 f ll - at 74? J I i. i In her years, FINCH has served in three wars in three different configurations and travelled around the World. In fact, FINCH has seen so much more of life than us that we really do not know as much about her as we should. 'Throughout this book are scattered Datelines which are miscellaneous tidbits of our year and her past. So, sit back, laugh and feel nostalgia, and put together these reflections of the FINCH and her crew. Then, we hope, you'll have a pretty good picture of the ship and her men.

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- '- V - , f 4 , -.,1....,--,.,..1a.-ff ,. -.-- -. f-'-+,..4,-Y-:W fl H -A44 f-4-1,1543 f H . FI CH HISTORY The USS FINCH QDER 3285 is a 1740 ton Radar Picket Escort manned by 150 officers and men She IS 306 feet in length has a beam of 36 feet in and is powered by four diesel engines Since her construction in 1943 FINCH has had a rich and varied history The Consolidated Steel Corporation of Orange Texas laid down her keel in uly 1943 In December of the same year she was commissioned as a Destroyer Escort During World War II FINCH served on convoy duty in the North and South Atlantic and in the Mediter ranean FINCH then passed through the Panama Canal in summer 1945 and headed for Pacific duty The war s end caught her between Guam M I her present homeport and the Philippine Islands FINC H spent the next few months aiding various Chinese cities In April 1946 FINCH left the Orient for a round the world cruise to the United States The first part of FINCH s travels terminated in the Autumn of 1946 when she was decommissioned With the Korean Crisis FINCH was called from the reserve fleet and commissioned as a United States Coast Guard Cutter QWDE 428, As an ocean station vessel she served in all parts of the Pacific Ocean until December 1953 In April 1954 FINCH was again decommissioned this time to join the Pacific Reserve Fleet In the fall of 1955 FINCH began conversion to her present configuration She was given more living space and modern radar and communication facilities FINCH was recommissioned as DER 328 in August 1956 Shortly there after Seattle Washington became her new homeport FINCH served as an early warning unit of the Western Continental Air Defense System as a member of Escort Squadron FIVE until September 1958 She then changed horneport to Pearl Harbor and took up reporting unidenti fied air surface and submarine contacts on the Pacific Barrier May 1960 saw FINCH return to San Francisco for duty with Radar Picket Squadron ONE on the Western Contiguous Radar Barrier With the impending discontinuation of the Radar Barrier the FINCH once more headed for decommissioning How ever her suitability for Seventh Fleet service was recognized and she departed San Francisco in june 1965 Guam . ,7 I . . ,.J ' . . .l ,7 , l' , , .., , .I . . 1 . , . .., . . ...I . , Y . A 1, V7 I 1 1.v,, 1 . --I . Q. . A -4 . , , a .... 1 l . U A . .ij ,'. 6 l -4 si . I ai .- 7. H. H .... 1 U H .. Mariana Islands became her homeport After lust twenty years FINCH returned to work in the Western Pacific Presently, FINCH performs Seventh Fleet Market Time Operations off the coast of Vietnam and Taiwan Patrol Duties. Some of her other assignments allow her to visit ports throughout the Western Pacific and add to her repu- tation as a world traveler. In these capacities, the USS FINCH QDER-328j continues to build on her already rich record.