Naval History Blog

(DD–886: dp. 2,425; l. 390’6”; b. 41’1”; dr. 18’6”; s. 34 k.; cpl. 367; 6 5”, 16 40mm., 5 21” tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct., 1 dcp (hh); cl. Gearing)

Brandon Richards of KPLC 7 in Lake Charles, Louisiana reports:

It’s been sixty-five years since J.T. Platt last boarded the USS Orleck.  “I was one of the grunts. I did what I was told,” said Platt, who worked at Consolidated Steel Corporation, the group that built the Orleck starting in 1944.  Platt worked at the company in Orange, Texas from 1944 to 1945.

He left Consolidated Steel two months after the Orleck was commissioned. Platt was part of the original group from Consolidated Steel, responsible for making sure all of the equipment on board the Orleck was in working order. Platt was also in charge of making sure all of the ship’s wires were working properly…

Click here to read the rest of the story.  For a brief history of the USS Orleck as well as background information on her namesake, please click here.

To plan a visit to the USS Orleck Naval Memorial in Lake Charles, Louisiana, click here.

Edson (DD-946) was launched 4 January 1958 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. M. A. Edson; and commissioned 7 November 1958.

 Our nation’s fleet of historic ships grows by one!

Tim Younkman of the Bay City Times writes, “The battle continues to bring the Vietnam-era destroyer USS Edson to the Bay City riverfront.  Volunteers and maritime enthusiasts have worked for 13 years to secure a 20th century combat ship as a Bay City attraction.  Their efforts paid off when the U.S. Navy granted ownership of the 56-year-old Edson, now in mothballs, to the Saginaw Valley Navel Ship Museum.”

Full article here.

For more about the namesake of the USS Edson, click here.

Last week, the ranks of the Naval History blogosphere increased by one with the arrival of the Naval War College Museum Blog!  The Naval War College is one of the Naval History & Heritage Command’s official U.S. Navy Museums.  Recommend you book mark the site or add them to your reader.  The purpose of the blog “will be to engage our community with relevant information on museum activities. Readers may look forward to artifact research blogs, education program articles, staff and volunteer profiles, historical essays, and more.”

We look forward to cooperating with them in the naval history blogosphere!  Welcome aboard!