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An image of USS Holder (DE-401) being stripped as a parts hulk
History
United States
Builder	Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas
Laid down	6 October 1943
Launched	27 November 1943
Commissioned	18 January 1944
Stricken	23 September 1944
Fate	Irreparably damaged by German aircraft on 11 April 1944, scrapped 1947
General characteristics
Class and type	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,253 tons standard 1,590 tons full load
Length	306 ft (93.3 m)
Beam	36.58 ft (11.1 m)
Draft	10.42 ft (3.2 m) full load
Propulsion	4 FM diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp (4,500 kW) 2 screws
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	9,100 nmi (16,900 km; 10,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	8 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns 1 × twin 40 mm AA guns 8 × single 20 mm AA guns 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog) 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Holder (DE-401) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Lieutenant (junior grade) Randolph Mitchell Holder (a naval aviator who was reported missing during the Battle of Midway), she was the first of two U.S. Naval vessels to bear the name.

History

Holder was launched by Brown Shipbuilding of Houston, Texas, 27 November 1943; sponsored by Annette Holder, mother of Lieutenant (junior grade) Holder; and commissioned 18 January 1944. After completion of her shakedown cruise, Holder departed 24 March escorting a convoy bound for Mediterranean ports. Proceeding along the coast of Algeria the convoy was followed 10 and 11 April by German planes and just before midnight 11 April it was attacked by torpedo bombers. Holder and the other escorts immediately opened fire and began making smoke, but a torpedo struck the escort vessel amidships on the port side, causing two heavy explosions. Though fires spread and flooding was serious, Holder's crew remained at their guns to drive off the attackers without damage to the convoy. Alert damage control kept the ship seaworthy and she arrived in tow at Oran for repairs. There it was decided to tow her to New York, where she arrived safely 9 June 1944.

Holder decommissioned at New York Navy Yard 13 September 1944, and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 23 September 1944. A 95'-long section of the stern portion of Holder's hull was used to repair USS Menges; the remainder was sold for scrap to John A. Witte, Staten Island, New York on 19 June 1947.

The bell of the ship is on display inside the museum ship USS Slater.

Honors

Holder received one battle star for World War II service.

See also

• List of U.S. Navy losses in World War II

References

1. "USS Holder DE-401 - Documents". www.ussholder.com. Retrieved 24 March 2022.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• "Holder". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
• "USS Holder (DE-401)". Destroyer Escort Photo Archive. Retrieved 19 March 2007.

External links

• USS Holder official website
• U-Boat Archive U-371
• NavSource.org - DE-401

v t e Edsall-class destroyer escorts
Edsall Jacob Jones Langley / Hammann Robert E. Peary Pillsbury Pope Flaherty Frederick C. Davis Herbert C. Jones Douglas L. Howard Farquhar J.R.Y. Blakely Hill Fessenden Fiske Frost Huse Inch Blair Brough Chatelain Neunzer Poole Peterson Stewart Sturtevant Moore Scott / Keith Tomich James R. Ward / J. Richard Ward Otterstetter Sloat Snowden Stanton Swasey Marchand Hurst Camp Howard D. Crow Pettit Ricketts Sellstrom Harveson Joyce Kirkpatrick Leopold Menges Mosley Newell Pride Falgout Lowe Gary / Thomas J. Gary Brister Finch Kretchmer O'Reilly Koiner Price Strickland Forster Daniel Roy O. Hale Dale W. Peterson Martin H. Ray Ramsden Mills Rhodes Richey Savage Vance Lansing Durant Calcaterra Chambers Merrill Haverfield Swenning Willis Janssen Wilhoite Cockrill Stockdale Hissem Holder
Post-World War II operators  United States Coast Guard Newell Pride Falgout Lowe Finch Kretchmer Koiner Forster Ramsden Richey Vance Lansing Durant Chambers  Mexican Navy Commodore Manuel Azueta / Commodore Manuel Azueta Perillos (ex-Hurst)  Philippine Navy Rajah Lakandula (ex-Trần Hưng Đạo)  Tunisian National Navy|Tunisian Navy President Bourguiba / Indakh (ex-Thomas J. Gary) Republic of Vietnam Navy Trần Hưng Đạo (ex-Camp) Trần Khánh Dư (ex-Forster)  Vietnam People's Navy Dai Ky (ex-Trần Khánh Dư)
Preceded by: Cannon class Followed by: Rudderow class
List of destroyer escorts of the United States Navy

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1944
Shipwrecks	2 Apr: U-360 3 Apr: U-288 4 Apr: I-169 6 Apr: U-302, U-455 7 Apr: I-2, U-856 8 Apr: U-2, U-962 9 Apr: U-515 10 Apr: USS SC-497, U-68 11 Apr: Akigumo, U-108 12 Apr: I-174 13 Apr: Ikazuchi 14 Apr: Bärenfels, Fort Stikine, U-448 15 Apr: No. 7 16 Apr: U-550 17 Apr: U-342, U-986 18 Apr: USS Gudgeon, Pan-Pennsylvania 19 Apr: U-974 20 Apr: USS Lansdale, Paul Hamilton, Voorbode 21 Apr: M 553 22 Apr: U-311 23 Apr: Amagiri 26 Apr: V 606 Fladengrund, I-180, U-488, Yoshida Maru No. 1 27 Apr: U-803, Yūbari 28 Apr: USS LST-507 29 Apr: HMCS Athabaskan, I-183, USS PT-346, Sirène, U-421 30 Apr: Ro-45 Unknown date: U-193, U-355
Other incidents	2 Apr: I-46, Ro-46 10 Apr: USS Holder 11 Apr: USS Cero 13 Apr: USS Bashaw 14 Apr: Bombay explosion, HMHS Chantilly 16 Apr: Pan-Pennsylvania 20 Apr: Bergen explosion 24 Apr: LST-407 27 Apr: USS Etamin 29 Apr: USS Seahorse
1943 1944 1945 March 1944 May 1944

• Edsall-class destroyer escorts
• World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States
• Ships built in Houston
• 1943 ships
• Maritime incidents in April 1944