View source for USS Thomason

{{Short description|Buckley-class destroyer escort}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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|Ship image=USS Thomason (DE-203) off Charleston, South Carolina (USA), on 17 February 1944 (BS 60778).jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=  United States
|Ship flag=  {{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=  
|Ship namesake=  
|Ship ordered=  
|Ship builder=  
|Ship laid down=  5 June 1943
|Ship launched=  23 August 1943
|Ship commissioned=  10 December 1943
|Ship decommissioned=  22 May 1946
|Ship struck=  30 June 1968
|Ship honours=  
|Ship fate=  Sold for scrap, 30 June 1969
|Ship notes=  
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=  
|Header caption=  
|Ship class=  
|Ship displacement=*1,740 [[long ton|tons]] [[full displacement|full]]
*1,400 tons, standard
|Ship length=  306 ft (93 m)
|Ship beam=  37 ft (11.3 m)
|Ship draft=  {{convert|13|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*GE turbo-electric drive,
*12,000&nbsp;hp (8.9 MW)
*two propellers
|Ship speed=  23.6 [[knot (unit)|knots]] (44 km/h)
|Ship range=*4,940 nautical miles at 12 knots
*&nbsp; (9,200 km at 22&nbsp;km/h)
|Ship complement=  15 officers, 198 men
|Ship sensors=  
|Ship EW=  
|Ship armament=*3 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|3 in (76 mm)/50]] DP guns,
*3 × [[Mark 15 torpedo|21 in (53 cm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s,
*1 × [[1.1 inch/75 (28mm) gun|1.1 in (28 mm)/75]] quad [[anti-aircraft|AA]] gun,
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] cannon,
*1 × [[hedgehog (weapon)|hedgehog]] projector,
*2 × depth charge tracks,
*8 × [[K-gun]] depth charge projectors 
|Ship notes=  
}}
|}

'''USS ''Thomason'' (DE-203)''' was a [[Buckley class destroyer escort|''Buckley''-class]] [[destroyer escort]] in service with the [[United States Navy]] from 1943 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1969.

==History==
USS ''Thomason'' was named in honor of [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] [[Marine Raiders|Raider]] [[Sergeant]] [[Clyde A. Thomason]] (1914–1942), the first Marine to be awarded the [[Medal of Honor]] in World War II – posthumously, for heroism during the [[Makin Island raid]].

''Thomason'' was laid down on 5 June 1943 at the [[Charleston Navy Yard]]; [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 23 August 1943; sponsored by Miss Sara Jeanette Thomason; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 10 December 1943.

===Pacific War===
The destroyer escort held shakedown training in the [[Bermuda]] area and performed [[convoy]] escort duty along the east coast from [[Newport, R.I.]], to [[Panama]]. She transited the [[Panama Canal]] on 21 March 1944 and headed for the [[New Hebrides]]. The ship called at [[Galapagos]], the [[Society Islands]], and [[Samoa]] before arriving at [[Espiritu Santo]] on 18 April. She joined the [[U.S. 3d Fleet]] and, in addition to performing [[antisubmarine warfare|antisubmarine duty]] in [[Indispensable Strait]] which separates [[Guadalcanal]] and [[Malaita]] Islands, escorted ships to Guadalcanal.

On 26 May, she arrived at [[Cape Cretin]] to join the [[U.S. 7th Fleet]] for operations along the coast of [[New Guinea]]. On 3 June, the ship got underway for [[Wakde]] and arrived there the following week. On the 13th, her gunners helped [[United States Army|Army]] [[antiaircraft]] units repel an enemy air attack. Six days later, she took Army artillery observers along the coast to [[Sarmi, Indonesia|Sarmi]] where she shelled enemy emplacements and an air strip. The ship operated from Wakde until 7 August when she shifted her base of operations to [[Noemfoor]], [[Schouten Islands]]. In early September, she returned to Espiritu Santo for an overhaul.

On 4 October, DE-203 stood out to sea to rendezvous with two [[ammunition ship]]s to escort them to the [[Palaus]]. She remained at [[Kossol Passage]] for a month, serving as harbor entrance control ship before returning to [[Jayapura|Hollandia]]. On 6 November, the destroyer got underway for [[Maffin Bay]]. Two days later, ''Thomason'' and [[USS Neuendorf (DE-200)|''Neuendorf'']] (DE-200) bombarded Sarmi and targets along the bay. With the aid of Army spotting planes, the two ships set fire to enemy storehouses and several other buildings.

''Thomason'' headed for the [[Philippines]] on 9 November in the screen of a large convoy of landing craft and supply ships. She arrived in [[Leyte Gulf]] on the 15th and sailed the same day with a convoy bound for Hollandia. The destroyer escort then conducted intensive antiaircraft and antisubmarine training at [[Mios Woendi]] and landing exercises at [[Aitape]] with [[attack transport]]s that were scheduled to participate in the [[invasion of Lingayen Gulf]].

On 28 December 1944, the destroyer escort sortied for [[Luzon]] with Task Group 78.1 (TG&nbsp;78.1), the [[San Fabian, Pangasinan|San Fabian]] Attack Force. En route to the Philippines, she was detached to accompany two [[oil tanker|fuel oil tankers]] who were scheduled to refuel the escort ships of [[Task force#United States Navy|Task Force]] 79 (TF&nbsp;79), which was also en route to [[Lingayen Gulf]].

''Thomason'' began antisubmarine patrols in [[Mangarin Bay]], off [[Mindoro]] on 7 January 1945. One month later, she and ''Neuendorf'' began antisubmarine patrol duty off the west coast of Luzon. At 22:22 on 7 February, ''Thomason'''s SL surface [[radar]] made a contact at a range of 14&nbsp;miles (26&nbsp;km), which was thought to be a small boat. She closed the range and challenged the craft with a flashing light. There was no answer, and surface radar lost contact. However, [[sonar]] soon made an underwater contact.

The escort made a [[hedgehog (weapon)|hedgehog]] run but did not fire because she was going too fast. She made another run and fired a pattern of hedgehogs. On both runs, a large submerged mass, outlined by [[phosphorescence]], was seen moving through the water at a depth of between 25 and 50 feet. Four to six of the hedgehogs detonated almost simultaneously, and contact with the target was lost. A heavy [[oil slick]], 250 yards in diameter, rose to the surface. The two ships patrolled until late in the morning, in an expanding search pattern, but never regained contact with the Japanese [[submarine]]. {{ship|Japanese submarine|Ro-55|1944|2}} had been sunk in over {{convert|800|fathom|ft m}} of water.

''Thomason'' returned to Mangarin Bay where she resumed antisubmarine patrols. On the 24th, she rescued four airmen who had bailed out of their burning [[B-24 Liberator]] [[bomber]]. From March through August, the ship was engaged in antisubmarine patrols and escort duty between various Philippine ports, Palau, and Hollandia. On 15 August 1945, the Japanese surrendered to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. In September, she escorted two convoys from [[Luzon]] to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]].

===Decommissioning and fate===
On 4 October, ''Thomason'' stood out of [[Subic Bay]] and headed for the United States. She called at [[San Francisco]], California on the 27th and moved to [[Naval Station San Diego|San Diego]] for inactivation. ''Thomason'' was decommissioned on 22 May 1946 and struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy list]] on 30 June 1968. On 30 June 1969, she was sold to the National Metal & Steel Corp., Terminal Island, [[Long Beach, Calif.]], for scrap.

''Thomason'' received three [[battle star]]s for [[World War II]] service.

== References ==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/thomason.html}}

== External links == 
{{Commons category|USS Thomason (DE-203)}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/203.htm navsource.org: USS ''Thomason'' (DE-203)]

{{Buckley class destroyer escort}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomason}}
[[Category:Buckley-class destroyer escorts]]
[[Category:Ships built in Charleston, South Carolina]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]