Jordan DE-204

Jordan

Julian Bethune Jordan was born 11 April 1904, and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1925. He served in Chester, in Dobbin, and at various shore stations before reporting to Oklahoma (BB-37) 4 August 1938. While serving as assistant engineering officer on board that battleship, he was one of the valiant men who were lost in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941.

(DE-204: dp. 1,400; 1. 306'; b. 36'10"; dr. 9'5"; s. 24 k. cpl. 186; a. 3 3", 4 40mm., 10 20mm., 2 dct., 9 dcp.; cl. Buckley)

Jordan (DE-204) was laid down 5 June 1943 by the Charleston Navy Yard; launched 23 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Lucy H. Jordan, widow of Lt. Jordan; commissioned 17 December 1943, Lt. Comdr. P. C. Billing in command.

After shakedown Jordan arrived New York in midMarch 1944 for duty as convoy escort. She sailed 17 April with a convoy bound for Gibraltar, arriving there 1 May with transports carrying vital cargo for the operations in the Mediterranean area. She returned to New York later that month and made one more European voyage in June before beginning duty as a training ship. During July and

August she engaged in training exercises at Quonset Point, R.I., and arrived Port Everglades, Fla., 17 September to commence experimental exercises in that area.

After a yard period at Charleston, Jordan resumed sound experiments out of Port Everglades in early 1945. During May she was deployed on another cruise to the Mediterranean as convoy escort, returning to New York 10 June. She engaged in submarine operations out of New London, Conn., and training exercises in Cuba, throughout the summer. It was through these experiments that new technological advancements in antisubmarine warfare were adopted, leading to a more powerful navy and a shorter war.

While on a training mission 18 September Jordan collided with a merchant vessel SS John Sherman, necessitating immediate repairs. She arrived Charleston 4 October and remained there until she decommissioned 19 December 1945. The ship was scrapped in 1947.