Destroyer Escort USS Slater Naval Museum

The Destroyer Escort Slater is a Cannon Class Destroyer Escort. The ship's specs are:

Length: 306 feet
Beam: 36 feet
Draught: 10 feet
Crew: 220
Displacement: 1,200 tons
Max Speed: 20 knots (23mph)
Fuel Capacity: 279 tons of fuel oil
Original Armament:
 3 3 inch 50 cal.dual purpose open mounts
 2 40mm Bofors AA
 12 20mm Oerlikon AA
 3 21 inch Torpedos
 2 K Mount Depth Charges and 1 aft Depth Charge rack
 24 Hedge Hog Anti Submarine Mortars
Power Plant: 4 diesel electric powerplants driving 2 screws with 6,000 Shaft Horsepower
Launching Date: May 1, 1944 at the Tampa Shipbuilding Company Tampa, Florida
Cost: $6,000.000

You can visit the Destroyer Escort USS Slater DE-766 Museum in Albany, NY. I had first visited the ship with my dad back when it was first berthed at the USS Intrepid museum on the Hudson River in New York Harbor. At that time the ship was a rusty mess and missing a lot of its equipment. Today it is just fantastic! The Albany volunteers have done a bangup job of cleaning, painting, restoring, and sourcing missing hardware. Personally I feel it's the best restored naval museum vessel I've visited, and I've been to a few. My dad served on the DE USS Bangust during the war and he volunteered to help with the cleanup way back when it was berthed in New York harbor. We were all so dissapointed when the Intrepid staff said it must go and it left our area, but in the end it was the best thing that ever could have happened to the ship. I do not think it would ever have gotten the care and attention to detail that the Albany staff have given it had it remained at the Intrepid Museum. And they continue to restore and open up new compartments and scour the country for period hardware and equipment.

My tour guide that day on the USS Slater was PT Boat Veteran Jack Madden, who knew the ship from top to bottom. Jack is a great guy, and will go out of his way to make you feel welcome and understand and appreciate the USS Slater and what our fathers went through serving aboard ship during the war.

For an idea of what life aboard a Destroyer Escort during the World War Two was like, have a look at my Dad's photos from his time serving on the Destroyer Escort Bangust during WWII in the Pacific Theater as an Electrician's Mate.