USS Slater facts for kids
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|} The USS Slater (DE-766) is a special kind of warship called a destroyer escort. It served in the United States Navy during World War II. Later, it joined the Greek Navy and was renamed Aetos.
After its long service, the ship was returned to the United States. Today, the USS Slater is a museum ship in Albany, New York. It is the only destroyer escort of its kind still floating in the U.S. It helps people learn about these important ships. In 2012, the Slater was named a National Historic Landmark.
On September 10, 2019, another ship, the Dutch Apple, accidentally bumped into the Slater. This happened because of a mechanical problem on the Dutch Apple.
Contents
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States |
|
| Name | USS Slater |
| Namesake | Frank O. Slater |
| Builder | Tampa Shipbuilding Company, Tampa, Florida |
| Laid down | 9 March 1943 |
| Launched | 20 February 1944 |
| Commissioned | 1 May 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 26 September 1947 |
| Stricken | 7 March 1951 |
| Identification | DE-766 |
| Fate | Transferred to Greece, 1 March 1951 |
 Greece |
|
| Name | Aetos |
| Acquired | 1 March 1951 |
| Decommissioned | 5 July 1991 |
| Identification | D01 |
| Fate | Returned to US and preserved as memorial in Albany, New York |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Cannon-class destroyer escort |
| Displacement | 1,240 long tons (1,260 t) |
| Length | 306 ft (93 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft 8 in (11.18 m) |
| Draft | 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 10,800 nmi (20,000 km; 12,400 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 15 officers, 201 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
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USS Slater (Destroyer Escort)
|
|
 Location in New York
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Port of Albany, Albany, New York |
| Built | 1944 |
| Architect | Tampa Shipbuilding |
| NRHP reference No. | 98000393 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 7 May 1998 |
| Designated NHL | 2 March 2012 |
Who Was Frank O. Slater?
The USS Slater was named after a brave sailor, Frank Olga Slater. He was born in Kennamer Cove, Alabama, in 1920. Frank grew up in Fyffe, Alabama, with his eleven brothers and sisters.
He joined the United States Naval Reserve in 1942. Frank was assigned to a large warship called the USS San Francisco. On November 12, 1942, he was killed during a big sea battle. This battle was part of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Frank Slater was given the Navy Cross for his bravery.
Building and Early Life of the Ship
The USS Slater began to be built on March 9, 1943. It was officially named and launched on February 20, 1944. Frank Slater's mother, Lenora Slater, christened the ship. The ship was ready for duty on May 1, 1944.
It was built at the Tampa Shipbuilding Company in Tampa, Florida. The cost to build it was about $3.4 million back then. That would be over $54 million today!
Training and Convoy Missions
After its first tests near Bermuda in June 1944, the Slater helped move torpedoes. These torpedoes came from a German submarine that had been captured. The Slater then went to Key West to train sailors on how to use sonar.
Starting in October 1944, the Slater began escorting convoys. Convoys are groups of ships traveling together for safety. It spent seven months protecting ships traveling to the United Kingdom. The Slater escorted five convoys across the ocean.
| Dates | Ports |
|---|---|
| 17–20 October 1944 | Brooklyn, New York to Liverpool, England |
| 21 October 1944 | Milfordhaven, Wales |
| 14–19 December 1944 | Glasgow, Scotland (Greencock) |
| 22–28 January 1945 | Cardiff, Wales |
| 10–14 March 1945 | Cardiff, Wales |
| 28 April - 4 May 1945 | Cardiff, Wales |
Journey to the Pacific Ocean
In June 1945, the Slater headed for the Pacific Ocean. It sailed through the Panama Canal on June 28, 1945. It stopped in San Diego before reaching Pearl Harbor.
The ship then went to Manila and escorted another group of ships to Yokohama. The Slater helped with operations in the Pacific for the rest of 1945. After the war, it returned to Norfolk to be put into reserve. In 1947, the Slater was stored in Green Cove Springs, Florida.
The Slater in Greece
On March 1, 1951, the Slater was given to the Greek Navy. This was part of a program called the Truman Doctrine. The ship was renamed Aetos, which means "Eagle" in Greek.
The Aetos was one of four similar ships known as the "Wild Beasts" Flotilla. It patrolled the eastern Aegean Sea and the Dodecanese islands. It also helped train young naval cadets. The Aetos was taken out of service in 1991. Greece then gave the ship back to the United States.
Becoming a Museum Ship
Sailors who had served on destroyer escorts raised money to bring the Slater back. They collected over $250,000 to make it a museum ship. In 1993, a Russian tugboat towed the ship from Crete to New York City.
Volunteers started fixing up the ship. They decided that Albany, New York, would be its permanent home. On October 26, 1997, the Slater arrived at the Port of Albany. In 2006, a small fire happened on board during repairs, but it was fixed quickly. Restoring the ship is still an ongoing project.
On May 7, 1998, the Slater was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Over the years, the Slater was changed several times. Some of its old weapons were removed. New weapons, like two twin Bofors 40 mm guns, were added. Many of its smaller 20 mm guns were replaced with double mounts.
The Slater in Movies
The USS Slater has appeared in three movies! While it was serving in the Greek Navy, it was seen in The Guns of Navarone (1961). It also appeared in a Greek film called I Aliki sto Naftiko (Alice in the Navy), filmed in 1961.
In August 2008, parts of a Japanese movie called Last Operations Under the Orion (2009) were filmed on the Slater. Even though the movie was about a battle between a Japanese submarine and a U.S. Navy destroyer, the Slater was used. Scenes were filmed on the ship, and a model was made for computer-generated scenes at sea.
See also
