USS SCOTT DE-214 Ship History
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, March 2018
The first Scott (DE-214) was laid down on 1 January 1943 by the Philadelphia [Pa.] Navy Yard; launched on 3 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. George McBride; and commissioned on 20 July 1943, Lt. Cmdr. Claude S. Kirkpatrick in command.
After shakedown at Bermuda and post-shakedown repairs at Philadelphia, Scott rendezvoused with her first convoy off Bermuda on 23 September 1943 and escorted it to Curacao. After escorting convoys to New York and back, Scott departed Curacao on 29 October for her first transatlantic convoy voyage to Londonderry, Northern Ireland. She served on the Londonderry-New York convoy route until 4 October 1944, crossing the ocean a total of 16 times without incident. Between voyages, she carried out antisubmarine training at Londonderry or Casco Bay, Maine, and received voyage repairs made necessary by the rough North Atlantic weather. As flagship of Escort Division (CortDiv) 17, Scott was usually escort commander for her convoys.
On 1 November 1944, Scott left Norfolk, Va., with a slow convoy for the Mediterranean, but was detached on 15 November to assist Frament (DE-677) which had been damaged in a collision with the Italian submarine Luigi Settembrini, off the Azores. She helped search for Italian survivors, and then escorted Frament back to Boston, arriving on 3 December.
Between 14 December 1944 and 16 January 1945, Scott provided training services for submarines in New London, Conn. On the 16th, she departed New London escorting the French submarine Le Centaure, to Casablanca. After repairs at Bermuda and the Azores, the submarine was safely delivered at Casablanca on 23 February. Scott then escorted two Army dredges from the Azores to Delaware Bay, arriving on 30 March.
Scott next served under the Atlantic Training Command, first at Norfolk and then at Mayport, Fla., escorting ships undergoing training and investigating reported submarine contacts. On 18 May 1945, she arrived at Key West, Fla., for experimental duty with the Naval Research Laboratories, Radar Division, and conducted tests of special equipment until 18 July. She underwent overhaul at New York between 20 July and 18 August, and then refresher training at Guantanamo from 21 August to 3 September. The escort was to have been converted to a high speed transport, APD-64, but due to the end of the war, the much-delayed conversion was cancelled on 10 September 1945.
Scott spent most of the next two months at Casco Bay, except for four days at Charleston, S.C., in early October 1945 and Navy Day at Newburgh, N.Y., at the end of the month. The escort arrived at Green Cove Springs, Fla., on 21 November 1945 for inactivation and was decommissioned there on 3 March 1947 and placed in reserve.
Scott was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1965 and was sold on 20 January 1967 to Southern Scrap Metals Co., New Orleans, La., for scrapping.
