View source for USS Garfield Thomas

{{Short description|Cannon-class destroyer escort}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Garfield Thomas (DE-193), circa in 1944.jpg
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=USS ''Garfield Thomas'' (DE-193)
|Ship namesake= [[William Garfield Thomas, Jr.]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Newark, New Jersey]]
|Ship laid down= 23 September 1943
|Ship launched= 12 December 1943
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 24 January 1944
|Ship decommissioned= 27 March 1947
|Ship struck= 26 March 1951
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Greece]], 15 January 1951
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Greece
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Greece|naval}}
|Ship name=''Panthir'' (D67)
|Ship namesake=
|Ship acquired= 15 January 1951
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship struck= 1992
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Laid up at Souda Bay, Crete in 1992
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class= {{sclass|Cannon|destroyer escort|1}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1240|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} standard
*{{convert|1620|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length=*{{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
*{{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length at the waterline|w/l]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|36|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|11|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=4 × GM Mod. 16-278A [[diesel engine]]s with electric drive, {{convert|6000|shp|0|abbr=on}}, 2 [[Screw ship|screws]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|21|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= {{convert|10800|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=15 officers and 201 enlisted
|Ship armament=*3 × single Mk.22 [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s
*1 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm Mk.1 AA gun]]
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm Mk.4 AA guns]]
*3 × [[American 21-inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] Mk.10 [[anti-submarine mortar]] (144 rounds)
*8 × Mk.6 [[depth charge]] projectors
*2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Garfield Thomas'' (DE-193)''' was a {{sclass|Cannon|destroyer escort}} built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]].  She served in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and [[Pacific Ocean]] and provided escort service against [[submarine]] and air attack for Navy vessels and [[convoy]]s.
She was named in honor of [[William Garfield Thomas, Jr.]], who was awarded the [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]] posthumously for his actions during the [[Battle of Cape Esperance]], 11–12 October 1942. The ship was laid down on 23 September 1943 by the [[Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock]] Co., [[Newark, New Jersey]]; launched on 12 December 1943; sponsored by Lt. Betty K. Thomas, [[Nurse Corps (United States Army)|Army Nurse Corps]], sister of Lt. (j.g.) W. G. Thomas; and commissioned on 24 January 1944.
== World War II North Atlantic operations ==
After [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] out of [[Bermuda]], ''Garfield Thomas'' returned to [[New York City|New York]] on 11 March 1944. She stood out of New York on 19 March to join [[task force|Task Group]] 27.4 as part of the screen for a convoy bound for [[Bizerte]], [[North Africa]], where she arrived on 31 March and returned New York on 13 April. She made two subsequent runs to Bizerte arriving New York from her third voyage on 7 September.
After training out of [[Casco Bay]], [[Maine]], ''Garfield Thomas'' departed New York on 14 October in the screen for a convoy bound for the [[United Kingdom]], arriving in [[Plymouth]] on 25 October. After returning to New York on 9 November the destroyer escort made four subsequent convoy-escort voyages to the United Kingdom, the last bringing her back to New York from [[Cardiff]] on 19 May 1945.
== Transfer to Pacific Theatre operations ==
After repairs she departed New York on 9 June 1945, for refresher training in the [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]]-[[Guantánamo Bay]] areas, and then proceeded to [[Pearl Harbor]], arriving on 20 July 1945. Training out of Pearl Harbor kept her busy until 8 August when she got under way with a convoy bound for the [[Marshall Islands|Marshalls]]. She arrived [[Eniwetok]] on 16 August 1945, and operated between the Marshalls and the [[Caroline Islands|Carolines]], screening convoys and taking her turn as patrol ship until she departed Eniwetok on 8 December for Pearl Harbor, arriving eight days later.
After a month's duty as weather station ship ''Garfield Thomas'' departed Pearl Harbor on 9 February 1946, transited the [[Panama Canal]] and arrived New York on 1 March 1946.
== Greek service ==
{{other ships|Greek ship Panthir}}
After a brief overhaul, ''Garfield Thomas'' departed New York on 24 March for [[Green Cove Springs]], [[Florida]]. She remained moored there until decommissioned on 27 March 1947. She entered the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]] there where she remained until transferred to [[Greece]] under the [[Military Assistance Program]] on 15 January 1951.<ref name=danfs>{{cite DANFS|title=Garfield Thomas (DE-193)|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/garfield-thomas.html|access-date=31 January 2019}}</ref> The ship served in the [[Hellenic Navy]] under the name ''Panthir'', with the [[pennant number]] 67 and was struck in 1992.<ref name="conways47p160">{{Harvnb|Gardiner|Chumbley|1995|p=160}}</ref> In 1998 it was reported that she was laid up in [[Souda Bay]], [[Crete]].
== Citations ==
{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/garfield-thomas.html}}
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Chumbley|editor2-first=Stephen |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995|year=1995|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland, USA|isbn=1-55750-132-7}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Garfield Thomas (DE-193)}}
* {{navsource|06/193|USS Garfield Thomas (DE-193)}}
{{Cannon class destroyer escort|others}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garfield Thomas (DE-193)}}
[[Category:Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:Wild Beast-class destroyers (1951)]]