USS STEWART HISTORY

USS Stewart is one of only two remaining Destroyer Escorts, and the only Edsall-class DE in the United States. She was built in 1942 by Brown Shipping Company in Houston and commissioned in May of 1943. 

 

USS Stewart began her patrols out of Miami, then as a “school ship” training student officers out of Norfolk, VA. She escorted President Roosevelt in the presidential yacht down the Potomac River to rendezvous with USS Iowa for his mission to Casablanca and Tehran.

In 1944, she commenced North Atlantic convoy operations, making 30 crossings with occasional enemy submarine and aircraft encounters. On April 9th, 1945, Stewart rescued the surviving members of the SS Saint Mihiel-SS Nashbulk collision and helped put out fires and salvage the ships. During her many convoys, heavy seas and icing conditions were frequent. 

 

USS Stewart is named after Admiral Charles Stewart who was the first Admiral of the US Navy, and commanded the USS Constitution during the War of 1812. In addition to DE-238, two earlier U.S. Navy destroyers, DD-13 and DD-224, were named in Stewart's honor.  One of her special duties as an escort ship, in October of 1943, USS Stewart transported flag officers and their staffs while escorting and protecting the Presidential Yacht of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he made his way to the Battleship USS Iowa and on to Tehran, Iran for an historic meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and General Secretary Joseph Stalin. There, they decided that in May of 1944, the Allies would conduct Operation Overlord, the landing at Normandy Beach. USS Stewart led the way to history! On April 10, 1945, USS Stewart assisted the SS St Mihiel after it collided with another ship off the coast of New York. Stewart fought the fire, reestablished power, and helped escort the ships back to port. 

 

Stewart moved to the Pacific theater in mid 1945, and conducted training exercises out of Pearl Harbor until the end of the war. She was decommissioned in late 1945 and changed berths 3 times before arriving at Seawolf Park In 1974. She is the only ship of her class in the US and the third ship (DD-13, DD-224, and DE-238) named for Rear Admiral Charles Stewart who commanded another ship in the historic naval fleet, USS Constitution, from 1813 to 1815.

 

USS Stewart was added to the National Register of

Historic Places in 2007.