USS ''Slater'' (DE-766) is a that served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and later in the Hellenic (Greek) Navy. Following service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the ship was transferred to Greece and renamed ''Aetos''. Decommissioned in 1991, the destroyer escort was returned to the United States. USS ''Slater'' is now a museum ship on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

, the only one of its kind afloat in the United States. As of 2020, fewer than 12 destroyer escorts survive, with ''Slater'' the only one in its wartime configuration. ''Slater'' was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

on 2 March 2012. USS ''Slater'' was struck by the Hudson River touring ship ''Dutch Apple'' on 10 September 2019. A mechanical issue aboard ''Dutch Apple'' was to blame for the collision.

Namesake

Frank Olga Slater was born on 19 December 1920 in Kennamer Cove, Alabama, one of twelve children of James Lafayette Slater, a sharecropper and Lenora (Morgan) Slater. He grew up in

Fyffe, Alabama Fyffe is a town in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1956.Claire Wilson,Fyffe" ''Encyclopedia of Alabama'', November 2, 2012. At the 2020 census, the population was 967. Fyffe is located atop Sand Mountain. History ...

. He enlisted in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

on 10 February 1942. Upon completion of his basic training, he was transferred to the Receiving Station at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

, and assigned to the heavy cruiser on 4 April 1942. On 12 November 1942 he was killed in action at his battle station during the

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...

. He was posthumously awarded the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

Construction and career

USS ''Slater'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 9 March 1943, she was christened on 20 Feb 1944 by Lenora Slater, mother of Frank Olga Slater and launched on 20 February 1944. The ship was commissioned on 1 May 1944. She was built at the Tampa Shipbuilding Company in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

for an estimated cost of $3,399,000 (adjusted for inflation, roughly $54,777,341.00 in 2022). After a shakedown cruise near

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

in June 1944, ''Slater'' assisted with the transfer of torpedoes from the captured German submarine U-505, from Bermuda to Puerto Rico and on to Maryland. She was then sent to Key West where she served as a sonar school ship. On 3 October 1944, ''Slater'' reported for convoy duty in Brooklyn, New York; she would spend the next 7 months alternating between convoy duty and additional training in Portland, Maine. By the end of the war in Europe, ''Slater'' escorted a total of five convoys to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, listed below: In June 1945 ''Slater'' headed for the Pacific, stopping at the

US Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

Guantánamo Bay Naval Base Guantanamo Bay Naval Base ( es, Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by members of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military) is a ...

and Coco Solo, Panama. She went through the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

on 28 June 1945 and stopped at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

before sailing to

. From there she joined Task Unit 33.2.4 at

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

in September and escorted it to

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

. ''Slater'' engaged in support operations in the Pacific through the remainder of the year. She made another passage through the Canal on her way to

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

for deactivation. ''Slater'' was placed in the reserve fleet at

Green Cove Springs, Florida Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 6,908. The city is named after the portio ...

in 1947.

Greek service

On 1 March 1951, ''Slater'' was transferred to the Hellenic Navy under the

Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy that pledged American "support for democracies against authoritarian threats." The doctrine originated with the primary goal of containing Soviet geopolitical expansion during the Cold War. It wa ...

, and renamed ''Aetos'' ("Eagle") (D01). Along with three other ''Cannon''-class ships, she made up what was known as the "Wild Beasts" Flotilla. The ship did patrol duty in the eastern Aegean and the Dodecanese and also served as a training vessel for naval cadets. ''Aetos'' was decommissioned in 1991, and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

donated the ship to the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association.

Retirement

Destroyer escort sailors from around the nation donated more than $250,000 ($ today) to bring ''Slater'' back to the United States as a museum ship. In 1993, a Russian ocean-going tugboat towed the ship from

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where it was docked next to the aircraft carrier . Volunteers began restoring the ship and seeking a permanent home for her; Albany, New York, was decided upon. On 26 October 1997, ''Slater'' arrived at the

Port of Albany The Port of Albany is located within Princess Royal Harbour in King George Sound on the south coast of Western Australia, in the Great Southern region. Location The port is located on the northern shore of Princess Royal Harbour, a natural ...

. In January 2006, a welder accidentally started a fire aboard ''Slater'' which caused some minor damage to the ship. Repairs were completed within a few months. Restoration of the ship remains an ongoing project. On 7 May 1998, ''Slater'' was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. ''Slater'' was refitted several times during her long service with two navies. One of her depth-charge racks and four "K-gun" depth charge launchers have been removed. Two twin

Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...

s have been added, and the ten single 20 mm guns have been replaced with nine twin mounts.

Appearances in film

''Slater'' has been featured in three motion pictures. The ship was seen in '' The Guns of Navarone'' (1961) and ''I Aliki sto Naftiko'' (''Η Αλίκη στο Ναυτικό/Alice in the Navy'', filmed in 1961) while in Greek service. In August 2008 part of the Japanese film '' Last Operations Under the Orion'' (2009) was filmed on board. Although the film depicts a battle between a Japanese submarine and a US Navy destroyer, ''Slater'' was used instead despite being a destroyer escort. Scenes were filmed on board, and a to-scale model of the ship was built and used for CGI shots at sea.

References

External links

*
USS ''Slater'' website

* ttp://www.navsource.org/archives/06/766.htm NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive - USS ''Slater'' (DE 766)
Historical Naval Ships Association Ship Page: USS ''Slater''Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater (De-766) Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the United States Navy Ships built in Tampa, Florida 1944 ships World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Wild Beast-class destroyers (1951) Naval museums in the United States Museum ships in New York (state) Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) USS Slater Military and war museums in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Albany, New York