USS Ebert (DE-768)

USS Ebert (DE-768) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

She was named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Hilan Ebert whose ship USS Northampton (CA-26) was torpedoed in the Battle of Tassafaronga off Guadalcanal. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his courage and disregard for his own safety beyond the call of duty until his ship was lost. Ebert was launched on 11 May 1944 by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Tampa, Florida; sponsored by Mrs. Hilan Ebert, widow of Lieutenant Commander Ebert; and commissioned on 12 July 1944, Lieutenant Commander F. Gibbs, USNR, in command.

World War II North Atlantic operations
Ebert guarded the passage of convoys carrying men and supplies vital to victory in Europe, to ports in Great Britain and France, between 6 October 1944 and 14 May 1945, then returned to New York City to prepare for duty in the Pacific.

Reassignment to the Pacific Theatre
She sailed on 8 June for Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and the Philippines. She escorted convoys carrying occupation troops to Japan, until 30 November when she left Manila for the United States.

Post-War decommissioning
Ebert was placed out of commission in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Florida, on 14 June 1946. Towed to Boston, Massachusetts, in November 1950, Ebert was transferred to Greece on 1 March 1951 under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program.

She served in the Greek Navy as HS Ierax (D-31), and was stricken in 1991. In January 1998, reports emerged that she was laid up in terminal reserve at the port of Souda, in Crete. Ierax was sunk as part of a Naval exercise (combination of Penguin missile and torpedo attack) in July 2002. The Ierax now rests on the seabed of the Aegean Sea close to the island of Crete, at a depth of 950 m, located at 35.94167°N, 24.41833°W.