USS Brennan (DE-13)

USS Brennan (DE-13) was an Evarts class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II and commissioned in January 1943. She performed anti-submarine and anti-aircraft convoy protection duties in North Atlantic Ocean waters, and was decommissioned in October 1945 at New York Navy Yard and scrapped in 1946.

Brennan was named in honor of John Joseph Brennan, who went down with his ship when it was torpedoed by GERMAN SUBMARINE U-754 on 3 April 1942. The ship was laid down on 28 February 1942 at the Mare Island Navy Yard as British destroyer escort Bentinck (BDE-13); launched on 22 August 1942; reallocated to the United States early in January 1943; renamed Brennan on 6 January 1943; and commissioned on 20 January 1943, Lieutenant Commander Harry A. Adams, Jr. in temporary command until relieved the next day by Lieutenant Commander Mark E. Dennett.

World War II
Following shakedown training off southern California, Brennan arrived in Miami, Florida on 1 March, to serve as a training ship for student officers and prospective crews of destroyer escorts. She operated in the Florida Strait and in the West Indies for the remainder of her career, frequently touching at ports in Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba. On 2 May Brennan collided with SS Gulfmaid in the Florida Strait, causing minor damage to both ships. The damage to Brennan’s superstructure was repaired in July when she had an availability in Charleston, South Carolina.

On 15 September 1945 Brennan sailed to the New York Navy Yard to be prepared for inactivation. She was decommissioned there on 9 October, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 24 October 1945. She was sold for scrap in July 1946.