USS Pettit (DE-253)

USS Pettit (DE-253) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

She was named in honor of Robert Lee Pettit who was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. She was laid down 6 February 1943 by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; launched 28 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Robert Lee Pettit; and commissioned 23 September 1943, Lt. Commander William B. Ellis, USCG, in command.

World War II North Atlantic operations
After Atlantic shakedown, Pettit reported for duty to Commander, Destroyers, Atlantic. Assigned to Destroyer Escort Division 20 in December 1943, she operated out of Norfolk, Virginia, that month to train destroyer escort nucleus crews. Later in December she escorted a convoy from Norfolk to Casablanca, Morocco, where she arrived 2 January 1944. She returned from this assignment to Brooklyn, New York, 24 January 1944. When stationed in home waters, Pettit trained periodically at Montauk Point, New York, and Casco Bay, Maine. From February 1944 to June 1945, she escorted trans-Atlantic convoys principally between Derry, Northern Ireland, and New York, New York. She also called at the ports of Cherbourg and Le Havre, France, and Plymouth, Liverpool, and Southampton, England.

Transferred to the Pacific Fleet
After V-E Day, Pettit proceeded via Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Panama Canal, and San Diego, California, to Hawaii, arriving Pearl Harbor 25 July. She departed for Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, 27 August, and arrived there 3 September. From September into November 1945, she searched for possible Allied survivors on islands in the southwest Pacific. In December 1945 she operated from Pearl Harbor on a weather patrol.

Decommissioning
Pettit decommissioned 6 May 1946 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Into 1970 she was berthed at Norfolk. On 30 September 1974, she was sunk as target off Puerto Rico.