USS Robert F. Keller (DE-419) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1965. She was named in honor of Ensign Robert Franklin Keller, a U.S. Navy aviator who was awarded the Air Medal for actions during the Aleutian Islands Campaign in June 1942.
Construction and Commissioning
The ship's keel was laid down on 12 January 1944 by Brown Shipbuilding Co. in Houston, Texas. She was launched on 19 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Peter S. Keller (the ensign's mother), and commissioned on 17 June 1944 with Lieutenant Commander R. J. Toner, USNR, in command.
Characteristics
- Class and type: John C. Butler-class destroyer escort
- Displacement: 1,350 long tons (1,372 t) standard; 1,811 long tons (1,840 t) full load
- Length: 306 ft (93 m) overall
- Beam: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
- Draft: 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) maximum
- Propulsion: 2 boilers, 2 geared steam turbines, 12,000 shp (8,900 kW), 2 screws
- Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h)
- Range: 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
- Complement: 14 officers, 201 enlisted
- Armament: 2 × single 5 in (127 mm) guns; 2 × twin 40 mm AA guns; 10 × single 20 mm AA guns; 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 8 × depth charge throwers; 1 × Hedgehog ASW mortar; 2 × depth charge racks
World War II Service
Following shakedown off Bermuda, Robert F. Keller transited the Panama Canal on 7 September 1944 and escorted a convoy of merchantmen from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 1 October. She joined Escort Division 72 and was assigned to screen the aircraft carrier Coral Sea (soon renamed Anzio). Operating with the U.S. 3rd Fleet from the Western Carolines, her task group conducted antisubmarine hunter-killer sweeps in the Philippine Sea. On 22 December 1944, she rescued four survivors of the destroyer Hull, which had capsized in a typhoon.
In February 1945, Robert F. Keller participated in the Iwo Jima campaign as part of Air Support Unit 2. On the night of 21 February, her crew witnessed the sinking of the escort carrier Bismarck Sea during a kamikaze attack. She remained in the Iwo Jima area until 7 March, then retired to Leyte for repairs.
She was ready for the Okinawa operation by 21 March 1945, destroying three floating mines en route. She served as air defense and antisubmarine screen for carriers covering the invasion. On 10 May she escorted the cruiser San Francisco to the Okinawa battleline and guarded convoy lanes around the island.
On 6 July, her task group set out on antisubmarine sweeps east of Tokyo. On 16 July, Robert F. Keller assisted in the sinking of the Japanese submarine I-13, which was caught on the surface and raked with gunfire. After the end of hostilities, she escorted transports carrying occupation troops to Jinsen (now Incheon), Korea, on 8 September, and later called at several Chinese ports.
Post-War and Reserve Training Duty
Robert F. Keller decommissioned on 24 April 1946 at San Diego, California. In September 1946 she was placed "in service" and assigned to the 13th Naval District at Puget Sound, Washington, for Naval Reserve training. In January 1950 she sailed to the East Coast and was placed "in commission in reserve" on 31 March 1950 as a training ship at Washington, D.C. On 18 November 1950 she was placed on active status, training reserves while maintaining war readiness. Through 1955 she made 39 cruises and assisted in training over 3,500 reserve officers and enlisted men, visiting ports in eastern Canada, the West Indies, and the United States.
Berlin Crisis
On 21 September 1959 she decommissioned and was placed "in service" for reserve training in Baltimore, Maryland. She recommissioned on 2 October 1961 due to the Berlin Crisis, crewed by reservists, and operated in the Atlantic and Caribbean. She again decommissioned and was placed "in service" as a training ship on 1 August 1962.
Final Disposition
She was placed out of commission in reserve at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in January 1965. After survey in spring 1972, she was found unfit for further service and stricken from the Navy list on 1 July 1972. She was sold for scrapping on 5 February 1974.
