View source for USS Ernest G. Small

{{Short description|Gearing-class destroyer}}
{{no footnotes|date=January 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[Image:USS Ernest G. Small (DD-838) underway off Korea on 17 November 1950 (80-G-423466).jpg|300px|USS Ernest G. Small]] 
|Ship caption=USS ''Ernest G. Small'' underway on 17 November 1950
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1970}}
|Ship name= ''Ernest G. Small'' 
|Ship namesake=[[Ernest G. Small]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship sponsor= Mrs. E.G. Small
|Ship identification=*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: NBBM
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Mike}}
*[[Hull number]]: DD-838
|Ship builder= [[Bath Iron Works]]
|Ship laid down=30 January 1945
|Ship launched=14 June 1945
|Ship commissioned=21 August 1945
|Ship reclassified= *DDR-838, 18 July 1952
*DD-838, 1 January 1969
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship decommissioned=15 November 1970
|Ship struck=15 November 1970
|Ship honors=[[USS Ernest G. Small#Awards|See ''Awards'']]
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Republic of China]], 13 April 1971
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Taiwan
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Republic of China|naval}}
|Ship name= *''Fu Yang'' 
*(富陽)
|Ship namesake=[[Fuyang|Fu Yang]]
|Ship acquired=13 April 1971
|Ship commissioned=1 July 1971
|Ship identification= [[Hull number]]: DD-907
|Ship reclassified=DDG-907, 1980s
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship decommissioned=16 December 1999
|Ship struck=
|Ship fate= [[Ship breaking|Sunk as target]], 8 October 2003
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Gearing|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|3460|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length= {{convert|390|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|40|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|14|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=Geared turbines, 2 shafts, {{convert|60000|shp|MW|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|35|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= {{convert|4500|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|20|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=336
|Ship armament=*6 × [[5-inch/38-caliber gun]]s
*12 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm AA guns]]
*11 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm AA guns]]
*10 × [[American 21-inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*6 × [[depth charge]] projectors
*2 × depth charge tracks
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Ernest G. Small'' (DD/DDR-838)''' was a  {{sclass|Gearing|destroyer}} of the [[United States Navy]], named for Rear Admiral [[Ernest G. Small]] (1888–1944).

== Construction and career ==
''Ernest G. Small'' was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 14 June 1945 by [[Bath Iron Works]], [[Bath, Maine]]; sponsored by Mrs E.&nbsp;G. Small; and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 21 August 1945.

===Service in the United States Navy===
After completing her shakedown cruise in [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]], she sailed in company with {{USS|Power|DD-839|3}} on 11 January 1946 en route to [[Gibraltar]] whence she proceeded to [[Naples]]. She began a series of peacetime [[Mediterranean]] patrols in company with ''Power'' and {{USS|Providence|CL-82|3}} until 7 March. She continued in this mission independently until 7 August when she returned to the States.

Following a period of yard availability she reported to Commander, Submarines [[United States Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]], and operated out of [[Naval Submarine Base New London|New London, Connecticut]], until 14 December when she was laid up for repairs at [[Boston Navy Yard|Boston]], Massachusetts. On 3 April 1947 while anchored off [[Block Island]] she grounded in a violent wind and rain storm, but, refloated with aid from two tugs, she returned to Boston where repairs were made.

''Ernest G. Small'' sailed on 12 June for [[Naval Station Norfolk|Norfolk, Virginia]], and engaged in type exercises in the [[Virginia Capes]] Operating Area. On 6 August she stood out for the [[Caribbean]], calling at Guantanamo and Trinidad before rendezvousing with Task Force 84 (TF&nbsp;84) which proceeded to [[Rio de Janeiro]] where on 7 September the [[flagship]] {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|3}} embarked President [[Harry S. Truman]] and his family for the trip to the States. ''Ernest G. Small'' steamed on escort station during the voyage.

From 9 February to 10 April 1948 she cruised in the Caribbean and on 7 June began a [[midshipman cruise]] to the Mediterranean, calling at [[Lisbon]], [[Genoa]], [[Casablanca]], and returning to Norfolk on 21 July. Her third tour in the Mediterranean was made between 30 August 1948 and 23 January 1949. For the remainder of 1949 she operated in the Caribbean and along the [[Atlantic]] coast.

====Korean War====
From January to May 1950 she cruised in the Mediterranean and around northern [[Europe]]. With the outbreak of war in [[Korea]], she was sent to join the [[United States Seventh Fleet|7th Fleet]], and on 29 June she transited the [[Panama Canal]] en route to action. She sailed with carrier forces, fired shore bombardments, patrolled off [[Taiwan]], and participated in the [[Battle of Inchon|landings at Inchon]] in September, and at [[Wonsan]] in October. In December she helped evacuate the [[X Corps (United States)|Tenth Army Corps]] from [[Hŭngnam]] and [[Inchon]].

[[Image:USS Ernest G. Small (DD-838) underway going astern in October 1951, while en route to Japan, after losing her bow off Korea (80-G-708460).jpg|thumb|left|250px|''Ernest G. Small'' underway astern, while en route to [[Kure, Hiroshima|Kure]], in October 1951]]
Following a brief overhaul at [[Naval Station San Diego|San Diego, California]], in the first half of 1951, she began her second Korean tour as escort for the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Rendova|CVE-114|3}}. She participated in the naval bombardment of Hungnam and was so occupied on 7 October when she struck a [[Naval mine|mine]] which seriously damaged her bow, killed 9 and wounded 18. Four days later heavy seas broke the bow off. As the watertight bulkhead doors could not withstand the pressure of traveling forward she travelled backward (with the help of a fleet tug) at 6 knots for 300 miles to Japan, and she was fitted with a stubby replacement which enabled her to reach [[Long Beach Naval Shipyard|Long Beach]], arriving on 18 December 1951. She was decommissioned on 15 January 1952 and the bow of the unfinished {{USS|Seymour D. Owens|DD-767|3}} was grafted to her hull. She also underwent conversion to a [[radar picket]] ship at this time.

''Ernest G. Small'' was reclassified '''DDR-838''' on 18 July 1952, and recommissioned on 2 December 1952. She followed training exercises off the [[California]] coast with her first peacetime tour of the [[Far East]] which lasted from 11 July 1953 through 29 January 1954. Attached to Task Force 77, she was a unit of the blockade and escort force for the Taiwan area.

==== Operation Wigwam ====
A period of overhaul ensued and on 10 August 1954 she departed with Destroyer Squadron 13 (DesRon&nbsp;13) for the [[Taiwan Patrol]] and later assumed defensive position to control part of the 7th Fleet air coverage during the [[Tachen Islands]] evacuation in February 1955. Early in March she returned to Long Beach whence she operated with Task Group 7.3 (TG&nbsp;7.3) in "[[Operation Wigwam]]", the testing of an underwater [[atomic bomb]] off the [[West Coast of the United States|west coast]] (2–20 May). She deployed with the 7th Fleet for the remainder of the year.

From 1 November 1956 through 28 April 1957 she again toured the [[Pacific]], and included [[Kodiak, Alaska|Kodiak]], [[Singapore]], and [[Brisbane, Queensland|Brisbane]] in her itinerary. The remainder of that year was occupied with task force operations and intertype training exercises off the west coast.

''Ernest G. Small'' began another western Pacific tour in January 1958 as a unit of Destroyer Division 132 (DesDiv&nbsp;132) and was deployed in various operations, highlighted by participation in the [[SEATO]] exercise "Ocean Link."

In March 1959 she was assigned while on her annual Pacific cruise to the operational control of the [[United States Air Force]] to aid in the "[[Corona (satellite)|Discoverer]]" earth satellite program. Until July 1959 she was engaged in competitive exercises and [[nose cone]] recoveries. The second half of the year was designated for a period of overhaul and local operations.
[[File:ROCS Fu Yang (DDG-907).jpg|thumb|''Fu Yang'' underway, date unknown]]
Again, she deployed to the [[Pacific Ocean|western Pacific]] on 17 May 1960 with Destroyer Division 131. Her duty was principally to screen and picket {{USS|Ticonderoga|CVA-14|3}} and {{USS|Coral Sea|CVA-43|3}}. She arrived back at Long Beach on 16 November and on 29 December entered [[San Francisco Naval Shipyard]] for [[Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization]] (FRAM).

''Ernest G. Small'' was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 13 November 1970 and transferred to the [[Republic of China]] on 13 April 1971.{{clarify|date=October 2023}}

=== Service in the Republic of China Navy ===
She served in the [[Republic of China Navy]] as '''ROCS ''Fu Yang'' (DD-907)''' on 1 July 1971.

In 1980s, she underwent Wu-Chin I modernization program and reclassified DDG-907.

The ship was decommissioned by Taiwan in December 1999 and sunk as a target on 8 October 2003.

== Awards ==
''Ernest G. Small'' received four [[battle star]]s for [[Korean War]] service.

== References ==
{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/ernest-g-small-dd-838.html|http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd838txt.htm}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Ernest G. Small (DD-838)}}
* {{navsource|05/838|USS Ernest G. Small}}
 
{{Gearing class destroyer|others}}
{{1947 shipwrecks}}
{{2003 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernest G. Small (DD-838)}}
[[Category:Gearing-class destroyers of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bath, Maine]]
[[Category:1945 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1947]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 2003]]
[[Category:Cold War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Korean War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Vietnam War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Chao Yang-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]