U.S.S. Varian

Photographed while she was operating out of Miami, Florida, summer 1945.
Courtesy of Mr K R Jameson, from the collection of Bruce A Franklin, author of "The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts".
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

USS Varian (DE-798) was named in honor of Ensign Bertram S. Varian, Jr. (1920–1942), a naval aviator who was killed in action in the Battle of Midway.

USS Varian, a 1400-ton Buckley class escort ship, was built at Orange, Texas. Commissioned in February 1944, she escorted Atlantic convoys during March-November 1944, and was then assigned to "hunter-killer" duty. On 16 January 1945, Varian and the other ships of her group sank the German submarine U-248. They repeated the feat on 24 April, when they located, forced to the surface and sank with gunfire the U-546, which had earlier sunk USS Frederick C. Davis (DE-136).

When Germany surrendered in early May, Varian boarded and escorted U-805 to the U.S. Later in that month, she moved to Miami, Florida, to train newly-commissioned officers, a job completed in early September. After brief service at New London, Connecticut, she steamed south to Green Cove Springs, Florida, in November 1945 and decommissioned there in March 1946. Varian remained in the Reserve Fleet until December 1972, when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. She was sold for scrapping in January 1974.

Career:

Laid down: 27 August 1943
Launched: 6 November 1943
Commissioned: 29 February 1944
Decommissioned: 15 March 1946
Struck: 1 December 1972
Fate: Sold for scrap, 12 January 1974
General characteristics Displacement: 1,740 tons full; 1,400 tons,
standard Length: 306 ft (93 m) Beam: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) Draft: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m),
maximum Propulsion: GE turbo-electric drive, 12,000 hp (8.9 MW)
two propellers Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h) Range: 4,940 nautical miles at 12 knots
(9,200 km at 22 km/h) Complement: 15 officers, 198 men