NEC 111X-Unrestricted Line Officer - Surface Warfare
Base, Station or City Yokosuka
State/Country Japan
Patch
USS Gurke (DD-783) Details
USS GURKE (DD-783)
CLASS - GEARING As Built.
Displacement 3460 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 390' 6"(oa) x 40' 10" x 14' 4" (Max)
Armament 6 x 5"/38AA (3x2), 12 x 40mm AA, 11 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 36.8 Knots, Range 4500 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 336. Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Todd Shipyards, Seattle. July 1 1944.
Launched February 15 1945 and commissioned May 12 1945.
Completed FRAM upgrade May 1964.
Stricken January 30 1976.
To Greece March 17 1977, renamed Tombazis.
Decommissioned (?).
Stricken January 12 1997. Fate Laid up in Souda Bay Crete as of January 1998.
Named for;
Henry Gurke was born 6 November 1922 at Neche, North Dakota. Enlisting in the Marine Corps 15 April 1942, he participated in the invasion and occupation of Pavuvu, Russell Islands. Private Gurke was killed during the battle for Bougainville 9 November 1943. He and another Marine were sharing a foxhole to defend a vital road when a Japanese grenade dropped directly in on them. Knowing that his companion manned an automatic weapon with greater fire power than his own and could thereby provide more effective resistance, Gurke thrust the other Marine aside and threw himself over the grenade to smother the explosion. For his gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, Private Gurke was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.