USS/USCGC Lansing
Lansing slides down the ways at the Brown Shipbuilding Company in Houston Texas on August 2, 1943.
22 years later, the last sailor would depart the decks of Lansing for the final time at decommissioning 21 May 1965. 9 years later, in February 1974, the ship would be scrapped. During those years, the ship was in active commission status three separate times. Each commissioning found the vessel in a different configuration suitable for the mission of the time. A total of 1804* men served in this hull and walked these decks. Coast Guard and Navy crews from the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s, each in turn manned the ship in the service of their country.
The line drawings below depict each of the three incarnations of Lansing at a specific point in time. The ship's movements are listed from private and National Archive sources.
* All decklogs and muster records with the exception of approximately 6 months in 1945 have been checked. Exhaustive efforts to locate the missing records have not been productive thus far. It is likely that the total number of men who served aboard will increase when these records are uncovered.
The USS Lansing DE 388 was commissioned 10 November 1943 at Houston Texas. An Edsall class destroyer escort built primarily for ocean ASW escort service during WWII. The Lansing was powered by Fairbanks-Morse Reduction geared diesel engines with a speed (trial) of 20.9 knots and endurance (trial) of 10,800 Nautical miles at a speed of 12 knots.
The Lansing DE 388, a U. S. Navy ship, was manned by Coast Guard crewmembers from commissioning day, 10 November 1943 at Houston, Texas until decommissioning at Green Cove Springs, Florida, 25 April 1946.
A total of 583 men served aboard Lansing during the DE years.
USCGC Lansing WDE 488 was commissioned 11 June 1952 in support of Korean War operations. The Lansing was one of twelve WWII Fairbanks-Morse reduction geared DE’s loaned to the Coast Guard, performing weather patrol as well as search and rescue missions in the Pacific. The vessel was painted white with a yellow stack, one hundred was added to the number and it was redesignated WDE while in Coast Guard Service. In support of the new mission, a balloon shack was built aft of the stack. Improvements were made in the heads, galley, and berthing compartments.
The USCGC Lansing WDE 488 was manned by Coast Guard crew members from commissioning date 11 June 1952 at Green Cove Springs, FL until decommissioning on March 29 1954 at San Diego, Pacific Reserve Fleet.
A total of 273 men served aboard during the WDE years of Lansing.
The USS Lansing DER 388 was commissioned 18 December 1956 as a Radar Picket Destroyer Escort. The DER extended the Continental Air Defense System seaward providing early warning for land-based interceptors. Changes made during the conversion to DER include complete rearrangement of berthing, mess, CIC, radio, sonar and machinery spaces. Aluminum deckhouse and radar masts were added. A TACAN aircraft beacon for control of defensive aircraft was added as were, passive ECM, SPS-8 Height finding radar, SPS-28 Air Search radar and SPS-10 surface search radar. The USS Lansing DER 388 was manned by U.S. Navy crewmembers from commissioning date 18 December 1956 at Long Beach, California until the final decommissioning 21 May 1965 at the Pacific Reserve Fleet Bremerton, Washington.
A total of 948 men served aboard the DER version of Lansing.
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