Photos and the story

Richard S. Bull

Class	John C. Butler class
Type	Destroyer escort (DE)
Hull	DE-402
Builder	Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas
Launched	1943-11-16
Commissioned	1944-02-26
Fate	Afloat. The Navy later expended her as a target.
Armament (class)	Destroyer escort. Two 5-inch guns and one funnel, on a shorter hull.
Command	Gardes, Alfred Wiltz Commanding officer from 26 February 1944

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.

Richard S. Bull, hull DE-402, belonged to the John C. Butler class of destroyer escorts. Brown Shipbuilding, at Houston, Texas, laid her down on 18 August 1943 and launched her on 16 November 1943. The Navy commissioned her on 26 February 1944. Her first commanding officer was Lieutenant Commander Alfred Wiltz Gardes.

Her Pacific duty took her to Eniwetok, Ulithi, Saipan, and Iwo Jima. She was credited with 5 battle stars.

The Navy later expended her as a target.

The pictures on this page are the originals.