Qualla: USS Shelton (DE-407) https://qualla.com/uss-shelton-de-407 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/b/7/y/uss-shelton-de-407-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: USS Shelton (DE-407) https://qualla.com/uss-shelton-de-407 USS Shelton (DE-407): Introduction https://qualla.com/uss-shelton-de-407/ Photo credit U.S. Navy, Public domain. Ensign James A. Shelton never came back from the Battle of Midway. A naval aviator reported missing during that pivotal 1942 engagement, his name lived on in a destroyer escort launched eighteen months later from the shipyards of Houston, Texas. USS Shelton (DE-407) would serve the Navy for exactly six months from commissioning to sinking -- a brief, violent career that ended in the warm waters off Morotai Island on October 3, 1944, when a Japanese torpedo found her starboard propeller and the sea poured in.

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/b/7/y/uss-shelton-de-407-wp/wb7y-uss-shelton-de-407-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full USS Shelton (DE-407): From Houston to the Pacific https://qualla.com/uss-shelton-de-407/ Photo credit U.S. Navy, Public domain. Brown Shipbuilding Company laid Shelton's keel on November 1, 1943, in Houston. She launched on December 18, sponsored by Mrs. John Shelton, and commissioned on April 4, 1944. After fitting out, she steamed to Bermuda for her shakedown cruise, then underwent repairs at the Boston...

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Image: U.S. Navy | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/b/7/y/uss-shelton-de-407-wp/wb7y-uss-shelton-de-407-from-houston-to-the-pacific.mp3 0:06 2 full USS Shelton (DE-407): The Morotai Attack Force https://qualla.com/uss-shelton-de-407/ Photo credit U.S. Navy, Public domain. In September 1944, Shelton was reassigned to Task Force 77, the Morotai Attack Force. Allied forces had just seized the southern plain of Morotai Island as a staging base for the coming invasion of the Philippines, and escort carriers provided air cover for the operation. Shelton...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/b/7/y/uss-shelton-de-407-wp/wb7y-uss-shelton-de-407-the-morotai-attack-force.mp3 0:06 3 full USS Shelton (DE-407): Torpedo in the Water https://qualla.com/uss-shelton-de-407/ Photo credit U.S. Navy, Public domain. October 3, 1944, began like any other day on station. Shelton was screening the escort carriers off Morotai when Japanese submarine Ro-41 found the task force. The first sign of danger was a torpedo wake spotted at 1,500 yards, streaking toward one of the escorts. Shelton turned ...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/b/7/y/uss-shelton-de-407-wp/wb7y-uss-shelton-de-407-torpedo-in-the-water.mp3 0:06 4 full USS Shelton (DE-407): What Remains https://qualla.com/uss-shelton-de-407/ Photo credit U.S. Navy, Public domain. Shelton lies somewhere on the seafloor near Morotai, in waters that were once among the most contested in the Pacific. The submarine that killed her, Ro-41, would itself be sunk five months later east of Okinawa, rammed by the destroyer USS Haggard in a nighttime engagement that ...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/b/7/y/uss-shelton-de-407-wp/wb7y-uss-shelton-de-407-what-remains.mp3 0:06 5 full