USS Cannon

Not to be confused with USS Canon (PG-90).

USS Cannon (DE-99) was a destroyer escort launched on 25 May 1943 by the Dravo Corporation in Wilmington, Delaware and was sponsored by Mrs. E. H. Cannon. Cannon was commissioned on 26 September 1943 and reported to the United States Atlantic Fleet. The ship was named in honor of George H. Cannon, a Medal of Honor recipient.

USS Cannon (DE-99) on 5 September 1943
History
United States
Name	USS Cannon (DE-99)
Namesake	George H. Cannon
Builder	Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware
Launched	25 May 1943
Commissioned	26 September 1943
Decommissioned	19 December 1944
Stricken	20 July 1953
Fate	Transferred to Brazil
History
Brazil
Name	Baependi
Acquired	19 December 1944
Out of service	1975
General characteristics
Class & type	Cannon-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,240 long tons (1,260 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	36 ft 8 in (11.18 m)
Draft	8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
Speed	21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Complement	186
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns (3×1) 2 × 40 mm Bofors AA guns (1x2) 8 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns (8×1) 3 × Torpedo tubes for 21-inch Mark 15 torpedo (1×3) 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 2 x depth charge tracks

Service history

On 30 November 1943, Cannon cleared Philadelphia for Trinidad, where she arrived on 5 December to begin a year of duty escorting convoys from that oil rich island to Recife and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During this time, she made one voyage from Brazil to Gibraltar, guarding convoys whose tankers carried the fuel essential to the operations in the Mediterranean.

Cannon's protection of the Allied fuel supply through the sea lanes of the Caribbean and the Atlantic Narrows ended on 4 December 1944, when she arrived at Natal, Brazil to begin training a Brazilian crew in the operation of the ship. Cannon was decommissioned and transferred to Brazil on 19 December 1944 at Natal. She continued to serve in the Brazilian Navy as Baependi until 1975.

Awards

American Campaign Medal

World War II Victory Medal