USS Bowers

Aerial shot of USS Bowers (DE-637) off Alameda, California.
History
United States
Name	Bowers
Ordered	1942
Builder	Bethlehem Steel
Laid down	28 May 1943
Launched	31 October 1943
Commissioned	27 January 1944
Recommissioned	6 February 1951
Decommissioned	18 December 1958
Reclassified	25 June 1945
Stricken	1 May 1961
Identification	Hull number: DE-637/APD-40
Fate	Transferred to the Philippines on 21 April 1961
Philippines
Name	Rajah Soliman
Acquired	31 October 1960
Commissioned	unconfirmed
Decommissioned	December 1964
Stricken	December 1964
Identification	D-66
Fate	Sunk 29 June 1964, raised December 1964. Hulk sold to Mitsubishi International Corp., January 1966
General characteristics
Class and type	Buckley-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,400 t) standard 1,740 long tons (1,770 t) full load
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draft	9.5 ft (2.9 m) standard 11.25 ft (3.43 m) full load
Propulsion	2 boilers, General Electric turbo-electric drive 2 propellers 12,000 hp (8,900 kW)
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Endurance	359 long tons (365 t) oil
Complement	15 officers, 198 enlisted
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm) cal. guns 4 × 1.1"/75 caliber gun anti-aircraft guns (1x4) 8 × 20 mm guns (8x1) 3 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (1x3) 1 × hedgehog projector 8 × K-gun depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Bowers (DE-637/APD-40) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Ensign Robert K. Bowers (1915-1941), who was killed in action aboard the battleship USS California during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The ship was laid down on 28 May 1943 at San Francisco, California, by the Bethlehem Steel Company; launched on 31 October, sponsored by Mrs. Eunice Bowers, the mother of Ensign Bowers; and commissioned on 27 January 1944. The ship served in World War II in the Pacific