Cannon DE-99

Cannon

Born at St Louis Mo., 5 November 1915, George II. Cannon accepted appointment as second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps on 27 June 1938 With the 6th Defense Battalion on Midway Island Lieutenant Cannon was killed in action during the bombardment of Sand Island by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. For his distinguished conduct in the line of his profession, extraordinary courage, and disregard of his own condition during that bombardment, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

(DE-99: dp. 1,240- 1. 306'- b. 36'8"- dr. 8'9"; s. 21 k.;
cpl. 186; a. 3 3", 3 21" tt. 8 dep., i dcp.(hh.), 2 dct.;
cl. Cannon)

Cannon (DE-99) was launched 25 May 1943 by Dravo Corp., Wilmington, Del.; sponsored by Mrs. E. H. Cannon commissioned 26 September 1943, Lieutenant Commander G. Morris in command, and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.

On 30 November 1943, Cannon cleared Philadelphia for Trinidad, where she at~rived 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 success of operations in the Mediterranean.

Cannon's protection of the Allied fuel supply through the dangerous 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. Through 1960 she continued to serve in the Brazilian Navy as Baependi.