Sutton I DE-771

Sutton I

(DE-771: dp. 1,240; 1. 306'; b. 36'7; dr. 11'8; s. 21 k.; cpl. 216, a. 3 3", 1 40mm., 10 20mm., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 dcp (hh.), 3 21" tt.; cl. Cannon)

Sutton (DE-771) was laid down on 23 August 1943 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, Fla., launched on 6 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Shelton B. Sutton, Sr.; and commissioned on 22 December 1944, Lt. T. W. Nazro in command.

After fitting out, Sutton sailed on 12 January 1945 for the Bermuda operating area and held her shakedown there until she headed for Boston on 14 February. After yard work at the Boston Navy Yard and training at Casco Bay, Maine, she was assigned to Escort Division (CortDiv) 79 which was attached to Task Group (TG) 22.13 and sailed for Argentia, Newfoundland, on 1 March. The group conducted antisubmarine patrols off Newfoundland from 4 to 22 March when it returned to Casco Bay.

Sutton stood out of Casco Bay, on 3 April, with her task group which took station on the North-South antisubmarine barrier patrol.

Sutton and Neal A. Scott (DE-769) were relieved of patrol duty on 9 May to intercept the German submarine U-1228 which wished to surrender. They contacted the former sea wolf the next day, and the two ships began escorting it to Casco Bay. However, Sutton was soon detached to accept the surrender of U 234. Sutton met the latter U-boat two days later, and she escorted it towards the United States. On 15 May she put a 15-man boarding party on the submarine and embarked 37 prisoners, including General der Flieger Ulrich Kessler of the Luftwaffe. Sutton's destination was changed to Portsmouth, N.H., where she arrived with U-234 on the 19th. The submarine and the prisoners were delivered to a representative of the 1st Naval District. The escort steamed on to New York two days later and remained there until early June.

Sutton and CortDiv 79 departed New York for Jacksonville, Fla., on 10 June and arrived on the 14th. Sutton operated out of Mayport until 29 August when she sailed for Charleston And a yard overhaul which lasted all of September. She moved up the coast to Norfolk from 5 to 18 October when she sailed for the Gulf of Mexico. Sutton was at New Orleans from 23 October to 6 November when she got underway for Norfolk. The escort operated from there until the fall of 1947 when she moved to New York to be inactivated. She was placed in reserve, out of commission, in September 1947 and assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet In 1948, the destroyer escort was moved to Florida and joined the mothball fleet at Green Cove Springs.

Sutton was loaned to the Republic of Korea on 2 February 1956 under the Grant Aid Program and, as of March 1974, still served that government as Kang Won (DE-721).