The USS Piedmont was commissioned on Jan. 5, 1944 in Tampa, FL and decommissioned on Sept. 30, 1982 in Norfolk, VA after 38 years of active service. During that time”Doc” and the well trained crew of 1,000 sailors serviced both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets during three major wars; WW II, Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War.
After Decommissioning, “Doc” was leased to Turkey, one of our NATO Allies. During the 50th Anniversary Piedmont Reunion in Tampa, FL (1994), we received a picture of the Turkish Derya (USS Piedmont) being cut up for scrap in an Istanbul dry dock, a sad occasion.
The Piedmont Reunion Assoc. was founded in 1989 by John Geraghty and a few other WW II plank sailors. (“Plank” sailors are the first crew to man a ship when it was commissioned.) Since that time, we have had annual reunions, usually in October, with the exception of 2001 because of the 9/11 attacks. The objectives of the Association are to bring together all former Piedmont crew members so that past friendships may be reestablished, new ones made and that the memory and history of one of the US Navy’s finest ships may endure.
See the “How to join us” page if you would like to become a member.