USS Willard Keith (DE-754)

History
Name:	USS Willard Keith
Namesake:	Captain Willard Woodward Keith, Jr., (1920-1942), U.S. Marine Corps Navy Cross recipient
Builder:	Western Pipe and Steel Company, San Pedro, California
Laid down:	14 September 1943
Launched:	Never
Fate:	Construction cancelled 2 October 1943; scrapped incomplete
General characteristics
Class and type:	Cannon-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,240 tons
Length:	306 ft (93 m)
Beam:	36 ft 8 in (11.18 m)
Draft:	8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
Speed:	21 knots
Complement:	186
Armament:	3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns (3×1) 2 × 40 mm AA guns (1x2) 8 × 20 mm AA guns (8×1) 3 × 21 in. torpedo tubes (1×3) 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog) 2 x depth charge tracks

The first USS Willard Keith (DE-754) was a United States Navy Cannon-class destroyer escort proposed during World War II but never completed.

Willard Keith was laid down by the Western Pipe and Steel Company at San Pedro, California, on 14 September 1943. Her construction was cancelled on 2 October 1943 before she could be launched. The incomplete ship was scrapped.

The name Willard Keith was reassigned to destroyer escort Willard Keith (DE-314).

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Naval History: Destroyer Escorts, Frigates, Littoral Warfare Vessels