She was named after Charles Hazeltine Hammann who was awarded the Medal of Honor, when, as a pilot of a seaplane 21 August 1918, off the coast of Italy, he dived down and landed next to a downed fellow pilot, brought him aboard, and although his plane was not designed for the double load, brought him to safety amid constant danger of attack by Austrian planes.
Hammann was laid down 10 July 1942 as Langley,[1] renamed Hammann 1 August 1942, launched by Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas, 13 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Lilliam Rhode, sister of Charles Hammann;[2] and commissioned 17 May 1943.
Between 28 March 1944 and 29 November 1944 the busy ship made no less than six more voyages successfully convoying to and from Europe, stopping at ports in Northern Ireland. Starting 4 January the ship changed her convoy destination to Liverpool and made four more voyages protecting the vital flow of supplies for the end of the European war. During one passage, 2 March 1945, Hammann was called upon to aid one of the ships in the convoy, SS Lone Jack, after a torpedo attack. The destroyer escort picked up 70 survivors and sent salvage parties aboard the stricken ship to keep her afloat.
End-of-war activity
Her duties in the Atlantic completed, Hammann departed New York 7 July 1945 for training operations in the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, area, departing 24 July for California. She arrived San Diego, California, via the Panama Canal 4 August, and from there proceeded to Pearl Harbor. As the Pacific war was then over, the destroyer escort took on passengers at Pearl Harbor for California, and after discharging them sailed through the Canal again to Charleston, South Carolina, arriving 25 September.
Post-war decommissioning
She decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Florida, 24 October 1945, and was placed in reserve. She was later moved to the Texas Group at Orange, Texas, where she remained out of commission in reserve until she was stricken 1 October 1972, sold 18 January 1974, and scrapped.