USS Benner
 DD 807

We are seeking information on the USS Benner and her crews. Files and photos may be emailed to us and we will incorporate them into this page. When enough information has been assembled we will then build the ship her own section.

The Gearing Class as Constructed 

          Displacement:  2,616 tons (3,460 tons full load)
          Length:        390 feet 6 inches
          Beam:          40 feet 10 inches
          Draught:       14 feet 4 inches (mean)
          Machinery:     four Babcock & Wilcox boilers;
                         2-shaft G.E.C. geared turbines
          Performance:   60,000 shp for 36.8 knots
          Bunkerage:     740 tons
          Range:         4,500 nautical miles at 20 knots
          Guns:          six 5 inch DP; twelve 40 mm;
                         eleven 20 mm
          Torpedoes:     ten 21 inch in two mounts

Subject: USS Benner, DD/DDR 807 Reunion

Helping a friend who served on the the Benner in '45. I just came across a reunion notice and thought I would pass it along. It is scheduled for Johnstown, Pa September 10-13, 1997. Information is at 814-798-4744. Reunions for the Benner and other ships are listed on

http://www.boston.com/globe/calendar/reunions/reunions.htm
[ Sometimes available and sometimes not depending on the whims of the Boston Globe - DOL Editor ]

All above is FYI.
Brian Green

From: [email protected]
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 20:22:29 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: USS Benner (DD807)

Sir,

I found your address in "Destroyers Online" - My father, Vernon W. Dove, was aboard the destroyer USS Benner (DD807) from 1945-47. I have been looking for info online for him about the ship, but this is the first luck I've had. If you have any info, please respond to me. I did find out about the reunion in Sept. 1997, and will give my father the info. He recalls the following people from the crew:

Captain Munholland
Maurice Martin
Joe Stiltner
Malone Simmons

Thanks for any help you can give me! Would like to help my father enjoy his memories.

Terri Mabry
Chattanooga, TN

From: [email protected]
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 23:22:07 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: USS Benner (DDR-807)

I served aboard the USS Benner for a short time in 1960. I was assigned as her EMO after overhaul at US Navy Shipyard Long Beach, Calif in Jan. 1960. Her Captain at that time was CDR J. B. Drachnik, Executive Officer was LCDR Drago. Unfortunately I did not get to stay aboard but about nine months when I was assigned to commission the H. B. Wilson (DDG-7) and departed the Benner in September 1960 to report to Bay City , Mich. as Pre-commissioning EMO for the Wilson. I certainly enjoyed my short tour on the Benner.

Charles E. Busenlehner LCDR, USN (ret) [email protected]


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