USS Buckley (DE-51)

USS Buckley (DE-51) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort commissioned by the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean on convoy escort, antisubmarine warfare, and hunter-killer operations, engaging German U-boats and performing rescue and escort missions before decommissioning after the war. Buckley is best known for her surface action and capture of the German submarine U-66 and for contributions to Allied anti-submarine tactics developed with escorts like USS Joyce (DE-317), USS Richey (DE-385), and escort carriers such as USS Bogue (CVE-9).

Construction and commissioning

Buckley was built at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard in Hingham, Massachusetts as part of the Evarts-class destroyer escorts program initiated by the United States Navy and United States Maritime Commission to expand escort forces in response to the Battle of the Atlantic. Her keel was laid in 1942, launched in 1943, and she was commissioned in 1943 with a complement trained in sonar, radar, and depth-charge tactics developed at Atlantic Fleet schools influenced by doctrines from Allied Naval Forces and exercises with escorts from the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy.

Design and specifications

As an Evarts-class destroyer escort, Buckley embodied the compact, mass-produced escort design emphasized by the United States Navy during World War II. She displaced approximately 1,400 long tons standard, measured roughly 306 feet in length with a beam near 36.6 feet, and employed diesel-electric drive machinery similar to other Evarts-class units. Armament included three 3"/50 caliber guns, Hedgehog anti-submarine mortars, depth-charge throwers and racks, and torpedo tubes, while sensor suites comprised sonar systems and radar sets comparable to those installed on contemporaries such as USS England (DE-635) and USS Babbitt (DD-128). Crew accommodations, damage control arrangements, and provisioning reflected lessons learned from earlier escorts like USS Buck (DE-51)—not to be confused with Buckley—and destroyers including USS Fletcher (DD-445).

World War II service

After shakedown and training, Buckley joined Atlantic convoy escort groups operating between the United States East Coast, Newfoundland, and United Kingdom, protecting merchantmen traveling under convoys organized by the U.S. Navy and Allied Naval Commands during the height of the Battle of the Atlantic. She operated with hunter-killer groups centered on escort carriers such as USS Card (CVE-11), USS Bogue (CVE-9), and USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60), coordinating with escorts like USS Thomas (DE-102) and USS Menges (DE-320) in anti-submarine sweeps and rescue operations for survivors of torpedoed ships from convoys designated under the convoy system supervised by the British Admiralty and United States Naval Forces Europe. Buckley took part in operations that integrated convoy routing intelligence from Ultra decrypts and cooperation with Coastal Command air patrols from bases in Iceland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

Battle with U-66 and notable engagements

Buckley's most famous action occurred in May 1944 during a night engagement with the German submarine U-66, a Type IXC boat commanded by Korvettenkapitän Horst von Schroeter. In company with escorts including USS Joyce (DE-317) and aircraft from Escort Carrier task groups, Buckley detected and prosecuted contact using sonar and Hedgehog attacks. After ramming and a prolonged depth-charge duel, Buckley's crew forced U-66 to surface; surface gunfire, small arms action, and boarding parties led to the seizure and capture of U-66's crew and documents, an episode that paralleled other escort successes against U-boats such as the captures involving U-505 and the sinkings of U-548 and U-853. The capture produced valuable intelligence for Naval Intelligence Division and the Allied codebreaking effort, aiding convoy routing and anti-submarine tactics adopted by groups operating from bases like Belfast, Portsmouth, and Norfolk, Virginia.

Beyond U-66, Buckley participated in numerous convoy battles, escorting tankers and troop transports such as those bound for the Normandy landings, supporting resupply for operations tied to Operation Overlord and later Allied advances in Western Europe. She coordinated with ships from the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and escorts from Free French Naval Forces in multinational operations aimed at suppressing the U-boat threat across the North Atlantic and approaches to the English Channel.

Postwar disposition and fate

Following V-E Day and the winding down of Atlantic operations, Buckley was ordered back to the United States for deactivation amid postwar reductions overseen by the Bureau of Ships and the Secretary of the Navy. She was decommissioned in 1946, struck from the Navy List, and ultimately sold for scrapping during the late 1940s as part of fleet disposals similar to those affecting other Evarts-class escorts and wartime-built vessels such as USS Holder (DE-401). Elements of her crew transferred to peacetime roles within the United States Navy Reserve and veteran associations commemorated Buckley's service alongside other decorated escorts like USS England (DE-635) and USS Buck (DE-51).

Category:Evarts-class destroyer escorts Category:World War II destroyer escorts of the United States Navy