USS Darby
Service
- as USS Darby15 November 1943 — 23 September 1968657 days of the war
- Name
- USS Darby
- Namesake
- Marshall E. Darby
- Builder
- Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Ordered
- 1942
- Laid down
- 22 February 1943
- Launched
- 29 May 1943
- Commissioned
- 15 November 1943
- Decommissioned
- 28 April 1947
- Recommissioned
- 24 October 1950
- Struck
- 23 September 1968
- Fate
- Sunk as a target, 24 May 1970 (1970)
- Status
- Wreck
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 1,400 long tons (1,422 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 1,740 long tons (1,768 t)
- Length
- 93.27 m (306 ft)
- Beam
- 11.28 m (37 ft)
- Draught
- 2.74 m (9 ft)
- Speed
- 23 knots (42.6 km/h, 26.5 mph)
- Range
- 3,700 nmi (6,852 km)
- Complement
- 213
- Main gun
- 76 mm (3 in)
USS Darby was a Buckley-class destroyer escort, operated by the United States Navy. The ship was named after Marshall E. Darby. Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania laid her keel on 22 February 1943. She entered service on 15 November 1943, having been launched on 29 May 1943.
98 ships of the class were built. The class followed the Evarts-class destroyer escort and was succeeded by the Cannon-class destroyer escort.
Displacement was 1,400 long tons standard and 1,740 long tons at full load. She measured 93.3 m (306 ft) long with a beam of 11.3 m (37 ft). Her designed speed was 23 knots, and she carried a complement of 213. Her main battery was of 76 mm (3.0 in) calibre.
She was in commission for 657 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 28 April 1947. She recommissioned on 24 October 1950. She was struck from the register on 23 September 1968.
She was expended as a target on 24 May 1970. The wreck survives.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- 2 × boilers
- General Electric turbo-electric drive
- 12000 shp
- 2 × solid manganese-bronze 3600 lb 3-bladed propellers, 8 ft diameter, 7 ft pitch
- 2 × rudders
- 359 tons fuel oil
- Armament
- 3 × 3"/50 caliber guns
- 1 × quad 1.1"/75 caliber gun
- 8 × single 20 mm guns
- 1 × triple 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
- 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar
- 8 × K-gun depth charge projectors
- 2 × depth charge tracks
Sister ships
- HMS Bentinck (K314)
- HMS Bligh
- HMS Byron
- HMS Calder (K349)
- HMS Conn
- HMS Cosby
- HMS Dakins
- HMS Duff (K352)
- HMS Ekins
- HMS Fitzroy (K553)
- HMS Halsted (K556)
- HMS Hargood (K582)
- HMS Holmes (K581)
- HMS Hotham (K583)
- HMS Redmill (K554)
- HMS Retalick
- HMS Riou
- HMS Rowley
- HMS Rupert (K561)
- HMS Rutherford
- HMS Seymour (K563)
- HMS Spragge (K572)
- HMS Stockham
- HMS Thornborough
Sources
- Facts harvested from USS Darby on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Unknown author — U.S. Navy photo KN-12893 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons