USS Buckley (DE-51)

History
Name:	USS Buckley
Builder:	Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard
Laid down:	29 June 1942
Launched:	9 January 1943
Commissioned:	30 April 1943
Decommissioned:	3 July 1946
Reclassified:	DER-51, 26 April 1949 DE-51, 29 September 1954
Struck:	1 June 1968
Honors and awards:	Navy Unit Commendation & 3 battle stars (World War II)
Fate:	Sold for scrap, July 1969
General characteristics
Class and type:	Buckley-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,400 long tons (1,422 t) light 1,673 long tons (1,700 t) standard
Length:	306 ft (93 m)
Beam:	37 ft (11 m)
Draft:	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion:	Turbo-electric drive, 12,000 shp (8.9 MW) 2 shafts
Speed:	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Complement:	186
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 tube 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 8 × K-gun depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Buckley (DE/DER-51), a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Ordnanceman John D. Buckley (1920–1941), who was killed in action during the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian Islands.

Buckley was launched on 9 January 1943 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, Massachusetts, sponsored by Mrs. James Buckley, mother of Aviation Ordnanceman Buckley; and commissioned on 30 April 1943 with Lieutenant Commander A. W. Slayden in command.

Between July 1943 and 22 April 1944, Buckley operated along the eastern seaboard as training ship for prospective officers and nucleus crews of other destroyer escorts.

On 22 April 1944, she joined hunter-killer Task Group 21.11 (TG 21.11) for a sweep of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean convoy routes. On the morning of 6 May, aircraft from the escort carrier Block Island (CVE-21) reported an enemy submarine near Buckley. She steamed toward the surfaced submarine, evading her torpedoes and gunfire, and commenced firing. At 0328 Buckley rammed the German submarine U-66 and then backed off. Shortly thereafter, the submarine struck Buckley, opening a hole in the escort vessel's starboard side. Hand-to-hand combat ensued between crew members of the two combatants on Buckley's foredeck, involving, among other weapons, coffee mugs and shell casings. The U-66 drew astern of Buckley and sank at 0341 in 17°17′N 32°24′W / 17.283°N 32.400°W / 17.283; -32.400 (German submarine U-66), after hand grenades were dropped down its hatch..

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