Allied Warships

USS Blakeley (DD 150)

Destroyer of the Wickes class


USS Blakeley seen here after being torpedoed by the German submarine U-156.

NavyThe US Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassWickes 
PennantDD 150 
Built byWilliam Cramp and Sons (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down26 Mar 1918 
Launched19 Sep 1918 
Commissioned8 May 1919 
End service21 Jul 1945 
History

Decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania on 29 June 1922
Recommissioned on 16 October 1939

At 15.52 hours on 25 May 1942, the USS Blakeley (Lt Cdr Mitchell Dudley Matthews, USN) was patrolling off Martinique in the French West Indies, when she was hit by a torpedo from the German submarine U-156 which carried away 60 feet of her bow. The explosion killed six men and wounded 21, but the ship did not sink and reached Port de France, Martinique for emergency repairs. After additional repairs in Port Castries, Santa Lucia and in San Juan, Puerto Rico the Blakeley steamed to Philadelphia where she was refitted with the bow taken from her stricken sister ship USS Taylor (DD 94) and was thoroughly overhauled. She returned to duty in the Caribbean in September 1942.

Decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania on 21 July 1945
Stricken 31 August 1945
Sold 30 November 1945 and broken up for scrap.

 

Commands listed for USS Blakeley (DD 150)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Kenneth Pendleton Hartman, USN16 Oct 193918 Dec 1940 (1)
2Lt.Cdr. Ernest St. Clair von Kleek, Jr., USN18 Dec 19401 Mar 1942 (1)
3Lt.Cdr. Mitchell Dudley Matthews, USN1 Mar 1942mid 1942
4William Henry Saunders, Jr., USNmid 194210 Jul 1943
5Lt.Cdr. Russell Jones Brooke, USNR10 Jul 19431 Aug 1944
6Lt. David Silberstein, USNR1 Aug 194421 Jul 1945

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Notable events involving Blakeley include:


22 May 1942
USS Blakeley picks up 7 survivors from the American merchant Quaker City that was torpedoed and sunk on 18 May 1942 by German U-boat U-156 about 300 nautical miles east of Barbados in position 15°47'N, 53°12'W.

7 Apr 1945
USS Moray (T/Cdr. F.L. Barrows, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Blakeley (Lt.Cdr. D. Silberstein, USNR) and USS Breeman (Lt. A.J. McCrudden, USNR).

8 Apr 1945
USS Moray (T/Cdr. F.L. Barrows, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Blakeley (Lt.Cdr. D. Silberstein, USNR) and USS Breeman (Lt. A.J. McCrudden, USNR).

9 Apr 1945
USS Moray (T/Cdr. F.L. Barrows, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Blakeley (Lt.Cdr. D. Silberstein, USNR), USS Breeman (Lt. A.J. McCrudden, USNR), USS Bronstein (Lt. J.H. Longley, USNR) and USS Baker (Lt.Cdr. N.C. Hoffman, USNR).

Media links


Destroyers of World War Two

Whitley, M. J.


U.S. Destroyers

Friedman, Norman


United States Destroyer Operations In World War II.

Roscoe, Theodore


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