Allied Warships

USS Belknap (AVD 8)

Destroyer of the Clemson class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Clemson
Pennant	AVD 8
Mod	Sea plane tender
Built by	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. (Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	31 Jul 1918
Launched	14 Jan 1919
Commissioned	28 Apr 1919
End service	4 Aug 1945
History	Reclassified as sea plane tender AVD-8 on 2 August 1940 Classified back to destroyer DD-251 on 1 December 1943 Reclassified as high speed transport APD-34 on 22 June 1944 Damaged beyond repair by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft in the Lingayen Gulf on 11 January 1945, 7 casualties among her crew Decommissioned on 4 August 1945 Stricken on 13 August 1945 Sold to be broken up for scrap on 30 November 1945

Commands listed for USS Belknap (AVD 8)

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.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Silas Bruce Moore, USN	2 Aug 1940	14 Sep 1941 (1)
2	Lt.Cdr. Sylvius Gazze, USN	14 Sep 1941	21 Sep 1942 (1)
3	T/Lt.Cdr. Doyle Murray Coffee, USN	21 Sep 1942	16 Jun 1943
4	John Edward Page, USNR	16 Jun 1943	6 Aug 1943
5	Benjamin Thomas Brooks, Jr., USNR	6 Aug 1943	Jul 1944
6	Lt. Ralph Childs, Jr., USNR	Jul 1944	4 Aug 1945

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Notable events involving Belknap include:

12 Mar 1943
USS Belknap picks up 18 survivors from the American merchant Jonathan Sturges and three survivors from the Dutch merchant Madoera.

The Jonathan Sturges was torpedoed and sunk on 24 February 1943 by German U-boat U-707 in the North Atlantic in position 46°15'N, 38°11'W.

The Madoera was torpedoed and damaged on 24 February 1943 by German U-boat U-653 in the North Atlantic in position 46°02'N, 39°20'W. The Madoera managed to reach St. John's, Canada under her own power on 1 March 1943.

11 May 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN), USS Belknap and USS Badger. (2)

12 May 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Belknap and USS Badger, USS Lea, USS Osmond Ingram and USS Greene. (2)