USS Dennis J. Buckley (DD-808)

History
United States
Name	USS Dennis J. Buckley
Namesake	U.S. Navy sailor and Silver Star recipient
Builder	Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Laid down	24 July 1944
Launched	20 December 1944
Commissioned	2 March 1945
Decommissioned	2 July 1973
Reclassified	DDR-808, 18 March 1949
Stricken	2 July 1973
Motto	Experto credite
Fate	Sold for scrap, 29 April 1974
General characteristics
Class and type	Gearing-class destroyer
Displacement	3,460 long tons (3,516 t) full
Length	390 ft 6 in (119.02 m)
Beam	40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Draft	14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
Propulsion	Geared turbines, 2 shafts, 60,000 shp (45 MW)
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	336
Armament	6 × 5"/38 caliber guns; 12 × 40 mm AA guns; 11 × 20 mm AA guns; 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 × depth charge projectors; 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS Dennis J. Buckley (DD/DDR-808) was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy.

Namesake

Dennis Joseph Buckley Jr. was born on 22 April 1920, in

demolition charges

planted by the blockade runner's crew took his life.

The destroyer escort USS Dennis J. Buckley (DE-553) was named for him, but its construction was canceled on 10 June 1944.

Construction and commissioning

Dennis J. Buckley was

launched on 20 December 1944 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. D. J. Buckley, mother of F/1c Buckley; and commissioned

on 2 March 1945.

Jidda, Saudi Arabia; and Port Said, Egypt, to Athens, Greece where the three ships joined others for a visit to Istanbul, Turkey. She returned to New York on 22 February 1949, completing a round-the-world cruise. Dennis J. Buckley departed New York on 1 March 1949 for a brief period of operations on the west coast, returning to the Canal Zone 10 May for exercises in Caribbean

waters.

She was re-classified a

Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet, returning to Newport on 6 October for local and Caribbean operations. From April to October 1951 she cruised to northern Europe, visiting Plymouth, Liverpool, and Weymouth, England; Bremerhaven, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; and Cork, Ireland and Derry, Northern Ireland

.

Between 1952 and 1955, Dennis J. Buckley completed three tours of duty in the Mediterranean, and served as gunnery and engineering school ship for destroyer officers. She participated in air defense exercises in the

North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico and trained midshipmen

and reservists.

1956–1960

Dennis J. Buckley sailed from

Nationalist Chinese holding the Quemoy Islands against the threat of Communist seizure

.

Returning to Long Beach on 27 February 1959, she sailed again for duty in the western Pacific on 15 October. She returned to Long Beach on 11 March 1960 for operations until May, underwent a three-month overhaul, and then resumed west coast duty for the remainder of the year.

detailed history, 1945–1967 at djbuckley.com

detailed history, 1968–1973 at djbuckley.com

On 2 July 1973, Dennis J. Buckley was decommissioned and stricken from Naval Vessel Register and custody accepted by Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, San Diego. On 29 April 1974 the ex-Buckley was sold to Levin Metals Corp. for $314,699.00, which started scrapping her in Richmond, California on 3 July 1974.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.

External links

Photo gallery of USS Dennis J. Buckley at NavSource Naval History
USS Dennis J. Buckley veterans' website