USS Liddle (DE-206)

USS Liddle (DE-206) on 3 May 1944
History
United States
Name	USS Liddle
Namesake	William P. Liddle
Ordered	1942
Builder	Charleston Navy Yard
Laid down	8 June 1943
Launched	9 August 1943
Commissioned	6 December 1943
Decommissioned	18 June 1946
Reclassified	APD-60, 5 July 1944
Recommissioned	27 October 1950
Decommissioned	2 February 1959
Recommissioned	29 November 1961
Decommissioned	18 March 1967
Stricken	5 April 1967
Honors and awards	4 battle stars (World War II)
Fate	Sold for scrap, 25 June 1967
General characteristics
Class and type	Buckley-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,422 t) light 1,740 long tons (1,768 t) standard
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draft	9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) standard 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) full load
Propulsion	2 × boilers turbo-electric drive 12,000 shp (8.9 MW) 2 × solid manganese-bronze 3,600 lb (1,600 kg) 3-bladed propellers, 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) diameter, 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) pitch 2 × rudders 359 tons fuel oil
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range	3,700 nmi (6,900 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	15 officers, 198 men
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

USS Liddle (DE-206/APD-60), a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, in service from 1943 to 1946. She was recommissioned from 1950 to 1959 and from 1961 to 1967, before being sold for scrap.

Liddle was named in honor of Pharmacist's Mate Third Class William P. Liddle (1919–1942), who was killed in action, while serving with the

.

Liddle was laid down by

Charleston Navy Yard

on 8 June 1943; launched on 9 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. William Porter Liddle, mother of Pharmacist's Mate Third Class William Porter Liddle, Jr.; and commissioned on 6 December 1943.

1944–1946

Between 11 February and 29 June 1944 Liddle escorted

high speed transport

and reclassified APD-60 on 5 July.

Departing New York on 22 September, she arrived

Leyte

on 29 November.

Liddle embarked 141 troops on 6 December for a flanking operation in the Leyte Gulf area. After landing her troops at Ormoc without casualty on 7 December, Liddle came under attack from Japanese aircraft. Though splashing five attackers, she was hit on the bridge by a kamikaze and seriously damaged, necessitating her return to San Francisco on 16 January 1945 for repairs. While she was being refitted, a sign on her quarterdeck read: "This Ship Lost 38 Officers and Men. She is Anxious to Get Back Into Action."

By 22 February the ship was again underway to rejoin her division in liberating the Philippines. From 29 March to 5 June Liddle escorted convoys and trained for future landings. She then transported

on 1 July.

The ship next trained forces for the

Taku, China

, on 25 October.

She got underway from Taku for the United States on 23 November, touched New York New Year's Day 1946, and two days later headed for Green Cove Springs, Florida, where she decommissioned 18 June 1946 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

Liddle recommissioned on 27 October 1950 during the

on 1 October.

Liddle voyaged to the Panama Canal early in January 1952, and spent the spring and summer operating in the Caribbean. Back at Little Creek on 13 November, the fast transport intensified her tight training schedule. The need in Korea for troops with amphibious experience brought the ship to Boston in January 1953, to the Caribbean the next month, and returned her to Little Creek operations for the remainder of the summer. She sailed for the Mediterranean on 28 September to take part in "Operation Weldfast" which was a joint United Kingdom, Greek, Italian, Turkish, and United States landing exercise. Departing Oran, Algeria, on 23 January 1954, Liddle returned to Little Creek on 4 February where she became an ASW schoolship, engaged in more amphibious exercises, and conducted midshipman cruises. The ship departed Little Creek on 16 March 1955 and arrived at her new home port, New Orleans, on 21 March to take up duties as a reserve training ship. She became a unit of Reserve Escort Squadron 4, on 15 January 1958, and decommissioned on 2 February 1959.

In August 1961 the Berlin Crisis brought Liddle to active duty once again. She recommissioned on 29 November, Lt. Comdr. Royal R. Ross . As a unit of the Atlantic Amphibious Force, the ship resumed training which included a demonstration landing for President Kennedy off Onslow Beach, North Carolina, on 14 April 1962.

During the

coast and in the Caribbean represented the constant effort of the Navy to maintain a high degree of training and efficiency in case of a national emergency.

Liddle decommissioned on 18 March 1967 at Norfolk; her name was struck from the Navy List on 5 April; and she was put up for disposal. On the day she decommissioned, her former crew immediately manned USS Beverly W. Reid, which recommissioned that day. Liddle was sold on 25 June 1967 to the North American Smelting Company.

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

• Photo gallery of USS Liddle at NavSource Naval History
• Photographs from the USS Liddle