USS Buchanan (DD-131)
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| Missing image USS_Buchanan_1936.JPG USS Buchanan off Balboa, Panama, May 18 1936 | |
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| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 29 June 1918 |
| Launched: | 2 January 1919 |
| Commissioned (USN): | 20 January 1919 |
| Decommissioned (USN): | 7 June 1922 |
| Recommissioned (USN): | 10 April 1930 |
| Decommissioned (USN): | 9 April 1937 |
| Recommissioned: | 30 September 1939 |
| Transferred: | 9 September 1940 |
| Decommissioned: | |
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USS Buchanan (DD-131), named for Franklin Buchanan, was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy.
Buchanan was subsequently transferred to Britain and served as HMS Campbeltown (I42).
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Service with the United States Navy
The first USS Buchanan (DD-131) was launched on 2 January 1919 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. Charles P. Wetherbee. The ship was commissioned 20 January 1919 with Lieutenant H. H. J. Bensen in command. Buchanan reported to Commander, Destroyer Force, at Guantanamo, Cuba, and was temporarily attached to Destroyer Squadron 2 until ordered to the Pacific Fleet in July 1919 for duty with Destroyer Flotilla 4. From on 7 June 1922 until on 10 April 1930 Buchanan was out of commission at San Diego. She then joined Destroyer Division 10, Destroyer Squadrons, Battle Force, and operated on the west coast in routine division, force, and fleet activities and problems. In the summer of 1934, after making a cruise to Alaska with ROTC units aboard, she was placed in reduced commission attached to Rotating Reserve Destroyer Squadron 20 at San Diego.
Again placed in full commission in December 1934, she resumed operations with Division 5, Destroyers, Battle Force. Buchanan was again out of commission at San Diego from on 9 April 1937 until on 30 September 1939 at which time she was refitted for action with Division 65, Destroyer Squadron 32, Atlantic Squadron, and from December 1939 until on 22 February 1940 operated with the Neutrality Patrol and Antilles Detachment. She was then assigned to patrol in the Gulf of Mexico, operating out of Galveston, Texas and later off Key West and around the Florida Straits. She arrived at Boston Navy Yard 2 September and then proceeded to Halifax, where on 9 September 1940 she was decommissioned and transferred in the to the United Kingdom under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement.
Details
- Class: Wickes
- Built by: Bath Iron Works (Bath, Maine, U.S.A.)
- Laid down:
Ship's bell
The ship's bell from the first HMS Campbeltown was presented to the town of Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, United States at the end of the World War II as a token of gratitude to the USA for the lend-lease programme. In 1988 the townspeople of Campbelltown voted to lend the bell to the current HMS Campbeltown for the duration of her service in the Royal Navy, after which it will then be returned to America. HMS Campbeltown maintains strong links with the people of Campbeltown, Argyll and Campbelltown, PA.
Service with the Royal Navy - HMS Campbeltown (I42)
Upon her arrival at Devonport, England, on 29 September 1940, HMS Campbeltown was allocated to the 7th Escort Group, Liverpool, in the Western Approaches Comm and. In January 1941 she was provisionally allocated to the Royal Netherlands Navy, but reverted to the Royal Navy in September 1941. Between September 1941 and March 1942 she served with Atlantic convoys and was attacked on several occasions by enemy U-boats and aircraft, but escaped without damage. On 15 September 1941 she picked up the survivors of the Norwegian motor tanker Vinga, damaged by an enemy air attack.
Exploits at Saint-Nazaire, France
This raid, led by Campbeltown, was so successful and contained such heroism, that it resulted in the award of 5 Victoria Crosses and 80 other decorations for Gallantry. It is known also as The Greatest Raid of All. The surviving veterans of the "St Nazaire Society" are known as "Charioteers".
In 1942 the Normandie Dock in St Nazaire was the only Atlantic seaboard facility capable of taking in the German Battleship Tirpitz for essential repairs. The mission devised was codenamed Operation Chariot and its aim was to destroy the dock in the very heavily defended French port. The plan was to send in a ship to ram the dock gate and then explode. This vessel's mission would be supported by many small ships carrying British Commandos who would destroy the dock's winding and pumping facilities then wreck the dockyard infrastructure.
Campbeltown was nominated as the ship to carry out the task of destroying the dock. The ship was completely stripped out internally to reduce her draft for the transit through the shallows approaching the target dock. The work was completed in amazing record time of 10 days, with the signal detailing the work package drafted in just one hour. The ship's bows were packed with 4.5 tons of high explosive, which were hidden in false bulkheads, encased in steel and set in concrete. These explosives were set to detonate on delayed fuzes once the Commandos had completed the operation and been withdrawn to safety.
On on 26 March 1942, Campbeltown and her Operation Chariot flotilla of 16 small Motor Launches, 1 Motor Torpedo Boat and a Motor Gun Boat sailed from Falmouth for St Nazaire. The passage went smoothly and at 0134 on 28 March 1942, Campbeltown rammed into the dock gate only 4 minutes later than planned. The Commandos disembarked under heavy fire and set about their demolitions. Campbeltown blew up on her delayed fuzes at 1135 on 28 March 1942, destroying the 160 ton caisson and rendering the dock out of action until 1948.
The time delayed explosion killed 360 Germans who were onboard Campbeltown, convinced that the raid had failed. Even later, 2 torpedoes that had been fired at the inner dock and become lodged there, also exploded. This caused great confusion amongst the jittery German defenders who engaged in a fierce firefight amongst themselves and in the result suffered even greater casualties as result of friendly fire. The raid was so successful that the Tirpitz never ventured into the Atlantic again.
Of the 611 personnel who took part in Operation Chariot, 169 gave their lives, 215 were captured and became POWs while 227 returned to base. Of those who were killed 64 were Commandos and 105 were naval personnel. Of the 227 who returned, 222 did so by sea in the Motor Launches and their accompanying Destroyers. The remaining 5 Charioteers avoided capture and travelled overland on foot and by bicycle through France and Spain to Gibraltar.
The commander of Campbeltown, Lieutenant Commander Stephen Beattie, who was taken prisoner of war, was awarded the Victoria Cross for this raid.