_in_1958_(USN_1035698).jpg) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSJ. Douglas Blackwood |
| Namesake | J. Douglas Blackwood |
| Ordered | 1942 |
| Builder | Philadelphia Navy Yard,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania |
| Laid down | 22 February 1943 |
| Launched | 29 May 1943 |
| Commissioned | 15 December 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 20 April 1946 |
| Commissioned | 5 February 1951 |
| Decommissioned | 1 August 1958 |
| In service | 1 August 1958 |
| Out of service | 2 October 1961 |
| Recommissioned | 2 October 1961 |
| Decommissioned | 1 August 1962 |
| In service | 1 August 1962 |
| Out of service | 30 January 1970 |
| Stricken | 30 January 1970 |
| Honors and awards | 3battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate | Sunk as a target, 20 July 1970 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Buckley-classdestroyer escort |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 306 ft (93 m) |
| Beam | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Draft |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 23knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Range |
|
| Complement | 15 officers, 198 men |
| Armament |
|
USSJ. Douglas Blackwood (DE-219), was aBuckley-classdestroyer escort in service with theUnited States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1961. She was sunk as a target in 1970.
James Douglas Blackwood was born on 12 November 1881 inPhiladelphia. He enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve as an Assistant Surgeon on 14 April 1917. He served on transports in the Atlantic duringWorld War I, earning theNavy Cross for attending the sick and wounded when troop transportUSSPresident Lincoln was torpedoed on 31 May 1918. He entered the Regular Navy in 1919, and served on various ships and at Naval Hospitals in the United States and abroad in the years that followed. He served the people ofHaiti from 1927 to 1930, when assigned to a Public Health unit on that island. He was appointed Medical Inspector with the rank of Commander in 1938, reported toUSS Vincennes on 30 September 1940. During theBattle of Savo Island, on 9 August 1942, he was killed when theVincennes was sunk byImperial Japanese Navy ships.[citation needed]
J. Douglas Blackwood was launched on 29 May 1943, byPhiladelphia Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. J. Douglas Blackwood, widow of Comdr. Blackwood; and commissioned on 15 December 1943.
After shakedown offBermuda,J. Douglas Blackwood rendezvoused withcarrierHornet (CV-12) offHampton Roads on 14 February 1944, to escort her to thePanama Canal. The escort ship then returned to the East Coast for duty as training ship and coastal escort until departingNorfolk, Virginia on 18 March for thePacific. Sailing via the Panama Canal andPearl Harbor,J. Douglas Blackwood, arrived atMajuro on 18 April 1944, to begin vitalconvoy screening work betweenAmerica's far-flung island bases. The ship operated mainly in theSolomons andAdmiralties, returning to Pearl Harbor in October 1944 foranti-submarine training.
J. Douglas Blackwood, steamed toEniwetok on 2 November, and resumed convoy escort work, this time between the Solomons and thePhilippines. As that great archipelago was liberated, island by island, the escort ship helped bring supplies and men from advance bases. She remained on this duty until arriving at Pearl Harbor on 12 April 1945, and for the remainder of the war operated in Hawaiian waters training with newly commissioned carriers andPacific Fleetsubmarines.
The war over,J. Douglas Blackwood steamed intoMare Island Navy Yard on 4 September 1945, and after repairs made the long voyage through the Canal to the East Coast. She arrived atNew London on 9 January 1946, decommissioned on 20 April 1946, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
With the outbreak offighting in Korea in 1950, the Navy's need of fighting ships once again increased.J. Douglas Blackwood, recommissioned on 5 February 1951. Based at Norfolk, the ship alternated between duty there and theFleet Sonar School atKey West, Florida. She also engaged in at sea training formidshipmen, cruising to theCaribbean andBrazil in the summer of 1953. She remained on this duty until arriving atPhiladelphia on 15 November 1957. There she began her new assignment as Reserve Training Ship.J. Douglas Blackwood decommissioned on 1 August 1958, and was placed "in service." For the next three years, she acted as training ship for naval reservists in the Philadelphia area.
During the 1961Berlin Crisis, the ship was again recalled to active service, commissioning on 2 October 1961. After refresher training in the Caribbean, she served on escort and patrol duty in theAtlantic through the summer of 1962. She decommissioned on 1 August 1962, reverted to her "in-service" status, and resumed reserve training duty at Philadelphia.J. Douglas Blackwood remained on this important duty into 1967, always ready to serve the Navy in time of need.
From January 1969 to January 1970 the Blackwood was assigned to the Naval Reserve Training Facility 3rd Naval District in Whitestone, N.Y.
J. Douglas Blackwood was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 30 January 1970, and was sunk as a target on 20 July 1970.[1]
J. Douglas Blackwood received threebattle stars forWorld War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
