_underway_off_New_York_on_3_May_1944_(NH_85671).jpg) USSLiddle (DE-206) on 3 May 1944 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSLiddle |
| 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 | 4battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 25 June 1967 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Buckley-classdestroyer escort |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 306 ft (93 m) |
| Beam | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Draft |
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| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 23knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Range |
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| Complement | 15 officers, 198 men |
| Armament |
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USSLiddle (DE-206/APD-60), aBuckley-classdestroyer escort of theUnited 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 the1st Marine Division, during theBattle of Guadalcanal on 19 August 1942. He was posthumously awarded theSilver Star.
Liddle was laid down byCharleston 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.
Between 11 February and 29 June 1944Liddle escortedconvoys on three round trips across theNorth Atlantic fromNew York City toWales,Gibraltar, andTunisia. Upon returning to New York she was converted to aCharles Lawrence classhigh speed transport and reclassifiedAPD-60 on 5 July.
Departing New York on 22 September, she arrivedHollandia,New Guinea, on 4 November for duty with the7th Fleet. She left New Guinea on 17 November to screen a supply convoy bound forLeyte Gulf,Philippine Islands, and arrived off the beaches on 24 November. On the same day she got underway to escort anLST formation to thePalaus, and returned toLeyte on 29 November.
Liddle embarked 141 troops on 6 December for a flanking operation in the Leyte Gulf area. After landing her troops atOrmoc without casualty on 7 December,Liddle came under attack from Japaneseaircraft. Though splashing five attackers, she was hit on the bridge by akamikaze and seriously damaged, necessitating her return toSan 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 JuneLiddle escorted convoys and trained for future landings. She then transportedAustralian troops to theNetherlands East Indies, and supported the landings atBrunei Bay on 10 June andBalikpapan on 1 July.
The ship next trained forces for theassault on the Japanese homeland, but the news ofJapan's surrender ended this task.Liddle transported equipment toKorea through the mine-infested waters of theEast China andYellow Seas in September 1945, evacuated prisoners of war fromDairen, Manchuria, on 5 October, and became the Port Director Ship atTaku, China, on 25 October.
She got underway from Taku for the United States on 23 November, touched New YorkNew Year's Day 1946, and two days later headed forGreen Cove Springs, Florida, where she decommissioned 18 June 1946 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
_underway_at_sea%2c_circa_in_1954.jpg)
Liddle recommissioned on 27 October 1950 during theKorean War. Departing Green Cove Springs on 25 November, she arrivedNorfolk, Virginia, two days later to joinTransport Division 22. From late April 1951 to June, the ship participated in amphibious training which included convoy exercises to the North Atlantic. She departed Norfolk on 16 June for service with the6th Fleet in theMediterranean for reconnaissance work and amphibious exercises. She resumed landing training after returning toLittle Creek on 1 October.
Liddle voyaged to thePanama Canal early in January 1952, and spent the spring and summer operating in theCaribbean. 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 toBoston 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. DepartingOran, Algeria, on 23 January 1954,Liddle returned to Little Creek on 4 February where she became anASW schoolship, engaged in more amphibious exercises, and conductedmidshipman 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 ofReserve Escort Squadron 4, on 15 January 1958, and decommissioned on 2 February 1959.
In August 1961 theBerlin Crisis broughtLiddle to active duty once again. She recommissioned on 29 November, Lt. Comdr. Royal R. Ross . As a unit of theAtlantic Amphibious Force, the ship resumed training which included a demonstration landing forPresident Kennedy offOnslow Beach, North Carolina, on 14 April 1962.
During theCuban Missile Crisis from 24 October to 20 November 1962, she patrolled off theBahama Islands to enforce American demands for the removal ofRussian offensive weapons from Cuban soil. She then returned to her training exercises, and February 1963 was underway as a unit ofAmphibious Squadron 8, part of theCaribbean Ready Squadron. Operating between Little Creek and the Caribbean,Liddle participated in a mercy mission toHaiti from 13 to 19 October 1963 to deliver food, clothing, and medical supplies to the coastal areas struck byHurricane Flora. From 1964 through 1966 her continuing service along theAtlantic 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 theNavy List on 5 April; and she was put up for disposal. On the day she decommissioned, her former crew immediately mannedUSS 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 thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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