Allied Warships

USS Lansdale (DD 426)

Destroyer of the Benson / Gleaves class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Benson / Gleaves
Pennant	DD 426
Built by	Boston Navy Yard (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	19 Dec 1938
Launched	20 Oct 1939
Commissioned	17 Sep 1940
Lost	20 Apr 1944
Loss position	37° 03'N, 3° 51'E

History	USS Lansdale (Lt Cmdr Douglas Mckean Swift, USN) was sunk after being torpedoed by German aircraft about 15 miles northeast of Algiers, Algeria in position 37º03'N, 03º51'E, 49 of her crew were lost and 232 survivors which includes 76 wounded were rescued by the USS Menges/Newell; The Commanding officer was amongst the Survivors.

Commands listed for USS Lansdale (DD 426)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. John Connor, USN	17 Sep 1940	13 Feb 1942
2	Lt.Cdr. Eugene Field McDaniel, USN	13 Feb 1942	5 Jul 1942
3	Lt.Cdr. Donald Cord Varian, USN	5 Jul 1942	16 Sep 1942
4	T/Cdr. Valery Havard, Jr., USN	16 Sep 1942	31 Dec 1943
5	T/Lt.Cdr. Douglas McKean Swift, USN	31 Dec 1943	20 Apr 1944

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Notable events involving Lansdale include:

24 Jan 1941
HMS King George V (Capt. W.R. Patterson, CVO, RN) arrived in Chesapeake Bay where Lord Hallifax and his staff disembarked.

The battleship had been escorted in by the US destroyer USS Lansdale (Lt.Cdr. J. Connor, USN). (1)

25 Jan 1941
HMS King George V (Capt. W.R. Patterson, CVO, RN) departed Chesapeake Bay for the U.K. She had on board a naval delegation of cypher specialists and a copy of a Japanese Cypher machine for Bletchley Park. HMS King George V was escorted out by USS Lansdale (Lt.Cdr. J. Connor, USN).

En-route to the U.K, HMS King George V, was to give protection to a large tanker convoy (BHX 104) that was on passage from Bermuda to the U.K.

She joined the convoy on 31 January 1941 and parted company with it on 3 February 1942 to proceed to Scapa Flow.

[For more info on this convoy see the event convoy ' BHX 104 ' for 21 January 1941.] (2)

5 Sep 1941
USS Lansdale picks up 3 survivors from the Panamanian merchant Longtaker that was torpedoed and sunk on 18 August 1941 south-west of Iceland in position 61°26'N, 30°50'W by German U-boat U-38.

21 Aug 1942
During 21/22 August 1942 HMS H 32 (Lt. J.R. Drummond, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Madison, USS Lansdale, USS Hilary P. Jones, USS Charles F. Hughes and USS Plunkett. These also included night exercises. (3)

21 Aug 1942
HMS H 43 (Lt. J.C.Y. Roxburgh, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Plunkett, USS Hilary P. Jones, USS Charles F. Hughes and USS Lansdale. (4)

23 Aug 1942
HMS H 32 (Lt. J.R. Drummond, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Lansdale, USS Plunkett, HMS Achates (Lt.Cdr. A.H.T. Johns, RN) and HMS Yestor (Lt. R.C. Holt, RNVR). (3)

11 Feb 1943
HMS H 44 (Lt. I.S. McIntosh, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Campbell, USS Lansdale and USS Hilary P. Jones. (5)

8 Apr 1943
HMS H 50 (Lt. G.S.C Clarabut, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Madison, USS Lansdale, USS Charles F. Hughes, USS Babbitt and USS Upshur. (6)

11 Jun 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Madison, USS Lansdale, HMS Wanderer (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Whinney, RN) and HMS Inconstant (Lt.Cdr J.H. Eaden, DSC, RN). (7)

27 Jul 1943
HMS H 32 (Lt. J.A.R. Troup, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Madison, USS Lansdale, HMS Winchelsea (Lt.Cdr. G.W. Gregorie, RD, RNR), HMS Pennywort (Lt. O.G. Stuart, RCNVR) and HMS Clover (Lt. P.H. Grieves, RNR). (8)

27 Jul 1943
HMS P 511 (Lt. C.W. Taylor, RNR) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle together with HMCS Assiniboine (Cdr. K.F. Adams, RCN), USS Madison (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Hager, USN) and USS Lansdale (Cdr. V. Havard, Jr., USN). (9)

28 Jul 1943
HMS H 32 (Lt. J.A.R. Troup, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Madison, USS Lansdale and USS Charles F. Hughes. (8)