Allied Warships

USS Blakeley (DD 150)

Destroyer of the Wickes class

USS Blakeley seen here after being torpedoed by the German submarine U-156.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Wickes
Pennant	DD 150
Built by	William Cramp and Sons (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	26 Mar 1918
Launched	19 Sep 1918
Commissioned	8 May 1919
End service	21 Jul 1945
History	Decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania on 29 June 1922 Recommissioned on 16 October 1939 At 15.52 hours on 25 May 1942, the USS Blakeley (Lt Cdr Mitchell Dudley Matthews, USN) was patrolling off Martinique in the French West Indies, when she was hit by a torpedo from the German submarine U-156 which carried away 60 feet of her bow. The explosion killed six men and wounded 21, but the ship did not sink and reached Port de France, Martinique for emergency repairs. After additional repairs in Port Castries, Santa Lucia and in San Juan, Puerto Rico the Blakeley steamed to Philadelphia where she was refitted with the bow taken from her stricken sister ship USS Taylor (DD 94) and was thoroughly overhauled. She returned to duty in the Caribbean in September 1942. Decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania on 21 July 1945 Stricken 31 August 1945 Sold 30 November 1945 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Blakeley (DD 150)

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. Kenneth Pendleton Hartman, USN	16 Oct 1939	18 Dec 1940 (1)
2	Lt.Cdr. Ernest St. Clair von Kleek, Jr., USN	18 Dec 1940	1 Mar 1942 (1)
3	Lt.Cdr. Mitchell Dudley Matthews, USN	1 Mar 1942	mid 1942
4	William Henry Saunders, Jr., USN	mid 1942	10 Jul 1943
5	Lt.Cdr. Russell Jones Brooke, USNR	10 Jul 1943	1 Aug 1944
6	Lt. David Silberstein, USNR	1 Aug 1944	21 Jul 1945

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Notable events involving Blakeley include:

22 May 1942
USS Blakeley picks up 7 survivors from the American merchant Quaker City that was torpedoed and sunk on 18 May 1942 by German U-boat U-156 about 300 nautical miles east of Barbados in position 15°47'N, 53°12'W.

7 Apr 1945
USS Moray (T/Cdr. F.L. Barrows, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Blakeley (Lt.Cdr. D. Silberstein, USNR) and USS Breeman (Lt. A.J. McCrudden, USNR).

8 Apr 1945
USS Moray (T/Cdr. F.L. Barrows, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Blakeley (Lt.Cdr. D. Silberstein, USNR) and USS Breeman (Lt. A.J. McCrudden, USNR).

9 Apr 1945
USS Moray (T/Cdr. F.L. Barrows, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Blakeley (Lt.Cdr. D. Silberstein, USNR), USS Breeman (Lt. A.J. McCrudden, USNR), USS Bronstein (Lt. J.H. Longley, USNR) and USS Baker (Lt.Cdr. N.C. Hoffman, USNR).