U.S.S. England
DE-635
1944
(Neptun 1351)
- Class: Buckley (TE) - 102 destroyer escorts of 1942-43
- Displacement: 1,400 tons light / 1,740 tons full load
- Dimensions: 300'(wl) 306'(oa) x 37' x 13'6"
- Machinery: 2-shaft turbo-electric drive, S.H.P. 12,000 = 23.5 knots
- Armament: 3-3in/50 (3x1), 4-1.1in (1x4), 8-20mm AA guns, 3-21in TT;
2 DCT, 8 DCP, 1 hedgehog
- Complement: 220
- Builder: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, San Francisco
- Keel Laid: 4 Apr 1943
- Launched: 26 Sep 1943
- Commissioned: 10 Dec 1943
- Decommissioned: 15 Oct 1945
- Notes: Also known as the "long hull" or TE (Turbo Electric drive) class. A total of 154 were planned, of which 102 were completed for the U.S. Navy, 46 transferred to Great Britain, becoming part of the Royal Navy's Captain class, and 6 were converted to APD high-speed transports. Of the 102 completed as USN DEs, a further 37 were later converted to APDs.
- Service: One of the most heralded DEs of WWII. Over a period of twelve days from 18 May 1944 to 31 May, England sank six Japanese submarines without air or significant surface support: I-16, RO-106, RO-104, RO-116, RO-108, and RO-105. For the balance of the year she escorted in the Solomons and in the Treasury Islands, around Australia, Hollandia, and Leyte. Early in 1945, she escorted to the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Ulithi, and Okinawa. On 9 May 1945 she was attacked by three kamikazes, of which two were splashed by our aircraft, but one of which crashed England just below the bridge, killing 37 men, wounding 25, and ending her war service. Awarded Presidential Unit Citation and ten battle stars.
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