USS Hubbard--DE-211

 

 (No photo is availabe of DE-211.  The Craig is a Buckley Class and very similar)

From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,”
(1968) Vol. 3, p.384.
 

CMDR. JAMES C.HUBBARD
24 January 1900-13 November 1942
Died commanding USS San Francisco in the
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

DE-211
Displacement:  1,400 t.
Length:  306’
Beam:  36’10”
Draft:  9’5”
Speed:  24 k.
Complement:  186
Armament:  3 3”; 4 1.1”; 8 20mm; 3 21” torpedo tubes;
        2 depth charge tracks;
        8 hedge charge projectors;
        1 hedge hog
Class:  BUCKLEY

        HUBBARD (DE-211) was launched by Charleston Navy Yard,
11 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Helen L. Hubbard, widow
of Commander Hubbard; and commissioned 6 March 1944, Lt.
Comdr. L. C. Mabley in command.

        Following shakedown training out of Bermuda, the new
destroyer escort returned to Norfolk 7 May 1944.  She then
escorted oiler MANATEE (AO-58) to the Caribbean, returning
to Norfolk 23 May for armament changes.  Armed with 40mm
guns in lieu of torpedo tubes, HUBBARD sailed with her first
convoy 1 June, seeing the transports safely to Bizerte,
Tunisia and returning to New York 19 July 1944.  She
subsequently made two more convoy crossings in 1944, and
underwent antisubmarine training at Casco Bay, Maine,
between voyages.

        HUBBARD sailed 26 December 1944 with other destroyer
escorts to hunt down weather-reporting U-boats in the
Atlantic.  Equipped with the latest direction-finding gear,
the ships scouted the suspected area until they came upon
U-248 16 January 1945.  Depth charge attacks sank the German
marauder late that morning.  The ships arrived New York 6
February and, after additional training in Casco Bay, sailed
again to search for submarines 4 April from Argentia.  As
part of Operation Teardrop, she took part in the destruction
of the last desperate U-boat group to sortie, with escort
carriers BOGUE (CVE-9), CORE (CVE-13), and many sister
ships.  FREDERICK C. DAVIS (DE-136) was torpedoed and sunk
suddenly 24 April, and HUBBARD joined in hunting the
attacker.  After many depth charge attacks, four by HUBBARD
alone, U-546 surfaced.  The destroyer escorts' guns blazed
away and the submarine quickly sank.

        HUBBARD returned to Boston 10 May 1945 and began her
conversion to a fast transport, suitable for the still-hot
Pacific war.  She was reclassified APD-53 1 June 1945 and
emerged from Sullivans Dry Dock, Brooklyn, 14 August, the
day before the surrender of Japan.

        Following 3 months of training operations in the
Caribbean and Casco Bay, HUBBARD arrived Green Cove Springs,
Fla., 12 November 1945.  She decommissioned 15 March 1946
and entered the Reserve Fleet, where she remained until she
was struck from the Navy List 1 May 1966 and scrapped.

        HUBBARD received two battle stars for World War II
service.
 

Transcribed by Michael Hansen
mhansen2@home.com