View source for USS Leopold (DE-319)

{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=[[Image:Leopold DE-319.jpg|300px|USS Leopold (DE-319)]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Leopold'' (DE-319) launching at Orange, Texas on 12 June 1943
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=US
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1944}}
|Ship name=USS ''Leopold''
|Ship namesake=[[Robert Lawrence Leopold]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Consolidated Steel Corporation]], [[Orange, Texas]]
|Ship sponsor=Ms. Helen S. Leopold
|Ship laid down=24 March 1943
|Ship launched=12 June 1943
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=18 October 1943
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sunk by enemy action on 10 March 1944
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Edsall|destroyer escort}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|1253|LT|t|lk=on|abbr=on}} (standard) <br/> {{convert|1590|LT|t|abbr=on}} (full load)
|Ship length={{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|36.58|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|10.42|ft|m|abbr=on}} full load
|Ship power={{convert|6000|shp|kW|lk=on|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=4 × [[Fairbanks-Morse|FM]] [[diesel engine]]s <br/> 4 × diesel-[[Engine-generator|generator]]s <br/> 2 × shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|21|kn|mph km/h|lk=on|abbr=on}}
|Ship range={{convert|9700|nmi|mi km|lk=on|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=8 officers, 201 enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship armament={{Edsall class destroyer escort armament}}
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''USS ''Leopold'' (DE-319)''' was an {{sclass|Edsall|destroyer escort}} built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. Named for [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] [[Robert Lawrence Leopold]] (who served aboard the [[battleship]] {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|2}} and was killed during the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]]), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

''Leopold'' was laid down on 24 March 1943 by the [[Consolidated Steel Corporation]] of [[Orange, Texas]]; launched on 12 June 1943; sponsored by Ms. Helen S. Leopold, sister of Ensign Leopold; and ommissioned on 18 October 1943, [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] Kenneth C. Phillips, [[United States Coast Guard|USCG]], in command.

==History==
After structural firing tests at [[Galveston, Texas]] she departed for [[New Orleans]]. On 7 November, she proceeded to [[Great Sound, Bermuda]] where shakedown exercises were begun. On 9 December, she left for [[Charleston, South Carolina]] and 11 days of post-shakedown availability. 

After four days of training exercises for officers and her nucleus crew for new destroyer escorts in the [[Chesapeake Bay]] area, ''Leopold'' stood out of [[Thimble Shoal Channel]] on 24 December 1943 as part of Task Force 61 (TF 61), escorting convoy UGS-68 to the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]]. On the 30th, ''Leopold'' was directed to go to the rear of the convoy and search for a seaman reported lost overboard from one of the convoy ships. It was very dark and fairly rough, so, unless the seaman had on a life jacket with a light, the chances of finding him were slight. After 45 minutes, she discontinued the search. The convoy reached the [[Straits of Gibraltar]] on 10 January and was turned over to [[United Kingdom|British]] escorts. ''Leopold'' moored at [[Casablanca]] on the 11th. On the 13th, she commenced patrolling as [[Anti-submarine warfare|anti-submarine]] screen across the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] side of the Straits of Gibraltar, TF 61 forming a line to prevent [[U-boats]] from entering the Mediterranean. On the 15th, she moored at [[Gibraltar]], and on the 16th proceeded out of the inner harbor to close up the stragglers on west-bound convoy GUS-27. On 1 February, a northwesterly [[gale]] caused the convoy to scatter and much time was consumed rounding up stragglers. ''Leopold'' arrived at [[New York]] on the 4th for 10 days availability at the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard|Navy Yard]]. From 14-27 February, ''Leopold'' — with other escorts of [[CortDiv|Escort Division]] 22 (CortDiv 22) — underwent training exercises at [[Casco Bay, Maine]].

Departing [[New York]] on 1 March on her second voyage, ''Leopold'' took her screening station — as part of CortDiv 22 — with the 27-ship convoy CU-16 bound for the [[British Isles]]. On the 8th, she reported an HF/DF intercept which indicated an enemy submarine on the route of the convoy. The route was consequently altered. On 9 March, while south of Iceland, she reported a radar contact at 19:50 at {{convert|8000|yd|m|abbr=on}}, which placed it {{convert|7|mi|km|abbr=on}} south of the convoy at {{coord|57|37|0|N|26|30|0|W}}. Assisted by the [[destroyer escort]] {{USS|Joyce|DE-317|2}}, ''Leopold'' was ordered to intercept. [[General Quarters]] was sounded and orders were issued to "''fire on sight.''" A [[Flare (countermeasure)|flare]] was released and gun crew strained to sight the submarine in the lighted area. The U-boat was almost submerged when spotted and the gun crews had to work blind. ''Leopold'' was struck by an [[acoustic torpedo]] fired from the {{Ship|German submarine|U-255}}. Badly damaged, she was abandoned. 

''Joyce'' rescued 28 survivors at the close of the action; 171 others were lost through explosion on board or drowning after abandoning. ''Leopold'' remained afloat until early the next morning, then sank just south of [[Iceland]]. 

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l5/leopold.htm}}
*{{cite web|title=''Leopold''|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l5/leopold.htm|accessdate=March 23, 2007}}
*{{cite web|title=USS ''Leopold'' (DE-319)|work=Destroyer Escort Photo Archive
|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/319.htm|accessdate=March 23, 2007}}
*{{cite web|title=USS ''Leopold'' (DE-319)|work=U. S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/WEBCUTTERS/Leopold.html|accessdate=March 23, 2007}}

{{Edsall class destroyer escort}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold}}
[[Category:Edsall class destroyer escorts]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Texas]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1944]]

[[Category:2Fix]]