View source for USS Leopold

{{Short description|WWII US naval vessel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Launching of USS Leopold (DE-319) at Consolidated Steel, Orange, Texas (USA), on 12 June 1943 (NH 91597).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Leopold'' (DE-319) launching at Orange, Texas on 12 June 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|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 the submarine {{GS|U-255||2}}, 10 March 1944
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Edsall|destroyer escort}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1253|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} (standard)
*{{convert|1590|LT|t|0|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=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*4 × [[Fairbanks-Morse|FM]] [[diesel engine]]s
*4 × diesel-[[Engine-generator|generator]]s
*2 × shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|21|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship range={{convert|9700|nmi|mi km|lk=in|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=
}}
|}

'''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 to date it is the only United States Navy vessel to bear the name.

==Namesake==
Robert Lawrence Leopold was born on 11 November 1916 in [[Louisville, Kentucky]]. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve 10 July 1940. Following training in [[Wyoming]], he was appointed [[midshipman]] on 16 September 1940 and commissioned [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] on 12 December. Reporting for duty on board the {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|6}} two weeks later, Leopold was killed in action on 7 December 1941 during the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''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 commissioned on 18 October 1943.

==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 30 December, ''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 British escorts. ''Leopold'' moored at [[Casablanca]] the next day. On 13 January, 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-boat]]s from entering the Mediterranean. On 15 January, she moored at [[Gibraltar]], and the following day, 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 City|New York]] on 4 February for ten days availability at the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard|Navy Yard]]. From 14 to 27 February, ''Leopold'' – with other escorts of [[CortDiv|Escort Division]] 22 (CortDiv 22) – underwent training exercises at [[Casco Bay, Maine]].

Departing [[New York City|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 8 March, 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}} (Captained by Lt. Comdr. R. Wilcox, U.S. Coast Guard), ''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}}. Shortly after the torpedo strike, the crew of ''Leopold'' began to abandon ship as she broke in half.

''Joyce'' rescued 28 survivors at the close of the action; 171 others were lost through the explosion on board, drowning, and – most of all – cold water immersion. ''Leopold''{{'}}s bow remained afloat until early the next morning until sunk as a hazard to navigation by gunfire from ''Joyce'' 400 miles south of Iceland.

==The book==
In 2017 Lyons Press published ''Never to Return'' by Randall Peffer and Col. Robert Nersasian. Through the use of extensive interviews with survivors of ''Leopold'', ''Joyce'', and the German submarine ''U-255'', the book tells the story of the battle and the struggles of the 28 men who survived. The book also resolves unanswered questions about why it took ''Joyce'' so long to begin rescuing the crew of ''Leopold'' from the icy water. Col. Nersasian's brother Sparky was one of the 28 survivors.

==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|access-date=23 March 2007|archive-date=8 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208221322/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l5/leopold.htm|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite web|title=USS ''Leopold'' (DE-319)|work=Destroyer Escort Photo Archive
|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/319.htm|access-date=23 March 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|access-date=23 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513041833/http://www.uscg.mil/history/WEBCUTTERS/Leopold.html|archive-date=13 May 2007|url-status=dead}}
 
{{Edsall class destroyer escort}}
{{March 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{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 sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:Ships built in Orange, Texas]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1944]]