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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive
Ship's patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Darby (DE-218)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - H - A - C
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "Falling Rock"
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Navy Expeditionary Medal - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 2 stars
Second Row: World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star - Philippine Liberation Ribbon
Class: Buckley      Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1,400 tons (std) 1,740 tons (full)   Dimensions: 306' (oa), 300' (wl) x 36' 9" x 13' 6" (max)
Armament: 3-3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1-1.1"/75 Mk2 quad AA (4x1), 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1),
1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Machinery: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 knots   Range: 4,940 nm @ 12 knots   Crew: 15 / 198
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Philadelphia NSY on 22 February 1943
Launched 29 May 1943, Commissioned 15 November 1943
Decommissioned 28 April 1947, Recommissioned 24 October 1950
Assigned to NRT, 5th Naval District at Baltimore MD, placed "In Service, In Reserve" 23 February 1959
Activated for the Berlin Crisis, October 1961 to August 1962, returned to NRT duties at Baltimore
Decommissioned (?) 1958, Stricken 23 September 1968
Fate: sunk as target 24 May 1970
Click On Image
For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Darby 22k Marshall Eugene Darby, Jr. was born 10 November 1918 in Washington, D.C. He graduated from the Naval Academy on 6 June 1940. Ensign Darby served in the battleship USS Oklahoma(BB-37) until he was killed in action during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.)

USS Darby (DE-218) was the first ship named in his honor.

(Photo from The Official Web Site of the USS Oklahoma BB-37 thanks to Kevin King)		 Bill Gonyo
Darby 184k 15 November 1945: Mare Island NSY, San Francisco CA - Aft plan view of USS Darby (DE-218) at Mare Island. Mare Island modified the areas circled. USS Harmon (DE-678) is inboard and USS J. Douglas Blackwood (DE-219) and USS Coolbaugh (DE-217) are outboard of Darby. Darby was in overhaul at the yard from 4 September to 17 November 1945. (US Navy photo #DE-218-7185-45) Darryl Baker
Darby 200k 15 November 1945: Mare Island NSY, San Francisco CA - Amidships plan view of USS Darby (DE-218) at Mare Island. Mare Island modified the areas circled. USS Harmon (DE-678) is inboard and USS J. Douglas Blackwood (DE-219) and USS Coolbaugh (DE-217) are outboard of Darby. Darby was in overhaul at the yard from 4 September to 17 November 1945. (US Navy photo #DE-218-7186-45)
Darby 31k undated wartime image Robert L. Anderson
Darby 166k undated postwar image
Darby 23k undated postwar image
Darby 34k undated postwar image
Darby 35k undated postwar image
Darby 47k 1951: at Norfolk, Virginia
Darby 56k date / location unknown Robert Hurst
Darby 33k circa 1955 / location unknown
Darby 45k TS Soya-Atlantic, which collided with Darby, 19 March 1960 Collision Photos from Walt Pollin Walt Pollin ET2
USS Darby (1957-1960)
Darby Memorabilia
Ship's Emblem
Drawing
Darby
Courtesy of
Robert L. Anderson
View the USS Darby (DE-218), DANFS history entry
located on the US Naval Historical Center web site.
More History (from former crewmembers)
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Contact Name: YNC Robert L. Andersen (ret)
Address: 3610 Benson Avenue / Baltimore MD 21227
Phone: (410) 644-9251
E-mail: rande71777@msn.com
Note About Contacts

Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists or rosters available. Please see the Frequently Asked
Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

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Page Last Updated 20 April 2008