USS Buchanan, a 1090-ton Wickes class destroyer, was built at Bath, Maine. She was commissioned in January 1919 and initially operated in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas. In May the new destroyer helped provide route protection for the trans-Atlantic crossing of the Navy's NC flying boats. Buchanan transited the Panama Canal in July 1919 to join the Pacific Fleet, serving along the West Coast until she was placed out of commission in June 1922.
Recommissioned in April 1930, Buchanan was assigned to the Battle Force and continued her work in the Pacific for seven more years. She also made a training cruise to Alaska in mid-1934. Buchanan was decommissioned in April 1937, as newer destroyers entered the Fleet, but was brought back to active duty at the end of September 1939 after the outbreak of World War II in Europe caused the United States to enlarge the Navy for neutrality enforcement purposes. She operated for the rest of 1939 and well into 1940 in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. In early September 1940 Buchanan was sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she was decommissioned and turned over to Great Britain as part of an agreement by the U.S. to trade fifty old destroyers for basing rights in British possessions in the Western Hemisphere.
She became HMS Campbeltown in Royal Navy service. After spending a few months as an escort in the Western Approaches to the British Isles, she was assigned to the Royal Netherlands Navy in January 1941. After returning to the R.N. in September 1941 the destroyer escorted shipping in the Atlantic, where she saw action against German submarines and aircraft. In March 1942 Campbeltown was outfitted as an explosive blockship. On the 28th of that month she played the lead role in a raid on the German base at St. Nazaire, France. After steaming into the the large drydock there, she was deliberately sunk. Later in the day HMS Campbeltown blew up violently, wrecking the drydock entrance. Her sacrifice made it impossible to carry out major repairs to heavy ships on the French west coast, thus greatly reducing the risk that the German Navy might employ the battleship Tirpitz in raids against the Allies' Atlantic shipping routes.
USS Buchanan was named in honor of Admiral Franklin Buchanan (1800-1874), who was an important figure in the United States and Confederate States Navies.
This page features all the views we have related to USS Buchanan (Destroyer # 131, later DD-131).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 50016 USS Buchanan (Destroyer # 131) At Boston, Massachusetts, 24 January 1919. Panoramic photograph by J. Crosby, Naval Photographer, # 11 Portland Street, Boston. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 44KB; 740 x 280 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 61469 USS Buchanan (Destroyer # 131) Underway on 26 February 1919. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 69317 USS Buchanan (DD-131) In port, probably at San Diego, California, circa the early 1920s,. Note that the after 4"/50 gun is still mounted on her fantail. Also note the pattern of the numeral "3" painted on her bow. Courtesy of ESKC Joseph L. Aguillard, USNR, 1969. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 500 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 102767 USS Buchanan (DD-131) Laying a smokescreen during exercises, circa 1919-1922. Donation of H.E. ("Ed") Coffer. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 475 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98510 USS Buchanan (DD-131) At Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, 18 May 1936. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 95792 Trans-Atlantic Flight of the "NC" Aircraft, May 1919 Diagram of the third leg of the flight of the NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4 aircraft, between Trepassy Bay, Newfoundland, and the Azores, during 16 May to 20 May 1919. It also shows the positions of the 21 U.S. Navy destroyers stationed along the way. Printed by the Matthews-Northrup Works, Buffalo, New York. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 109KB; 900 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 42536 Destroyers in the Middle Chambers, Gatun Locks During the Pacific Fleet's passage through the Panama Canal, 24 July 1919. Those in the front center are (left to right): USS Yarnall (Destroyer # 143) is by herself just aft of that group. Partially visible at right are (left to right): Two of the three ships just astern of that group are: Photographed by the Panama Canal Company (their photo # 80-C-5). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 126KB; 740 x 565 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 57141 Destroyers in the Upper Chambers, Gatun Locks During the Pacific Fleet's passage through the Panama Canal, 24 July 1919. Those present are: U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 555 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 69308 USS Aaron Ward (DD-132) Photographed during the early 1920s, probably off the U.S. West Coast. USS Buchanan (DD-131) is at left. Courtesy of ESKC Joseph L. Aguillard, USNR, 1969. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 490 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98487 Thirteenth Destroyer Division Officers & Crews on board their ships in San Diego Harbor, California, 6 December 1919. Signalmen are sending semaphore messages from atop the ships' bridges. Panoramic photograph by O.A. Tunnell, Masonic Temple Building, San Diego. Ships present are (from left to right): Upshur (Destroyer # 144), Greer (Destroyer # 145), Elliot (Destroyer # 146), Aaron Ward (Destroyer # 132), Buchanan (Destroyer # 131) and Philip (Destroyer # 76). Donation of Captain W.D. Puleston, USN (Retired), 1965. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 107KB; 1200 x 275 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98029 "Old Hen and Chickens" USS Kanawha (AO-1) with thirteen destroyers alongside, off San Diego, California, during the early 1920s. Photographed by Bunnell, 414 E Street, San Diego. Ships present are identified in Photo # NH 98029 (complete caption). Collection of Chief Quartermaster John Harold, USN. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 465 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 49903 U.S. Navy Destroyers Moored together at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, circa April 1934. Photographed by Stahl. Destroyers present include (from right to left): USS Detroit (CL-8) is in the right background. Note bands painted on the after smokestacks of William B. Preston and Preble. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-455906 Balboa Harbor, Panama Canal Zone Aerial photograph taken 23 April 1934, with U.S. Fleet cruisers and destroyers moored together. Most of the ships present are identified in Photo # 80-G-455906 (extended caption). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 298KB; 1200 x 970 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 31 May 2003
New image added 13 March 2005