USS J. Douglas Blackwood

USS J. Douglas Blackwood  (DE-219), was a  in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1961. She was sunk as a target in 1970.

Namesake
James Douglas Blackwood was born on 12 November 1881 in Philadelphia. He enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve as an Assistant Surgeon on 14 April 1917. He served on transports in the Atlantic during World War I, earning the Navy Cross for attending the sick and wounded when troop transport USS President Lincoln was torpedoed on 31 May 1918. He entered the Regular Navy in 1919, and served on various ships and at Naval Hospitals in the United States and abroad in the years that followed. He served the people of Haiti from 1927 to 1930 when assigned to a Public Health unit on that island. He was appointed Medical Inspector with the rank of Commander in 1938, reported to  on 30 September 1940. During the Battle of Savo Island 9 August 1942 he was killed when the Vincennes was sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy ships.

Construction and commissioning
J. Douglas Blackwood was launched on 29 May 1943, by Philadelphia Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. J. Douglas Blackwood, widow of Comdr. Blackwood; and commissioned on 15 December 1943.

Service history

1943–1946
After shakedown off Bermuda, J. Douglas Blackwood rendezvoused with carrier  off Hampton Roads on 14 February 1944, to escort her to the Panama Canal. The escort ship then returned to the East Coast for duty as training ship and coastal escort until departing Norfolk, Virginia on 18 March for the Pacific. Sailing via the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor, J. Douglas Blackwood, arrived at Majuro on 18 April 1944, to begin vital convoy screening work between America's far-flung island bases. The ship operated mainly in the Solomons and Admiralties, returning to Pearl Harbor in October 1944 for anti-submarine training.

J. Douglas Blackwood, steamed to Eniwetok on 2 November, and resumed convoy escort work, this time between the Solomons and the Philippines. As that great archipelago was liberated, island by island, the escort ship helped bring supplies and men from advance bases. She remained on this duty until arriving at Pearl Harbor on 12 April 1945, and for the remainder of the war operated in Hawaiian waters training with newly commissioned carriers and Pacific Fleet submarines.

The war over, J. Douglas Blackwood steamed into Mare Island Navy Yard on 4 September 1945, and after repairs made the long voyage through the Canal to the East Coast. She arrived at New London on 9 January 1946, decommissioned on 20 April 1946, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

1950–1958
With the outbreak of fighting in Korea in 1950, the Navy's need of fighting ships once again increased. J. Douglas Blackwood, recommissioned on 5 February 1951. Based at Norfolk, the ship alternated between duty there and the Fleet Sonar School at Key West, Florida. She also engaged in at sea training for midshipmen, cruising to the Caribbean and Brazil in the summer of 1953. She remained on this duty until arriving at Philadelphia on 15 November 1957. There she began her new assignment as Reserve Training Ship. J. Douglas Blackwood decommissioned on 1 August 1958, and was placed "in service." For the next three years, she acted as training ship for naval reservists in the Philadelphia area.

1961–1970
During the 1961 Berlin Crisis, the ship was again recalled to active service, commissioning on 2 October 1961. After refresher training in the Caribbean, she served on escort and patrol duty in the Atlantic through the summer of 1962. She decommissioned on 1 August 1962, reverted to her "in-service" status, and resumed reserve training duty at Philadelphia. J. Douglas Blackwood remained on this important duty into 1967, always ready to serve the Navy in time of need.

From January 1969 to January 1970 the Blackwood was assigned to the Naval Reserve Training Facility 3rd Naval District in Whitestone, N.Y.

J. Douglas Blackwood was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 January 1970, and was sunk as a target on 20 July 1970.

Awards
J. Douglas Blackwood received three battle stars for World War II service.

References

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Buckley-class destroyer escorts
Ships built in Philadelphia
World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States
1943 ships