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USS BANCROFT (DD-256)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NAJQ

CLASS - CLEMSON As Built.
Displacement 1,215 Tons, Dimensions, 314' 5" (oa) x 31' 8" x 9' 10" (Max)
Armament 4 x 4"/50, 1 x 3"/23AA, 12 x 21" tt..
Machinery, 26,500 SHP; Curtis Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 35 Knots, Crew 114
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Bethlehem Steel, Quincy on November 4 1918.
Launched March 21 1919 and commissioned June 30 1919.
Decommissioned July 24 1922, Recommissioned December 18 1939.
Decommissioned September 24 1940.
To Britain (Canada) September 24 1940, renamed HMCS St.Francis (I93).
Stricken January 8 1941.
Fate Sank while under tow to Philadelphia off Sagonnet Point, Rhode Island following collision with the SS Winding Gulf, 14 July 1945.

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Bancroft 84kGeorge Bancroft 3 October 1800 - 17 January 1891) was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state and at the national level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845. Digital ID: cwpbh 02618, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.Bill Gonyo
Bancroft 54kUnderway circa 1940, location unknown.Cal Emerson/Robert Hurst
On Canadian Service
Commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy at Halifax on 24 September 1940, HMCS St Francis served as a local escort until January 1941 when she arrived on the Clyde for refit and subsequent work up at Tobermory, finally completing in early April 1941 to join 4th Escort Group. with which she served until mid-July 1941 when she went to Pictou for refit. During the intervening period she escorted a number of convoys, and rescued the crew of Starcross on 20 May. During the Pictou refit, the after boiler and funnel was removed to provide an increased bunker capacity of 470 tons, and she also had her bridge rebuilt. It is not clear if the choice of No.4 bolier was dictated by damage, as in HMCS Annapolis, or by the experience gained from that ship's alterations. The USN also removed No.4 boiler room in some ships for a similar reason, whereas the RN in their three Town conversions favoured the forward boilers. Joining NEF on completion of refit in October 1941, HMCS St Francis was widely employed in the North Atlantic, refitting at Londonderry from Mid-September to mid-November 1942 and at Halifax from 1 December 1942 to 16 April 1943. In April 1943 she joined C2 Group for a brief period, and then repaired at Halifax in July 1943 after which she joined 9th Escort group and then WEF. Taken in hand with defects at Shelburne in late October 1943, she was surveyed and assigned as static depot ship to the shore establishment HMCS Cornwallis in February 1944, in which capacity she remained until 1 April 1945 when she was turned over to the Crown War Assets Disposal Commission. Sold to Frankel Bros. for breaking up, she was wrecked in tow after a collision with Winding Gulf on 14 July 1945, while en route to the breaker's yard. Her consort on that occasion was HMCS Hamilton; some reports indicate that it may have been that ship which was lost, certainly one flush decker lies wrecked as a result of the incident. (Foreign service history thanks to Robert Hurst)
Edwards 17kUndated, location unknown. Courtesy of http://www.readyayeready.com.Robert Hurst
Bancroft 59kHMCS St. Francis (ex-USS Bancroft, DD-256) early in her war service with mainmast reduced to a stump, shortened funnels, a modified bridge, radar Type 286 and the usual 12pdr aft and the loss of the after tubes.Robert Hurst
Bancroft 42kHMCS St. Francis after completing her conversion to a Long Range Escort between July and October 1941.Robert Hurst

USS BANCROFT DD-256 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The hazegray Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves

LCDR Harvey Shadle Haislip    Jun 30 1919 - Sep 11 1921
ENS Charles Meredith Abson    Sep 11 1921 - Jul 11 1922
(Decommissioned July 24 1922 - December 18 1939)
LT Ernest St. Clair Von Kleeck Jr.    Dec 18 1939 - May 31 1940 
LT Walter Paul Schoeni    May 31 1940 - Jul 6 1940 (Later RADM)
LCDR Harry Fanker Miller    Jul 6 1940 - Sep 24 1940 (Later RADM)

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Destroyers Online Website
Official U.S.Navy Destroyer Website

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