Haze Gray Photo Feature

USS Hubbard
(DE 211/APD 53) During WWII

A Destroyer Escort at War


The Buckley-class destroyer escort USS Hubbard (DE 211) was constructed by Charleston Navy Yard as part of the massive WWII escort construction program. She was named in honor of Commander Joseph Charles Hubbard, who was killed aboard USS San Francisco (CA 38) on 13 November 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Following her commissioning on 6 March 1944, Hubbard conducted local training and escort operations, then served as an escort on three trans-Atlantic convoys. Upon completion of her convoy duty she operated with hunter-killer groups in the Atlantic, hunting down the last of the German U-boats.

In the summer of 1945 Hubbard become one of the many destroyer escorts converted to fast transports for service in the Pacific. She was redesignated APD 53 on 1 June 1945 and converted at Sullivans Dry Dock, Brooklyn, emerging from the yard one day before Japan's surrender. After a few months of local operations, Hubbard decommissioned to reserve on 15 March 1946, and was laid up at Green Cove Springs, Florida. She remained in reserve until 1966, when she was stricken and eventually scrapped.


At the time of Hubbard's decommissioning, as was common practice, a booklet illustrating highlights of her career was published for the crew. This photo feature reproduces that booklet through images generously provided by a member of her final crew. The booklet documents not only the ship herself, but also her operations, major engagements, and the activities of her crew - in short, a look at life aboard a destroyer escort during WWII.

The Photo Feature can be viewed in two formats: in a slideshow-type presentation or in a conventional gallery-style arrangement. Both versions include all 27 pages of the original booklet.

View the Booklet as a Photo Gallery

View the Booklet as a Slideshow


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