USS Buchanan (DD-131)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Buchanan.

USS Buchanan off Balboa, Panama, 18 May 1936
History
United States
NameUSS Buchanan
NamesakeFranklin Buchanan
BuilderBath Iron Works
Laid down29 June 1918
Launched2 January 1919
Commissioned20 January 1919
Decommissioned7 June 1922
Recommissioned10 April 1930
Decommissioned9 April 1937
Recommissioned30 September 1939
Decommissioned9 September 1940
Stricken8 January 1941
IdentificationDD-131
FateTransferred to United Kingdom 9 September 1940
United Kingdom
NameHMS Campbeltown
Commissioned9 September 1940
IdentificationPennant number I42
FateExpended as demolition ship during St. Nazaire Raid. Destroyed 29 March 1942.
General characteristics
Class and typeWickes-class destroyer
Displacement1,260 tons
Length314 ft 4 in (95.8 m)
Beam30 ft 6 in (9.3 m)
Draft
  • 9 ft 0 in (2.7 m) (light)
  • 12 ft 0 in (3.7 m) (full load)
Propulsion
  • 4 × Normand return-flame boilers
  • Brown-Curtis single reduction geared turbines
  • 30,000 shp (22,371 kW), 2 shafts
Speed35 knots (65 km/h)
Complement158 officers and enlisted
Armament

USS Buchanan (DD-131), named for Franklin Buchanan, was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy.

Buchanan was transferred to the United Kingdom under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement in 1940 and served as HMS Campbeltown (I42). She was destroyed during the St. Nazaire Raid: at 1:34 on 28 March 1942, loaded with four tons of amatol explosive, the ship rammed the gates of the Forme Ecluse Louis Joubert dry dock. The ship exploded the following morning, ending the use of the dock for the rest of the war.