- USS Bancroft (DD-256)
The second USS "Bancroft" (DD-256) was a "Clemson"-class
destroyer in theUnited States Navy , and transferred to theRoyal Canadian Navy , where she served as HMCS "St. Francis" duringWorld War II .As USS "Bancroft"
Named for
George Bancroft , she was launched21 March 1919 byBethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation ,Quincy, Massachusetts , sponsored by Miss Mary W. Bancroft, great granddaughter of George Bancroft; and commissioned30 June 1919, Lieutenant Commander H. S. Haislip in command."Bancroft" joined the Atlantic Fleet and took part in fleet training activities until
26 November 1919 when she went into reserve commission. She was placed out of commission atPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania 11 July 1922 ."Bancroft" was recommissioned
18 December 1939 and served with the Atlantic Squadron on the east coast until decommissioned at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and transferred toGreat Britain in the destroyer-land bases exchange24 September 1940 .As HMCS "St. Francis"
"Bancroft" was allocated to the Royal Canadian Navy and was taken over by the Canadians
24 September 1940 . Following the Canadian practice of naming destroyers after Canadian rivers (but with deference to the U.S. origin), "St. Francis" was named after the St. Francis River forming the border between northernMaine andQuebec andNew Brunswick . [Milner 1985 p.23] "St. Francis" left Halifax15 January 1941 and arrived in theRiver Clyde ,Scotland ,26 January . She joined the 4th Escort Group and on20 May she rescued all the survivors of the steamship "Starcrose" which had to be sunk after being torpedoed by asubmarine . At the end of June she escorted a troop convoy to theMiddle East and in July she joined the newly formedNewfoundland Escort Force . Between 1941 and 1943 "St. Francis" made several attacks on enemy submarines while escorting convoys ON-95, SC-85, ON-105, HX-197, and ON-116 withMid-Ocean Escort Force group C-4. [Milner 1985 p.286] "St. Francis" subsequently escorted convoy ON-121 with Escort Group C-3, convoy SC-99 with Escort Group C-1, and convoy ON-147 with Escort Group C-4. [Milner 1985 pp.285-9]After refitting at Halifax, "St. Francis" joined Escort Group C.2 in the
Western Approaches Command in June 1943 but in August was transferred to the 9th Escort Group (RCN), working fromLondonderry Port ,Northern Ireland . She returned to the Western Local Escort Force at Halifax the following month. From early 1944 she was employed on training duties atDigby, Nova Scotia , where on1 April 1945 she was declared surplus.On her way to Baltimore to be scrapped by the Boston Iron & Metal Co. in July 1945, she sank as a result of a collision off Cape Cod, Mass. [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2/bancroft-ii.htm]
Notes
References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2/bancroft-ii.htm
*External links
*http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/256.htm
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