USS Strickland (DE-333) - World War II North Atlantic Operations

World War II North Atlantic Operations

Strickland sailed for Bermuda on her shakedown cruise and thence to Norfolk, Virginia. She stood out of that port on 24 March in the screen of convoy UGS-37, consisting of 60 merchant ships and six LSTs, en route to Bizerte. The voyage to Gibraltar was uneventful; but, once the Allied ships entered the Mediterranean, they were trailed by German planes. The Luftwaffe struck late in the evening of 11 April when the convoy was off Cape Bengut, Algeria, with a force of approximately 25 Dornier 217s and Junker 88s making bombing and torpedo runs. Strickland, on the starboard flank of the convoy, splashed a Junker that was making a strafing run on her. During the action, USS Holder was torpedoed and badly damaged. The ship's return trip to the United States was uneventful, and she arrived at New York on 11 May.

Strickland continued on the Norfolk-to-Bizerte run for five months and, in October, shifted to the North Atlantic lanes, escorting tankers and troop transports to England and France. She continued these runs until mid-May 1945 when she returned to New York to be refitted for duty in the Pacific. She stood out of New York on 20 June for a 10-day training period at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and onward routing via the Panama Canal to Hawaii.