USS ''Conner'' (DD-72), a , served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, and later in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as HMS ''Leeds''.

Construction and commissioning

The first US Navy ship named for

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

David Conner (1792–1856), ''Conner'' was launched on 21 August 1917 by

William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) of Philadelphia was founded in 1830 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder of the late 19th century. Company hi ...

Ship and Engine Building Company at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and commissioned on 12 January 1918.

Technical characteristics

''Conner'' was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and at the waterline, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of .

Service history

United States Navy

''Conner'' put to sea from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on 12 May 1918 to escort a

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

to the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and Brest, France, Brest, France. From Brest, she operated with U.S. Naval Forces, France, escorting convoys inbound to British and French ports, and outbound for Bermuda. Frequently sent to aid ships which had reported sighting Imperial German Navy submarines, she rescued survivors from the sea twice in July 1918. At the end of World War I, she had duty on regular mail and passenger runs between Brest and Plymouth, England, and on 8 May 1919, she put out from Plymouth escorting the ships carrying President of the United States, President Woodrow Wilson and United States Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to Brest for the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. Returning to the United States, ''Conner'' joined in fleet maneuvers in Narragansett Bay off Rhode Island in the summer of 1919, and entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia on 4 October 1919. Later she lay in reserve at Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk, Virginia, until May 1921, when she participated in large-scale fleet exercises with a reduced complement. She remained at Newport, Rhode Island, Newport, Rhode Island, for operations with submarines. Between 13 October 1921 and 29 March 1922, she lay at Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, returning then to Philadelphia, where she was Ship decommissioning, decommissioned on 21 June 1922. In July 1940, the US Navy ordered ''Conner'' to be rearmed as an escort vessel, with two sets of torpedo tubes and the aft 4-inch gun to be replaced by 3"/50 caliber gun, 3-inch/50 caliber anti-aircraft guns. This process was interrupted by the decision to transfer 50 old destroyers, including ''Conner'', to the United Kingdom under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. ''Conner'' was recommissioned on 23 August 1940 and fitted out at Philadelphia. Designated for inclusion in the fulfilllment of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement, she proceeded to City of Halifax, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where she was decommissioned 23 October 1940

Royal Navy

The destroyer was transferred to the United Kingdom and commissioned in the

as HMS ''Leeds'' on 23 October 1940, the day of her transfer. ''Leeds'' cleared Halifax on 1 November 1940 bound for Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she arrived on 10 November 1940. Under the Rosyth Command, she escorted

s in the North Sea between the Thames and the Firth of Forth, successfully weathering many air attacks. On 20 April 1942, she went to the aid of the destroyer , towing her into Harwich. She drove German E-boats away from her convoy on the night of 24–25 February 1944. ''Leeds'' was placed in reserve at Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth in April 1945. She was sold for scrapping on 4 March 1947 and broken up.

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conner (Dd-72) Caldwell-class destroyers World War I destroyers of the United States Ships built by William Cramp & Sons 1917 ships Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy Town-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Town-class destroyers converted from Caldwell-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom