Naval History and Heritage Command

USS Leary (DD-158) was laid down 6 March 1918 by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.; launched 18 December 1918; sponsored by Mrs. Anne Leary, mother of Lt. C. F. Leary; and commissioned 5 December 1919, Comdr. F. C. Martin in command.

USS Leary (DD-158) departed Boston 28 January 1920 for Guantanamo on shakedown and training, then continued her training in northern waters before transiting the Panama Canal 22 January 1921 to join the Battle Fleet in the Pacific. Upon completion of large-scale maneuvers off the coast of Peru in February, she returned to the Caribbean where in June she observed the effects of seaplane bombardment upon ex-German ships. In the wake of the Washington Naval Disarmament Conference, USS Leary (DD-158) was placed out of commission in reserve at Philadelphia Navy Yard 29 June 1922.

Reactivating 8 years later, on 1 May 1930 USS Leary (DD-158) joined the Atlantic Fleet with Newport, R.I., as her home port. In addition to annual exercises in the Caribbean, every other year she operated off the West Coast in joint maneuvers with the Pacific Fleet. In September 1939 destroyers USS Leary (DD-158) and USS Hamilton (DD-141) established a continuous antisubmarine patrol off the lower New England coast. The following year her patrol functions enlarged and 9 September 1941 she began a series of hazardous escort missions to Iceland. On 19 November USS Leary (DD-158) became the first American ship to make radar contact with a U-boat. After 26 February 1942 she spent a year escorting convoys from the midocean meeting point to various Icelandic ports.

Emerging from drydock the old four-stacker departed Boston 1 March for Guantanamo Naval Base where USS Leary (DD-158) engaged in antisubmarine exercises with R-5 before resuming escort duty, guarding four convoys to Trinidad, British West Indies, between mid-March and mid-June 1943. She returned to New York 25 June. USS Leary (DD-158) now began transatlantic escort voyages to guard ever-increasing amounts of supplies from the United States to the Mediterranean. 

Late in November she departed the East Coast with escort carrier USS Card (CVE-11) on a hunter-killer operation. Early in the mid-watch 24 December, USS Leary (DD-158) suddenly found herself in the midst of a German submarine pack. Leary took two torpedoes within minutes of her discovery of the enemy and a third torpedo finally sank this valiant ship. Ninety-seven members of the ship's company were lost, including her commanding officer, Comdr. James E. Keyes.

For a complete history of USS Leary (DD-158) please see its DANFS page.