Name USS Reybold Laid down 3 May 1943 Decommissioned 15 August 1944 Construction started 3 May 1943 Length 93 m | Namesake John Keane Reybold Commissioned 29 September 1943 Struck 20 July 1953 Launched 22 August 1943 | |
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Builder Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company | ||
USS Reybold (DE-177) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.
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Reybold was named in honor of John Keane Reybold who was killed by friendly fire during a convoy run. The ship was laid down on 3 May 1943 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Port Newark, New Jersey; launched on 22 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John K. Reybold, widow of Lt. Comdr. John K. Reybold; and commissioned on 29 September 1943, Lt. Comdr. A. B. Bradley, Jr., in command.
World War II Atlantic Ocean operations
Following shakedown off Bermuda, Reybold operated briefly under ComSubLant, then completed an escort run from Rhode Island to the Panama Canal Zone. She then steamed to Norfolk, Virginia, before the end of 1943 and, on 2 January 1944, she sailed south to join the U.S. 4th Fleet. On the 15th, she arrived at Recife, Brazil, whence she escorted ships to Trinidad and back until July, interrupting that duty only for air/sea rescue operations at the end of May. In July, she guarded the sealanes between Brazil and Gibraltar, anchoring off the latter 13–15 July and returning to Recife on the 23rd to prepare for transfer to the Brazilian Navy.
Decommissioning
Shifting to Natal, Brazil, on 9 August, Reybold was decommissioned and transferred under the terms of lend-lease to Brazil on 15 August 1944. Renamed Bracuí, she continued operations under that name throughout the remainder of World War II and the 1940s. She was returned to the custody of the United States and transferred, permanently, under the terms of the military defense aid program, to Brazil on 30 June 1953. She served in the Brazilian Navy as Bracuí until 11 July 1972.