James Arthur Busey
Rank: Fireman First Class, U.S. Coast Guard
Serial: 00520257
Unit: USS Leopold (DE-319)
Died:
Awards: Purple Heart
Memorialized: Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England
Biography
Fireman First Class James Arthur Busey was the son of Mrs. Zelah Catherine Busey of 1669 Port Davis Place SE, Washington, D.C., and Mr. Samuel A. Busey of 154 Second Avenue, Mount Ephraim, New Jersey. As a member of the Coast Guard, he served aboard the destroyer escort USS Leopold (DE-319).
USS Leopold (DE-319) was laid down on March 24, 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas; launched June 12, 1943; sponsored by Miss Helen S. Leopold, sister of Ensign Leopold; and commissioned October 18, 1943, Lt. Comdr. Kenneth C. Phillips, USCG, in command. The Leopold was 100% manned by Coast Guard personnel.
After a shakedown cruise off Bermuda, the Coast Guard-manned Leopold departed Norfolk on December 24, 1943 to escort convoy USG-68 to Casablanca. Arriving January 11, 1944, the destroyer escort made an antisubmarine patrol off the Straits of Gibraltar until sailing five days later on an escort passage to the United States. Departing New York on March 1 on her second voyage, Leopold screened convoy CU-16 for the British Isles. While investigating a submarine contact on the eve of March 9, 1944, at 57° 37′ N., 26° 30′ W., Leopold was struck by an acoustic torpedo fired from U-255, a Type VIIc U-boat commanded by Oberleutnant Erich Harms. The explosion split the warship in half. Sister ship Joyce (DE-317) rescued 28 survivors at the close of the action; 171 others were lost through explosion on board or drowning after abandoning. Leopold remained afloat until early the next morning, then sank, approximately 400 miles south of Iceland.
The USS Leopold was the first destroyer escort lost in World War II. James Busey was 23 at the time of his death.
USS Leopold (DE-319)
USS Leopold (DE-319) at launching, June 12, 1943, just before leaving the ways. Consolidated Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, Orange, Texas.
The USS Leopold was named in honor of Robert Lawrence Leopold, born November 11, 1916 in Louisville, Kentucky, who enlisted in the Naval Reserve July 10, 1940. Following training on the gunnery training ship Wyoming (AG-17), he was appointed midshipman September 16, 1940, and commissioned ensign December 12. Reporting for duty on board Arizona (BB-39) two weeks later, Ensign Leopold served in that battleship until killed in action December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor.