USS Menges (DE 320)
| Name | USS Menges (DE 320) | ||
| Type: | Destroyer escort (Edsall) | ||
| Tonnage | 1.200 tons | ||
| Completed | 1943 - Consolidated Steel Co, Orange TX | ||
| Owner | United States Navy | ||
| Homeport | |||
| Date of attack | 3 May, 1944 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Damaged by U-371 (Horst-Arno Fenski) | ||
| Position | 37.01N, 05.29E - Grid CH 96 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | ? men (31 dead and ? survivors). | ||
| Convoy | GUS-38 | ||
| Route | |||
| Cargo | |||
| History | On 20 Apr, 1944 about 30 German torpedo bombers attacked the convoy GUS-38 off Algiers. One attacker was downed by USS Menges (DE 320), two of the crew were taken prisoner. The destroyer escort then rescued 137 survivors from the USS Lansdale (DD 426), which had been sunk by an aircraft torpedo. On 18 Mar, 1945, U-866 (Rogowsky) was sunk by the only hunter-killer group in the North Atlantic manned completely by US Coast Guard personnel, consisting of four destroyer escorts, USS Pride (DE 323), USS Mosley (DE 321), USS Lowe (DE 325) and USS Menges (DE 320). The USS Menges (DE 320) received two battle stars for her WWII service. | ||
| Notes on loss | In the night on 2/3 May, 1944, U-371 was spotted recharging her batteries on the surface off Djidjelli on the Algerian coast. The area was swamped with six escorts from the convoy GUS-38 and three aircraft squadrons. At 01.18 hours on 3 May, the U-boat managed to hit USS Menges (DE 320) with a Gnat in the stern. The explosion severely damaged the stern, blew off both propellers and the rudders. 31 men were killed and 25 wounded, but the destroyer was towed to port and repaired. The other vessels hunted the U-boat until the early morning of 4 May when Fenksi had to surface his boat and save his crew, but at 04.04 hours he still fought back and also damaged the FFL Sénégalais (T 22) with a Gnat before scuttling the U-boat. | ||
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