Allied Warships

USS Bristol (i) (DD 453)

Destroyer of the Bristol class


USS Bristol as completed on 31 October 1941

NavyThe US Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassBristol 
PennantDD 453 
Built byFederal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New York, U.S.A.) 
Ordered12 Jun 1940 
Laid down20 Dec 1940 
Launched25 Jul 1941 
Commissioned22 Oct 1941 
Lost13 Oct 1943 
Loss position37° 19'N, 6° 19'E
History

At 04.17 hours on 13 October 1943 USS Bristol (Cdr. John Albert Glick, USN) was struck by a Gnat from U-371 on the port side at the forward engine room, while escorting a small convoy to Oran, Algeria. The ship broke in two and had to be abandoned, while the stern sank after eight and the bow after twelve minutes 70 miles west-northwest of Bone, Algeria in position 37º19'N, 06º19'E. 52 of the crew died and 241 survived and were rescued by the American destroyers USS Trippe (DD 403) and the USS Wainwright (DD 419). Amongst the survivors was the Commanding officer John Albert Glick.

 

Hit by U-boat
Sunk on 13 Oct 1943 by U-371 (Mehl).

U-boat AttackSee our U-boat attack entry for the USS Bristol (i)

Commands listed for USS Bristol (i) (DD 453)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Chester Clark Wood, USN22 Oct 194122 Sep 1942
2T/Cdr. John Albert Glick, USN22 Sep 194213 Oct 1943

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Notable events involving Bristol (i) include:


10 Oct 1940

Operation Medium.


Bombardment of Cherbourg.

10 October 1940.

The battleship HMS Revenge (Capt. E.R. Archer, RN) departed Plymouth for a night bombardment of Cherbourg during the night of 10/11 October. She was being escorted by the destroyers HMS Jackal (Cdr. C.L. Firth, MVO, RN), HMS Jaguar (Lt.Cdr. J.F.W. Hine, RN), HMS Javelin (Cdr. A.F. Pugsley, RN), HMS Jupiter (Cdr. D.B. Wyburd, RN), HMS Kashmir (Cdr. H.A. King, RN), HMS Kelvin (Cdr. J.H. Allison, DSO, RN) and HMS Kipling (Cdr. A. St. Clair-Ford, RN).

A cover force was also sailed from Plymouth on the same day. This force was to provide cover to the east of the bombardment force and was made up of the light cruisers HMS Newcastle (Capt. E.A. Aylmer, DSC, RN), HMS Emerald (Capt. F.C. Flynn, RN), the British destroyers HMS Broke (Cdr. B.G. Scurfield, RN), HMS Wanderer (Cdr. J.H. Ruck-Keene, DSC, RN and the Polish destroyers Garland (Cdr. K. Namiesniowski, ORP) and Burza (Cdr. A. Doroszkowski, ORP).

The light cruiser HMS Cardiff (Capt. P.K. Enright, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Witch (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Barnes, RN) and HMS Volunteer (Lt.Cdr. N. Lanyon, RN) departed Portsmouth to provide cover for the operation to the west of the bombardment force.

A flotilla of MA/SB boats was sailed from Plymouth to provide anti E-boat protection. These were HMS MA/SB 40, HMS MA/SB 42, HMS MA/SB 43, HMS MA/SB 44, HMS MA/SB 45, HMS MA/SB 46 and HMS MA/SB 51.

During the bombardment, which started around 0330A/11 and laster for about 20 minutes, HMS Revenge fired 120 rounds of 15” in eighteen minutes from range between 14000 and 16000 yards. Her escorting destroyers fired 801 rounds of 4.7” during the first four minutes of the bombardment and then formed a screen on the battleship.

Large fires were seen to erupt in the target area. Shore defences opened up as for being under air attack. The ships were fired on only after the bombardment had ceased. No ships were hit though despite the enemy fire being accurate.

The western cover group returned to Plymouth at 0800A/11.

The bombardment force and the eastern cover group arrived at Portsmouth around the same time.

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


Destroyers of World War Two

Whitley, M. J.


Blood on the Sea

Parkin, Robert Sinclair


amazon.com
($ 15.98)


U.S. Destroyers

Friedman, Norman


United States Destroyer Operations In World War II.

Roscoe, Theodore


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