Allied Warships

USS Hambleton (DD 455)

Destroyer of the Bristol class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Bristol
Pennant	DD 455
Built by	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Ordered	1 Jul 1940
Laid down	16 Oct 1940
Launched	26 Sep 1941
Commissioned	22 Dec 1941
End service	15 Jan 1955
History	Converted to High Speed Minesweeper DMS-20 on 15 November 1944. Decommissioned 15 January 1955. Reclassified back to destroyer DD-455 on 16 January 1955. Stricken 1 June 1971. Sold 22 November 1972 and broken up for scrap. Hit by U-boat Damaged on 11 Nov 1942 by U-173 (Schweichel).
U-boat Attack	See our U-boat attack entry for the USS Hambleton

Commands listed for USS Hambleton (DD 455)

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.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Forrest Close, USN	22 Nov 1941	29 Nov 1942
2	T/Cdr. Henry Algernon Renken, USN	29 Nov 1942	15 Sep 1944
3	T/Cdr. George Albert O`Connell, Jr., USN	15 Sep 1944	12 Oct 1945
4	William Stanton Hitchins, USNR	12 Oct 1945	16 Mar 1946
5	Arthur Henry Berndtson, USN	16 Mar 1946

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Notable events involving Hambleton include:

12 Mar 1942
USS Hambleton picks up 27 survivors from the American merchant Olga that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-126 in the Old Bahama Channel in position 21°32'N, 76°24'W.

19 Mar 1942
USS Hambleton picks up 6 survivors from the Honduran merchant Ceiba that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-124 east east of Cape Hatteras in position 35°43'N, 73°49'W two days earlier.

22 Jul 1942
The battleship HMS Anson (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, CBE, RN, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir B. Fraser, CB, KBE, RN) and the light cruisers HMS Manchester (Capt. H. Drew, DSC, RN) and HMS Scylla (Capt. I.A.P. Macintyre, RN) conducted exercises off Scapa Flow. During the exercises HMS Anson was escorted by the destroyers USS Hambleton (T/.Cdr. F. Close, USN), USS Emmons (T/Cdr. T.C. Ragan, USN) and the escort destroyer HMS Lamerton (Lt.Cdr. C.R. Purse, DSC, RN). (1)

28 Jul 1942
HMS London (Capt. R.M. Servaes, CBE, RN, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral L.H.K. Hamilton, DSO and Bar, RN) and HMS Cumberland (Capt. A.H. Maxwell-Hyslop, AM, RN) departed Hvalfjord. At sea they made rendezvous with the battleship HMS Duke of York (R.Adm. C.H.J. Harcourt, CBE, RN) and the destroyers USS Hambleton (T/.Cdr. F. Close, USN), USS Rodman (T/Cdr. W.G. Michelet, USN), USS Emmons (T/Cdr. T.C. Ragan, USN) and USS Macomb (T/Cdr. W.H. Duvall, USN) which had come from Scapa Flow.

On completion of the exercises, in which HMS Duke of York portrayed the Tirpitz, all ships entered Hvalfjord. (2)

8 Aug 1942
HMS Duke of York (R.Adm. C.H.J. Harcourt, CBE, RN), HMS London (Capt. R.M. Servaes, CBE, RN, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral L.H.K. Hamilton, DSO and Bar, RN), HMS Cumberland (Capt. A.H. Maxwell-Hyslop, AM, RN) conducted exercises off Hvalfjord. HMS Duke of York was escorted by the destroyers USS Hambleton (T/.Cdr. F. Close, USN), USS Macomb (T/Cdr. W.H. Duvall, USN) and HMS Offa (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Ewing, RN). (2)

17 May 1944
German U-boat U-616 was sunk on 17 May 1944 in the Mediterranean Sea north-west of Ténès, Algeria, in position 36°46'N, 00°52'E, by depth charges from the US destroyers USS Nields, USS Gleaves, USS Ellyson, USS Macomb, USS Hambleton, USS Rodman, USS Emmons and USS Hilary P. Jones and by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (36 Sqn RAF/K) on 15 May.

16 Jun 1944
Around 0800B/16, the light cruisers HMS Bellona (Capt. C.F.W. Norris, RN), HMS Black Prince (Capt. D.M. Lees, DSO, RN) and the destroyers USS Hambleton (T/Cdr. H.A. Renken, USN) and USS Rodman (T/Cdr. J.F. Foley, USN) departed the Western assault area of the Normandy coast to proceed to Plymouth where they arrived around 1700B/16. (3)