USS Balch (DD-50)

USS ''Balch'' (Destroyer No. 50/DD-50) was an built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of George Beale Balch, a US Navy officer who served in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War, and as Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.

''Balch'' was laid down by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia in May 1912 and launched in December. The ship was a little more than in length, just over abeam, and had a standard displacement of . She was armed with four guns and had eight 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. ''Balch'' was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to .

After her March 1914 commissioning, she participated in a Presidential Fleet Review at New York City in May. After a period in reserve, ''Balch'' served on Neutrality Patrol duty. As a part of that duty in October 1916, she was one of several US destroyers sent to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket. She picked up passengers and crew from a British ocean liner before the U-boat sank it. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ''Balch'' was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. ''Balch'' made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats. In October 1918, US destroyer collided with ''Balch'', sending her into Queenstown for two weeks of repairs.

Upon returning to the United States after the war in January 1919, ''Balch'' was placed in reduced commission. After alternating periods of activity and time in reserve, ''Balch'' was decommissioned at Philadelphia in June 1922. In November 1933 she dropped her name, becoming known only as ''DD-50''. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in March 1935 and ordered scrapped in April.

Design and construction

''Balch'' was authorized in March 1911 as the last of four ships of the , which was almost identical to the s authorized at the same time.The is considered a part of the by ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921'' (p. 122), but is classed separately by the United States Navy. See, for example, Construction of the vessel—like her three sister ships—was awarded to William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia which laid down her keel on 7 May 1912. On 21 December, ''Balch'' was launched by sponsor Miss Grace Balch, daughter of the ship's namesake, George Beale Balch. The ship was the first U.S. Navy ship named for Balch, a US Navy officer who served in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War and, as a rear admiral, served as Superintendent of United States Naval Academy from 1879 to 1881.

As built, the destroyer was in length, abeam, and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded.

''Balch'' had two steam turbines that drove her two screw propellers, and an additional pair triple-expansion steam engines, each connected to one of the propeller shafts, for cruising purposes. Four oil-burning boilers powered the engines, which could generate , moving the ship at up to .

''Balch''s main battery consisted of four /50 caliber Mark 9 guns,The ''50'' denotes the length of the gun barrels; in this case, the gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as its bore, or in this case. The Mark number is the version of the gun; in this case, the ninth US Navy design of the 4-inch/50 gun. with each gun weighing in excess of . The guns fired armor-piercing projectiles at . At an elevation of 20°, the guns had a range of . ''Balch'' was also equipped with four twin torpedo tubes.

Pre-World War I

''Balch'' was commissioned into the United States Navy on 26 March 1914. ''Balch'' served briefly with the Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, carrying out torpedo firing practice off the Virginia Capes before participating in a Presidential Fleet Review for President Woodrow Wilson at New York City on 7 May. Following fleet maneuvers with the Submarine Flotilla out of New London, Connecticut, the Torpedo Flotilla joined the battleship squadrons in Narragansett Bay for maneuvers organized by the Naval War College. Returning to the New York Navy Yard that summer, ''Balch'' was placed in reserve commission on 24 July 1914.

The destroyer was placed in full commission again on 17 December 1914 and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet. In June 1915, one of ''Balch''s , torpedoes was unloaded at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, loaded on a horse-drawn truck, and hauled across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Astor Hotel in Manhattan. There, the weapon was on display – along with a shell from a naval gun—for two days at the "Peace and Preparation" conference of the National Security League. A year later, ''Balch'' served as the US Navy's observation platform during the inter-club cruise after the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club's annual June regatta. ''Balch'' was sent to examine which of the powerboats entered into the cruise—reported by ''The New York Times'' as about half of the 200 entries—might be suitable for use as naval auxiliaries.

Prior to the entrance of the United States into World War I, she served on Neutrality Patrol duty, trying to protect American and neutral-flagged merchant ships from interference by British or German warships and U-boats. In the course of performing those duties, ''Balch'' was at Newport, Rhode Island, in early October 1916. At 0530 on 8 October, wireless reports came in of a German submarine stopping ships near the Lightship Nantucket, off the eastern end of Long Island. After an SOS from the British steamer was received at about 1230, Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves ordered ''Balch'' and other destroyers at Newport to attend to survivors.According to a report in ''The New York Times'' on 9 October the other ships, in addition to ''Balch'', were the flotilla's destroyer tender, , and fifteen other destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . A firsthand account of the events by a quartermaster from destroyer , published on 22 October 1916, indicates that ship was present as well.
For the initial report, see:
For the account of ''McDougal''s quartermaster, see: The American destroyers arrived on the scene about 1700 when the U-boat, under the command of ''Kapitänleutnant'' Hans Rose, had called at Newport on 7 October 1916, the day before the attacks, to drop off a letter for Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, the German Ambassador to the United States, and had exchanged courtesy visits with Admirals Albert Gleaves and Austin M. Knight before departing. was in the process of stopping the Holland-America Line cargo ship . Shortly after, ''U-53'' stopped the British passenger ship .Long, pp. 93–94. As Rose had done with three other ships ''U-53'' had sunk earlier in the day,The other three ships were the British cargo ships ''West Point'' and , and the Norwegian tanker . he gave passengers and crew aboard ''Blommersdijk'' and ''Stephano'' adequate time to abandon the ships before sinking the pair.Long, p. 93. At one point, Rose signaled ''Balch'' requesting that she move out of the way to allow ''Stephano'' to be torpedoed, much to the later chagrin of Lord Beresford, who denounced ''Balch''s compliance as "aiding and abetting" the Germans in a speech in the House of Lords. In total, 226 survivors from ''U-53''s five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla. ''Balch'' picked up the crew of ''Stephano'' and a number of passengers, later transferring them to destroyer for return to Newport.

World War I

When the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917, ''Balch'' fitted out—installing depth charge racks and other wartime gear—in preparation for foreign service. Sailing for European waters on 25 October, ''Balch'' arrived at Queenstown, Ireland on 17 November and reported for duty with the Queenstown Force Commander. The destroyer began convoy escort duties on 24 November, which generally meant shepherding merchant ships through the "submarine danger zone" in the western approaches to the United Kingdom and France.

While this duty was relatively uneventful, ''Balch'' did twice encounter German submarines. On 29 January 1918, while steaming off Liverpool, she dropped two depth charges over a diving U-boat, without effect. Then, on 12 May, the destroyer joined other escorts in depth-charging a U-boat spotted near convoy HS 60, with ''Balch'' dropping 12 depth charges that helped drive off the submarine.

There were other perils at sea, however, most notably on 20 October 1918 when collided with ''Balch'' during convoy escort operations. The collision knocked ''Balch''s port depth charge overboard, but Boatswain's Mate Second Class Albert Cerveny, Coxswain Frank Sekowski, and Gunner's Mate Second Class Frank H. Sumner—all of whom received letters of commendation from the US Navy—recognized that a collision was imminent and set the depth charges to "safe".Stringer, pp. 188, 212, 215. ''Balch'' did suffer steering gear damage which required two weeks of repair at Queenstown. Then, on 5 November, while escorting a convoy in the English Channel, the ''Balch'' helped American destroyer rescue 29 survivors of the foundering merchant ship ''Dipton'', returning the survivors to Queenstown.

Inter-war period

Following the signing of the Armistice on 11 November which ended all fighting, ''Balch'' received orders to sail for home and she departed Ireland on 16 November. She arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, via Ponta Delgada, Azores, on 1 January 1919 and was placed in ordinary. Returned to commission in early April, the destroyer sailed to the West Indies for three weeks of maneuvers out of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. ''Balch'' then returned to Norfolk on 28 April for an overhaul. In July 1920, she was assigned the hull code of ''DD-50'' under the US Navy's alphanumeric classification system. Postwar funding shortages kept the destroyer in port until late 1921, when ''Balch'' briefly cruised with the Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, before financial considerations led to her inactivation.

''Balch'' was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 20 June 1922. On 1 November 1933, she dropped the name ''Balch'' to free it for a new destroyer of the same name, becoming known only as ''DD-50''. The ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 March 1935, and, on 23 April, was ordered scrapped at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Balch (Dd-50)
Aylwin-class destroyers
Ships built by William Cramp & Sons
1912 ships
World War I destroyers of the United States