USS ''Braine'' (DD-630), a , was a ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

named for

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Daniel L. Braine Daniel Lawrence Braine (May 18, 1829 – January 30, 1898) was an admiral of the United States Navy. Early life Born in New York City on May 18, 1829, Braine was appointed midshipman in 1846. He served on the and the during the Mexican–Amer ...

(1829–1898), who served in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Constructed by Bath Iron Works in

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

, the ship was launched on 7 March 1943 and commissioned on 11 May 1943. The destroyer took part in the United States' naval campaign in the South Pacific during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Following the war, the vessel was decommissioned and placed in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

. During the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, ''Braine'' was recommissioned and operated in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

before being decommissioned for the final time by the United States Navy in 1971. The destroyer was sold to Argentina and renamed ARA ''Almirante Domecq Garcia'' after Admiral

Manuel Domecq Garcia Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

and served with the

Argentinian Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

until disposed of as a

target ship A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammuniti ...

in 1983.

Construction and career

''Braine'' was launched 7 March 1943 by Bath Iron Works Corp.,

; sponsored by Mrs. Daniel L. Braine, wife of a grandson of Rear Admiral Braine, and commissioned 11 May 1943. Departing the United States east coast in the summer of 1943, ''Braine'' sailed via

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

as an escort for troop transports. She then proceeded directly to

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...

where she participated in its bombing and bombardment (5–6 October 1943). Between 1 and 3 November, ''Braine'' took part in the initial landings in Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville. During the following two months, she escorted resupply echelons to the Bougainville beachhead.

1944

New Guinea

On 15 February 1944, ''Braine'' participated in the Green Island landing. She steamed into

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

Harbor under enemy fire for night shore bombardment of enemy installations (24–25 February). On 20 March, she supported landings on Emirau Island,

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

. ''Braine'' spent the ensuing months in escort work and training for the Marianas invasion.

Marianas

On 14 June, she took part in the bombardment of Tinian Island, and received minor damage from a small caliber shell but continued operations in the

Mariana Mariana may refer to: Literature * ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens * ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson * ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz Music *"Mariana", a so ...

s until 23 June. After spending almost a month in the United States, she sailed for the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, via Pearl Harbor. ''Braine'' rendered fire support during the Leyte landings (20 October), and repelled an enemy air attack on 18 November.

1945

Philippines

From 4 to 15 January 1945, she participated in the Lingayen Gulf landings. ''Braine'' then proceeded to

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...

to support landings on the

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entir ...

Peninsula and

Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

(14–28 February 1945). She served as a radar picket and support ship for the landing forces at Zamboanga and subsequently at Pollack Harbor,

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

(17 March–23 April).

Okinawa, ''kamikaze'' hit

She took part in the Okinawa operations as a radar picket ship (16–25 May). On 27 May, the destroyer was hit in quick succession by two ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

s''. The first hit forward seriously damaged the bridge, and the second hit amidships blew number two funnel overboard and demolished the amidships superstructure. ''Braine'' retired to

Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

, for emergency repairs; departed 19 June; and arrived in the United States 19 July 1945.

Repairs and decommissioning

On 21 July, ''Braine'' steamed to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

for repairs and then proceeded to

Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston. H ...

for inactivation. She was placed out of commission in reserve 26 July 1946 at Charleston.

1951–1971

Recommissioned 6 April 1951, ''Braine'' conducted training in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and in the spring of 1952 sailed to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

for duty with the 6th Fleet. In October, she returned to duty in coastal waters. She joined the 6th Fleet again in May 1953, and remained until October. Between October 1953 and 2 November 1954, she underwent a yard period, conducted refresher training in the Caribbean, and local operations in the vicinity of

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

. On 30 November 1954, she departed for the Pacific and became a unit of Cruisers-Destroyers Pacific Fleet, in mid-December 1954. Early in January 1955, she proceeded to Yokosuka, Japan, and joined Task Force 77. ''Braine'' participated in the evacuation of the Tachen Islands in February and later operated on the

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

patrol. She returned to the west coast 19 June 1955. ''Braine''s next departure from the west coast was on 13 February 1956, to conduct another Western Pacific cruise. She returned to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

22 July 1956 and operated in the

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

and San Francisco areas. In 1964, ''Braine'' was one of several ships that took part in the movie '' In Harm's Way''. On 17 August 1971, ''Braine'' was decommissioned, stricken from the US

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

, and transferred to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

through the

Security Assistance Program The United States Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program facilitates sales of U.S. arms, defense equipment, defense services, and military training to foreign governments. The purchaser does not deal directly with the defense ...

ARA ''Almirante Domecq Garcia''

The

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

took possession of ''Braine'' on 17 August 1971 and renamed her ARA ''Almirante Domecq Garcia'' (D23) after Admiral

. She was sunk as a target on 7 October 1983 by and at ussbrainedd630.co
Argentine service

Awards

''Braine'' earned nine

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for her

service.

References

External links

navsource.org: USS ''Braine''USS ''Braine'' archived website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braine (Dd-630) Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy Ships built in Bath, Maine 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United States Cold War destroyers of the United States Almirante Domecq Garcia Cold War destroyers of Argentina