The first USS ''Laub'' (DD-263) was a in 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 ...

and transferred to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

where she served as HMS ''Burwell'' (H94) 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 opposing ...

. She was named for Henry Laub.

As USS ''Laub''

''Laub'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works. In 1917 it was incorporated as Bethlehem Shipbuilding C ...

, Squantum, Massachusetts, on 20 April 1918. The destroyer was launched on 28 August 1918, sponsored by Miss Marjorie Mohan, a collateral descendant of Henry Laub. The ship was commissioned on 17 March 1919. Assigned to the Atlantic destroyer force out of

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, ''Laub'' was dispatched 2 to 17 May 1919 to take up position off Newfoundland as plane guard, and navigational aid during the

NC-4 The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat that was the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, albeit not non-stop. The NC designation was derived from the collaborative efforts of the Navy (N) and Curtiss (C). The NC series flying boats w ...

transatlantic flight. The destroyer continued exercises off the east coast until 30 June when she sailed for European service. Arriving

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

17 July, ''Laub'' operated with the fleet off

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

until she sailed late in August for duty in the eastern

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 Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. Upon arrival at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

2 September, ''Laub'' operated with the Food Commission, bringing relief to Europe. She sailed for America on the 17th, arriving New York City 4 October. Her stay on the east coast was a brief one as she sailed 2 weeks later to join the Pacific Fleet, arriving

San Diego, California 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 eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

27 November. From December 1919 until she decommissioned 15 June 1922, ''Laub'' performed torpedo experiments and reserve training cruises along the Pacific coast. ''Laub'' recommissioned 18 December 1939. After shakedown out of San Diego, the destroyer arrived Guantanamo 7 April 1940 to join the Caribbean

Neutrality patrol On September 3, 1939, the British and French declarations of war on Germany initiated the Battle of the Atlantic. The United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) established a combined air and ship patrol of the United States Atlantic coa ...

. Following 2 months' duty out of Guantanamo, she sailed to Galveston, Texas, for patrol operations in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. Following 4 months of operations in the gulf and along the Atlantic coast, ''Laub'' arrived at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, 5 September. She decommissioned there 8 October 1940.

As HMS ''Burwell''

''Laub'' was transferred to Great Britain the following day as part of the destroyer-bases agreement. During

she served in the

protecting Allied shipping in the North Atlantic under the name HMS ''Burwell''. As ''Burwell'' was modified for trade convoy escort service by removal of three of the original

4"/50 caliber gun The 4″/50 caliber gun (spoken "four-inch-fifty-caliber") was the standard low-angle, quick-firing gun for United States, first appearing on the monitor and then used on "Flush Deck" destroyers through World War I and the 1920s. It was also the ...

s and one of the triple

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

tube mounts to reduce topside weight for additional depth charge stowage and installation of

Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introductio ...

.Lenton&Colledge (1968) pp.92-94 In this role ''Burwell'' was engaged in all the duties performed by escort ships; protecting convoys, searching for and attacking U-boats which attacked ships in convoy, and rescuing survivors. In sixteen months service ''Burwell'' escorted 24 Atlantic and three Gibraltar convoys, of which seven were attacked, and she was involved in two major convoy battles; around SC 52 in November 1941 and KMS 10 in March 1943. A notable incident during this period was her involvement in the capture of the German U-boat ''

U-570 U57 or U-57 may refer to: * German submarine ''U-57'', one of several German submarines * Utah State Route 57 {{Letter-NumberCombDisambig ...

'' in August 1941. In October 1943 ''Burwell'' was withdrawn to the Reserve and converted to an Air target Ship. She continued in this function until January 1945 when she was withdrawn completely and laid up. In March 1947 ''Burwell'' was sold for scrap.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Photo Gallery
at Navsource.org

at Naval Historical Center

at naval.history.net; retrieved 29 May 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Laub (Dd-263) Clemson-class destroyers Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1918 ships Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy Town-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Town-class destroyers converted from Clemson-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom