HISTORY OF USS BRISTOL (DD453)

A veteran in the Mediterranean theater of operations from the outbreak of war, USS BRISTOL met her fate at the hands of a German submarine in that same body of water on 13 October 1943, while most of her weary crew was trying to get some well-earned sleep. Through the orderly training and unselfish efforts of her crew, the casuality list was relatively small, considering the sudden manner in which she was sunk.

USS BRISTOL was built by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydocking Company, Kearny, NJ. Her keel was laid on 2 December 1940, and she was lunched on 25 July 1941. Mrs Powell Clayton of Washington, D.C. served as sponsor at the launching.

The destroyer was named in honor of Rear Admiral Mark Bristol USN. Admiral Bristol served a total of 49 years on active duty, retiring in 1932. He was associated with or in charge of many of the modern developments of guns, ammunition, and torpedoes. He also assisted in placing in operation the torpedo facility at Newport, RI.

In 1913, he was specially charged with development of aviation in the Navy, and in the following three years established the Aviation Station in Pensacola as a school and for experimental development. He inaugurated a schoolin free ballooning; obtained by purchase the first dirigible for the Navy, a small blimp; and installed a catapault on USS North Carolina for launching planes from a ship.

Admiral Bristol served as High Commissioner to Turkey with the rank of Ambassador for eight years. He ended his career as Chairman of the General Board in the Navy Department.

USS BRISTOL was commissioned on 21 October 1941, with LT. CDR C.C. Wood as her first commanding officer. Shakedown cruise followed in the Chesapeake and Casco Bay, ME areas. While still on her shakedown, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. At 1443 on 7 December 1941, the Secretary of the Navy senta dispatch to all ships and stations notifying them of the Pearl Harbor Attack. USS BRISTOL operated out of Norfolk for the remainder of the month of training duty.

Late January and early February 1942 found her as plane guard for the carrier Wasp. In late February she was asigned South Atlantic Patrol duty and in March she joined an escort group. Several escort voyages followed with the principal ones going to the United Kingdom. On 9 April 1942, while returning to Boston from Londonderry, Ireland, one of her seaman died of a perforated appendix. The remainder of the voyage was uneventful and she arrived at Boston two days later.

On 21 April, Bristol was ordered underway to rescue two boatlaods of survivors from the SS West Imboden. On 30 April she returned to port at Portsmouth, NH and disembarked the survivors.

In May, Bristol escorted a convoy to Londonderry, Ireland and returned to Boston on 11 June. She then underwent repairs through the 28th.

On 1 July Bristol stood out to escort 5 merchant ships to the United Kingdom. The vessels were transporting approximately 30,000 U.S. troops and Bristol was riding "close hard" on her convoy while enroute. The ships were safely delivered as Bristol put into Londonderry on 12 July. The destroyer returned to Brooklyn, NY by the 27th.

Underway again enroute to the UK on 19 August, DD453 was called upon to rescue survivors from USS Ingraham when she collided with another ship of the convoy on 22 August. Following the rescue she was ordered to take the survivors to Halifax, Nova Scotia. On 25 August she was ordered underway to support the escorts of convoy ON-122 which had been under heavy submarine attack. Further attack failed to materialize and she returned to Sydney, Nova Scotia.

On 2 September, Bristol stood out of Sydney, escorting USS Laramie to Boston. She later sailed on to New York where, on 22 September, LT CDR J.A. Glick USN relieved CDR Wood as commanding officer.

Bristol underwent vigorous training through September and Pctober, and on 24 October, stood out with a convoy enroute to Fedalam French Morocco. She arrived on 7 November after an uneventful voyage. That evening three unidentified planes approached the formation but turned away when all ships opened fire.

The following day the French trawler Poitou was boarded by Bristol's boarding party and taken back to the transport area as a prize.

A little later, while acting as part of the Center Attack Force of Task Force 34, Bristol was ordered to engage a French destroyer that was standing up the coast laying a smoke screen. Firing with speed and accuracy, the enemy destroyer was hit amidships forcing her to beach. Bristo's gunners then turned their attentions to a fort on Cape Fedala which was firing on the landing beaches. This task took only 11 minutes before all guns were silenced.

Bristol, along with several other ships of Task Force 34, then gave chase to a fleeing cruiser and two destroyers. Hits were scored on the cruiser before the chase ended.

Bristol returned to Fedala and found that the fort was again firing on the landing operations. This time the entire fort was leveled in five minutes of rapid fire from Bristol's main batteries.

On 11 November, at about 2000, USS Winooski, Joseph Hewes, and USS Hambleton were torpedoed in quick succession, just outside Casablanca Harbor. All ships in the screen were notified and an intensive search for the submarine was begun. Thirty minutes later the officer of the deck aboard Bristol sighted a surfaced submarine traveling at high speed across her bow. The Captain ordered full speed in an attempt to ram. The forward 5" gun was brought to bear along with numerous 20 millimeter guns. Several 20 mm hits were scored near the base of the conning tower before the submarine submerged. Two depth charge attacks followed and, after a second, a dull muffled explosion was heard though no debris was found. Th esearch was hindered by other vessels and landing crafy and the oil slicks left by our vessels when they were sunk. No further contacts were made throughout the night by any ship.

The night of 12 November brought three more sinkings. About sunset the USS Hugh Scott, Howard Rutledge, and Tasket Bliss were all torpedoed at brief intervals in that order. Several survivors of the latter were rescued by Bristol.

On 15 November Bristol was ordered out to assist in salvage operations after the USS Electra was torpedoed. A convoy was formed on 17 November, and Bristol was designated as one of the escorts to see it safely back to Norfolk. She arrived without further incident on 30 November 1942.

From Norfolk, Bristol sailed on to NY and underwent voyage repairs. A brief coastal trip to Port Artus , TX followed and two voyages to Casablanca were made early in 1943 with USS Bristol arriving back in NY on 5 April. On the 20th, she sailed enroute to Curacao, Netherlands West Indies, arriving there on the 25th. From there she sailed to the canal zone to escort the USS Antarus back to Newport. Upon arrival at Norfolk, the destroyer was assigned as one of the escorts to USS Card, an escort carrier engaged in hunter-killer operations against German submarine wolfpacks. Her first voyage took her to Casablanca but failed to produce any sign of submarines enroute.

July 1st found Bristol underway with the USS Buck, Swanson, Nicholson, Edison, and Roe enroute to Bizerte. She remained there through the 5th without incident. On the 6th, while anchored in Lake Bizerte, about 8 enemy planes roared over the anchorage at 0411 in a shallow glide-bombing attack. One of the marauders was shot down by the combined gunfire of all ships present.

On 7 July Bristol stood out to screen the harbor entrance while the Sicilian attack force sortied from the harbor. Upon her arrival off Sicily, Bristol was one of the Navigation Group which had as its mission the establishment of early contact with the submarine serving as beacon for the assault force, and to asist individual beach reference vessels in proceeding to their assigned beaches.

After that duty was completed at 0420 on 10 July, Bristol was ordered to leave her station and carry out her fire support missions. By 0425 Bristol had stepped her speed up to 25 knots because of enemy planes dropping flares around the ship to illuminate. Dive bombers were heard a moment later and ten minutes later gun flashes from the beack were seen. There followed four splashes only 600 yards astern. At 0445 the dive bombers attacked and a stick of bombs landed in the water close aboard to port, one bomb landing only 25 yards astern.

Enemy planes kept hampering the operation, but at 0505 Bristol opened fire on a dual purpose battery on the edge of a cliff overlooking Licata. However, two minutes later she again had to shift her firing problem from shore bombardment to anti-aircraft due to the enemy planes making her position very "hot".

At 0535 Bristol resumed her shore bombardment, this time taking a railway battery on the west side of Licata under fire. At 0555, after changing her fore to AA again several times, she took the town of Licata under fire.

At 0609 Bristol shifted her fire back to the shore battery overlooking Licata. This time the target was spotted and a direct hit was made on a small building next to the battery. The entire area went up in one giant pall of smoke, obscurring the target for several minutes. When the smoke and fire cleared, nothing was left as the building was evidently been an ammunition storage.

At 0745 Bristol broke off firing and began laying smoke for the approaching landing craft. By 0916 word was received that Licata had been taken. Bristol remained in the Sicilian area until putting into port at Algiers, North Africa on 16 July 1943.

Bristol returned to Licata, Sicily the following day and remained there on patrol and anti-submarine duty throughout the remainder of July.

While operating with Task Force 88 off Cape Orlando, Sicily on 8 and 11 August, enemy planes attacked the formation. On 8 August Bristol splashed one of the enemy and on the 11th, sent two more splashing into the sea.

The remainder of the month was spent patrolling off Palermo, Sicily with a voyag to North African ports in the middle of the month. September brought more action however, as on 6 September she again stood out enroute to Salerno for landings there.

She arrived off the Salerno beaches on 9 September as a part of Fire Support Group 2, Southern Attck Force. Her assignment was to take station in the inshore sector of Fire Support Area2, accompany assault waves of landing craft as far as feasible, provide close supporting fire against searchlights and beach defenses, and to deliver fore on call from Shore Fire Control Part (SFCP) 21. The enemy mine field was not to be penetrated without the assistance of the mine sweepers for which Bristol was to provide fire support. After the landings she was to screen USS Philadelphia.

At 0910 on 9 September, Bristol received orders to destroy some bridges located at the asigned targets in order to prevent enemy tanks from advancing for an attack. Less than half a minute later, she opened fire. Both bridges were destroyer in short order by several direct hits.

At 0918, after firing at some enemy planes for several moments, Bristol was called on to destroy some enemy tanks that were hidden in some bushes between the two bridges that she recently destroyed.

Eighteen seconds later she began firing in ladders, stepping each salvo up a shorter distance, until the area had been well covered. Several tanks were seen to move and two small fires were started but due to the terain, the exact damage inflictedcould not be accurately estimated.

At 0120 on 11 September USS Rowan set out to investigate a contact and was torpedoed by German "E" boats. Bristol set out to the rescue and sighted survivors from Rowan at 0220. After rescuing some 70 survivors, Bristol joined a convoy bound for Oran, arriving there on the 14th. The destroyer returned to the Salerno area on 19 September and remained there on patrol till the end of the month.

During the first of October 1943, USS Bristol joined an escort unit consisting of USS Wainwright, Rhind, Trippe, Benson,and Nicholson. While ecorting Transport Division Five during the early morning of 13 October, Bristol was torpedoed by a submarine. The torpedo struck on the port side at the forward engine room down near the keel, breaking her in two.

The officer of the deck tried to ring the General Alarm, use the sound powered phone, General Announcing System, and the talk between ships radio. All were out of order along with the steering control. After checking from both bridge wings, he returned to the pilot house where he met the commanding officer arriving from his sea cabin, and reported the action taken and the failure of all electrical power, steam, and communications. Meanwhile, the engineering officer was checking conditions in his spaces and odered abandonment of some.

The commanding officer then poceeded to check the ship from each wing of the bridge forward and aft from extreme positions. The ship had already buckled into a "V" shape at the forward stack and the bow and stern were angled upward. The main deck at the bottom of the "V" was awash, the steam from the boilers was escaping and a grating ound was heard. The skipper ordered "abandon ship" and took a position where he could watch the proceedings. The after section of the ship sank in about 8 minutes. As the water reached up toward the commanding officer, he pushed himself away from the ship and swan out some 60 yards.

Twelve minutes after the torpedo attack, the bow also went down. Of the 293 sailors serving in the Bristol at the time of the torpedo hit, 241 were saved. USS Trippe recovered most of the survivors with the Wainwright recovering the remainder. Almost all survivors had been rescued within an hour after the torpedoing.

Both the Captain of the Bristol, CDR Glick, and the XO, LT CDR Lederer, were cited for their outstanding achievement in keeping to a minimum the loss of life from the violent explosion and sinking of the ship.

USS BRISTOL earned three Battle Stars on the European-African-Middle Eastern Area Service Medal for participating in the following Operations:

1 Star/North African Occupation
-Algeria-Morocco landings 8 to 11 November 1942
-Actions off Casablanca 8 November 1942

1 Star/Sicilian Occupation--9-15 July;28 July to 17 August 1943

1 Star/Salerno landings--9-21 September 1943