USS Borie (DD-215)
 USS Borie (DD-215), 1942.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 US | |
| Namesake | Adolph E. Borie |
| Builder | William Cramp and Sons |
| Laid down | 30 April 1919 |
| Launched | 4 October 1919 |
| Commissioned | 24 March 1920 |
| Fate | 2 November 1943, Sank following battle |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Clemson-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,215 tons |
| Length | 314 feet 4 inches (95.81 m) |
| Beam | 31 feet 9 inches (9.68 m) |
| Draft | 9 feet 10 inches (3 m) |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 26,500 shp (20 MW); geared turbines, 2 screws |
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h) |
| Complement | 122 officers and enlisted |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) 4 x 4 inch (102 mm), 1 x 3 inch (76 mm) AA, 6 x .30-cal. (7.62 mm) machine guns, 12 x 21" (533 mm) TT (4x3, beam mounted). |
USS Borie (DD-215) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the first ship named for Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of the Navy, Adolph E. Borie. She served in the Black Sea, the Asiatic Fleet and the Caribbean between the wars, and then in the Battle of the Atlantic, the long campaign to protect Allied shipping from German U-boats during World War II. As part of Task Unit 21.14, the crew earned a Presidential Unit Citation for its "extraordinary performance." She also earned distinction in her final battle with U-405 in November 1943, and was sunk by friendly forces due to damage sustained from ramming the U-Boat and engaging her crew with small arms fire.
Construction
Borie was launched 4 October 1919, by William Cramp and Sons; sponsored by Miss Patty Borie, great-grandniece of Secretary Borie; and commissioned 24 March 1920, Lieutenant Commander E. F. Clement in command.
Service History
In April 1920, Borie joined the United States Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters for service in the Black Sea. The following year, she reported to Destroyer Division 38, Asiatic Fleet, and for the next four years alternated between the Philippine Islands, during the winter and Chefoo and Shanghai, China, during the summer. She then returned home and patrolled in the Caribbean until the spring of 1927, when she made a cruise to Europe. Borie remained with the Atlantic Fleet until 1929 when she began a three-year tour with the Asiatic Fleet.
Following conversion to a Squadron Leader at San Diego (1932-33), Borie joined Destroyer Squadron 2, Battle Force. She remained in the Pacific on normal destroyer duty until late 1939, when she transited the Panama Canal to join the Neutrality Patrol. After the breakout of hostilities between the US and the Axis powers, she served first on the Inshore Patrol, 15th Naval District, in Panama Bay. In December 1941, in the face of the growing U-boats blitz of the Caribbean, she replaced USS Goff (DD-247) as flagship of Destroyer Division 67, which also included USS Tattnall (DD-125) and USS Barry (DD-248). On 15 June 1942, she rescued survivors of USAT Merrimac, which had been torpedoed.
After returning to Philadelphia in November 1942, Borie went to New Orleans for an overhaul and then was reassigned to the Caribbean. During her refit, she had surface search radar installed; four of her .30-cal. (7.62 mm) machine guns were removed, and replaced with two single-mount Oerlikon 20 mm AA guns. For three months beginning in February 1943, Borie, Barry and Goff were attached to Escort Unit 23.2.4 with gunboats Courage (PG-70) and Tenacity (PG-71) and patrol craft PC-575 and PC-592, which operated between Trinidad and Recife, Brazil with Admiral Jonas Ingram's South Atlantic Fleet (later Fourth Fleet). The escort unit accompanied convoys from Trinidad to Recife, where it was relieved by Brazilian Navy units who took the convoys to Bahia.
Patrols with Task Group 21.14
Returning to Norfolk in May, the three destroyers escorted a convoy to Casablanca, French Morocco and on their return were assigned to hunter killer Task Group 21.14, escorting escort carrier Card under her Capt. Arnold J. Isbell. On 26 June 1943, under the command of Lt. Cdr. Charles H. Hutchins, at the time the youngest destroyer commander in the Navy, the destroyer departed the Caribbean and on 30 July put to sea in the North Atlantic as a member of the antisubmarine group built around the Card. Borie completed three patrols with Card's group, providing valuable support for sister ships in the pursuit and sinking of German U-boats. The Presidential Unit Citation was awarded to Task Group 21.14 for actions during these three patrols:
"For extraordinary performance during anti-submarine operations in mid-Atlantic from July 27 to October 25, 1943. At a time when continual flow of supplies along the United States–North Africa convoy route was essential to the maintenance of our established military supremacy and to the accumulation of reserves, the CARD, her embarked aircraft and her escorts pressed home a vigorous offensive which was largely responsible for the complete withdrawal of hostile U-boats from this vital supply area. Later, when submarines returned with deadlier weapons and augmented anti-aircraft defenses, this heroic Task Unit, by striking damaging blows at the onset of renewed campaigns, wrested the initiative from the enemy before actual inception of projected large-scale attacks. Its distinctive fulfillment of difficult and hazardous missions contributed materially to victorious achievements by our land forces."[1]
In late 1943, TG 21.14 went out for a fourth patrol, searching for a reported refueling concentration of U-boats around a Milch Kuhe (Milk Cow) tanker sub in the North Atlantic. The report was the result of the triangulation of bearings taken with high frequency radio direction finders (HFDF, nicknamed "huff-duff").
Final battle with U-405
During her fourth patrol, Borie got a radar contact on the U-256 shortly after 2000, 31 October and closed in. The sub promptly dove. Two depth charge attacks forced her back to the surface but she submerged again, and after a third attack, a large oil slick was observed. Though U-256 made it home, Hutchins believed the target to be sunk, and signaled the Card: "Scratch one pig boat; am searching for more."
Borie then got another radar contact about 26 miles (42 km) from the first, at 0153 on 1 November 1943, range 8000 d (7200 m) and charged in to engage. At 2800 yd (2500 m) radar contact was lost, but sonar picked up the enemy sub at about the same time. Borie engaged U-405 (a Type VIIC U-boat) hours before dawn, at 49°00' N., 31°14' W. There were 15-foot seas, with high winds and poor visibility. The destroyer initially fired depth charges, after which the submarine came (and was probably forced) to the surface. Borie then came about for another attack, engaging with 4 inch (102 mm) and 20 mm gunfire at a range of 400 yd (360 m).
The sub's machine guns scored hits in the forward engine room and several scattered and harmless hits near the bridge, but Borie's 20 mm gunfire wiped out every exposed member of the sub's crew topside, and a salvo of three 4 inch shells blew off the sub's 88 mm (3.5 inch) deck gun. Borie then closed in and rammed U-405, but at the last moment, the submarine turned hard left and a huge wave lifted the Borie's bow onto the foredeck of the U-boat.
After the ramming, Borie was high-centered on top of U-405, and until they separated, exchanges of small arms fire took place. This was a unique battle: unlike other modern naval battles, it was decided by ramming and small arms fire at extremely close range. The two ships were initially almost perpendicular to one another; as the battle progressed, wave action and the efforts of both crews to dislodge from the enemy ship resulted in the two vessels becoming locked in a "V" for an extended fight, with the U-Boat along Borie's port side. The two ships were locked together only 25-30 degrees from parallel. The action of the seas began to open seams in Borie's hull forward and flood her forward engine room.[2]
The submarine's hull, made of thicker steel and sturdier beams to withstand deep diving, was better able to handle the stress. Hutchins reported later, "We were impressed by the ruggedness and toughness of these boats."
Normally, in a surface engagement the superior armament, speed and reserve buoyancy of the destroyer would have been decisive. But in this unusual case, the destroyer was unable to depress her 4 inch (102 mm) and 3 inch (76 mm) deck guns enough to engage, while all of the submarine's machine guns could be brought to bear. One or two 4 inch gun crews attempted to fire, but their shells passed harmlessly over the sub. Borie's crew had a limited number of small arms, however, and the German deck mounts were completely open and had no protection. The executive officer had presented a virtually identical situation during drills on 27 October — a theoretical ramming by a U-boat on the port side — and as a result, after the ramming the Borie's crew took immediate action without orders.
In the extended and bitter fighting that ensued, dozens of German sailors were killed in desperate attempts to keep their machine guns manned. As each man emerged from the hatch and ran toward the guns, he was illuminated by Borie's 24-inch spotlight and met by a hail of gunfire. Borie's resourceful crew engaged the enemy with whatever was at hand: Tommy guns, rifles, pistols, shotguns intended for riot control, and even a Very pistol. Borie's executive officer and a signalman fired effectively from the bridge with Tommy guns throughout the fight. One German sailor was hit in the chest with a Very flare. One of the Oerlikon 20 mm cannon was also able to continue firing, with devastating effect.[2]
Borie's crewmen could clearly see a polar bear insignia painted on the bridge of the sub, and three numerals that had been obliterated by 20 mm gunfire. The bow of the sub had been badly damaged by the depth charges and she was probably unable to submerge. U-405's deck armament was extensive: in addition to the 88 mm gun, she also had six MG 42 machine guns, in one quadruple and two single mounts. These weapons would have been devastating if the sub's crewmen had been able to keep them manned. Occasionally, a German sailor would reach one of the MG 42 mounts, and open fire briefly before he was killed. Other German sailors kept up a sporadic small arms fire of their own from open hatchways.
At a key moment in the fight, as Borie's crewmen were running out of 20 mm and small arms ammunition, two Germans broke from their protected position behind the conning tower and approached the quad mount gun. A thrown sheath knife pierced a German crewman's abdomen and he fell overboard. Unable to bring his gun to bear, one of the 4 inch gun captains threw an empty 4 inch shell casing at the other German sailor and successfully knocked him overboard as well.[2]
Sinking of the U-405
Finally, U-405 and Borie separated and the two crews attempted to engage each other with torpedoes, to no effect. At this point, about 35 of the German crew of 49 had been killed or lost overboard. Borie had been badly damaged and was moving at a reduced speed of 10 knots, while the sub was still capable of maneuvering at a similar speed. The U-405's tighter turning radius effectively prevented the Borie from bringing her superior firepower to bear, and her skipper, Korvettenkapitän Rolf-Heinrich Hopmann, did a masterful job of maneuvering his badly-damaged boat with his remaining crew.
But eventually the submarine was bracketed by shallow-set depth charges and struck by a 4 inch shell, and sank slowly by the stern at 0257, firing Very star shells. The sub was seen to explode underwater (probably from scuttling charges. Borie's crew believed this to be a distress signal and maneuvered in an attempt to recover some of the German sailors from their rubber rafts as they approached 50-60 yards off the port bow. But as it turned out, the Germans were signalling another surfaced U-boat, which answered with a star shell of her own. A Borie lookout reported a torpedo passing close by from that U-boat, and Borie had no choice but to protect herself by sailing away. The Borie was forced to sail through the U-boat survivors' rafts as she turned away from the other sub, but the men on the raft were observed firing another Very flare as the Borie steamed away in a radical zigzag pattern. No German survivors were ever recovered; all 49 crewmen were lost.
A radio report of the sinking of the U-405 was sent to Card after the engagement, before the extent of the ship's damage was fully realized. Then her radio fell silent.
Sinking of the Borie
Borie was too badly damaged by the collision to be towed to port. She had sustained severe underwater damage along her entire port side, including both engine rooms, as the two ships were pounded together by the sea before separating. The forward engine room was completely flooded, only the starboard engine was operating, auxiliary power had been lost and speed was reduced to 10 knots, making her an easy target for U-boats. The next day, at 1100 the communications officer restarted the emergency radio generator with lighter fluid and alcohol from a torpedo. A distress call was sent and Borie was spotted by a TBF Avenger from the Card.
Valiant efforts were made to save the ship: the crew formed a bucket brigade, and all available topweight was jettisoned, even the gun director. But the ship continue to slowly settle into the water with all pumps running, and an approaching storm front had been reported. The nearest port, Horta, was about 690 miles away; Iceland, Ireland and Newfoundland were all about 900 miles away, and the task force was at the approximate center of five reported U-boat wolfpacks. By now there were 20-foot waves.
As nightfall approached at 1630, Lt. Cdr. Hutchins reluctantly ordered his exhausted crew to abandon ship. The Card task force had taken a substantial risk by leaving the escort carrier unprotected in sub-infested waters. Card was 10 miles away, but Goff and Barry were close by as the crew abandoned Borie. Still, the ship remained afloat through the night. Goff and Barry attempted to sink the wreck at first light, but torpedoes went astray in the heavy seas. One 4 inch shell struck the bridge and started a fire, but she still refused to sink. The coup de grace was delivered on the morning of 2 November by a 500 lb (227 kg) bomb dropped by a TBF Avenger from the Card, piloted by Lt. (jg) Melvin H. Connley of VC-9. Borie finally sank at 0955 on 2 November, after losing three officers and 24 enlisted men.
Namesake ship: USS Borie (DD-704)
A second USS Borie, Allen M. Sumner-class Borie was launched 4 July 1944, commissioned 21 September, and served with distinction at Iwo Jima and Okinawa before being hit by a kamikaze suicide aircraft off Japan, 9 August 1945, one of the last destroyers damaged in World War II.
Awards
Borie received three battle stars for her World War II service as well as the Presidential Unit Citation for her actions in the Card group. Hutchins was awarded the Navy Cross in a ceremony aboard the USS Card by the Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, Adm. Royal E. Ingersoll.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Account of the battle by Sonarman Lerten V. Kent, USNR, USS Borie.
- Account of the battle and aftermath by Petty Officer Bob Maher, USNR, USS Borie.
- USS Borie home page at Destroyer History Foundation
- U-405
- http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/215.htm
