Allied Warships

USS Bristol (i) (DD 453)

Destroyer of the Bristol class

USS Bristol as completed on 31 October 1941

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Bristol
Pennant	DD 453
Built by	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New York, U.S.A.)
Ordered	12 Jun 1940
Laid down	20 Dec 1940
Launched	25 Jul 1941
Commissioned	22 Oct 1941
Lost	13 Oct 1943
Loss position	37° 19'N, 6° 19'E

History	At 04.17 hours on 13 October 1943 USS Bristol (Cdr. John Albert Glick, USN) was struck by a Gnat from U-371 on the port side at the forward engine room, while escorting a small convoy to Oran, Algeria. The ship broke in two and had to be abandoned, while the stern sank after eight and the bow after twelve minutes 70 miles west-northwest of Bone, Algeria in position 37º19'N, 06º19'E. 52 of the crew died and 241 survived and were rescued by the American destroyers USS Trippe (DD 403) and the USS Wainwright (DD 419). Amongst the survivors was the Commanding officer John Albert Glick. Hit by U-boat Sunk on 13 Oct 1943 by U-371 (Mehl).
U-boat Attack	See our U-boat attack entry for the USS Bristol (i)

Commands listed for USS Bristol (i) (DD 453)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Chester Clark Wood, USN	22 Oct 1941	22 Sep 1942
2	T/Cdr. John Albert Glick, USN	22 Sep 1942	13 Oct 1943

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Notable events involving Bristol (i) include:

10 Oct 1940

Operation Medium.

Bombardment of Cherbourg.

10 October 1940.

The battleship HMS Revenge (Capt. E.R. Archer, RN) departed Plymouth for a night bombardment of Cherbourg during the night of 10/11 October. She was being escorted by the destroyers HMS Jackal (Cdr. C.L. Firth, MVO, RN), HMS Jaguar (Lt.Cdr. J.F.W. Hine, RN), HMS Javelin (Cdr. A.F. Pugsley, RN), HMS Jupiter (Cdr. D.B. Wyburd, RN), HMS Kashmir (Cdr. H.A. King, RN), HMS Kelvin (Cdr. J.H. Allison, DSO, RN) and HMS Kipling (Cdr. A. St. Clair-Ford, RN).

A cover force was also sailed from Plymouth on the same day. This force was to provide cover to the east of the bombardment force and was made up of the light cruisers HMS Newcastle (Capt. E.A. Aylmer, DSC, RN), HMS Emerald (Capt. F.C. Flynn, RN), the British destroyers HMS Broke (Cdr. B.G. Scurfield, RN), HMS Wanderer (Cdr. J.H. Ruck-Keene, DSC, RN and the Polish destroyers Garland (Cdr. K. Namiesniowski, ORP) and Burza (Cdr. A. Doroszkowski, ORP).

The light cruiser HMS Cardiff (Capt. P.K. Enright, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Witch (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Barnes, RN) and HMS Volunteer (Lt.Cdr. N. Lanyon, RN) departed Portsmouth to provide cover for the operation to the west of the bombardment force.

A flotilla of MA/SB boats was sailed from Plymouth to provide anti E-boat protection. These were HMS MA/SB 40, HMS MA/SB 42, HMS MA/SB 43, HMS MA/SB 44, HMS MA/SB 45, HMS MA/SB 46 and HMS MA/SB 51.

During the bombardment, which started around 0330A/11 and laster for about 20 minutes, HMS Revenge fired 120 rounds of 15” in eighteen minutes from range between 14000 and 16000 yards. Her escorting destroyers fired 801 rounds of 4.7” during the first four minutes of the bombardment and then formed a screen on the battleship.

Large fires were seen to erupt in the target area. Shore defences opened up as for being under air attack. The ships were fired on only after the bombardment had ceased. No ships were hit though despite the enemy fire being accurate.

The western cover group returned to Plymouth at 0800A/11.

The bombardment force and the eastern cover group arrived at Portsmouth around the same time.