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The USS
SCHENCK
(DD‑159) was
commissioned
on 30
October 1919
and began
her career
as part of
the Atlantic
Fleet
operating
between New
York and the
Chesapeake
Bay. From
July to
September
1920 she
patrolled
off the east
coast of
Mexico and,
in early
1921,
participated
in fleet
exercises in
the
Caribbean.
Preparations
for her
decommissioning
began late
in 1921 and
she joined
the mothball
fleet at
Philadelphia
on 9 June
1922.
Recommissioned
on 1 May
1930, the
SCHENCK
returned to
active duty
that summer
as a reserve
training
ship. In
1931 and
early 1932
she
participated
in fleet
exercises in
the
Caribbean
and off
Hawaii.
Japanese
military
action in
Manchuria
and
Shanghai,
China,
increased
tension in
the Far East
and kept the
SCHENCK in
the Pacific
with the
scouting
fleet until
June 1932.
The SCHENCK
returned to
the Pacific
again in
February
1933 for
fleet
exercises
and remained
there until
April 1934
when she
re-entered
the
Caribbean
for more
fleet
exercises.
Following
routine
operations
at Norfolk,
she trained
naval
reservists
and Naval
Academy
midshipmen
in cruises
along the
Atlantic and
Gulf coasts
from May
1935 until
the outbreak
of war in
Europe.
On 9
September
1939, the
SCHENCK
began
Neutrality
Patrol duty
off the East
Coast, and,
after an
overhaul,
patrolled
out of Key
West. During
the summer
of 1940, she
made two
midshipman
cruises from
Annapolis
and then
steamed
south to the
Caribbean
for patrol
duty.
Patrols in
the autumn
of 1940, the
early
winter, and
mid-summer
of 1941 were
separated by
periods of
training and
repairs. On
15 September
1941, the
SCHENCK
arrived at
Argentia,
Newfoundland,
for duty
escorting
convoys
carrying
vital war
materiel to
England. She
left
Argentia
with her
first convoy
on 29
September,
and by the
time the
United
States had
entered
World War
II, the
destroyer
had escorted
two convoys
to their
guarded
rendezvous
with British
escorts off
Iceland and
escorted a
ship back to
Argentia.
She remained
on the
convoy route
between
Argentia and
Iceland,
fighting
heavy
weather and
German
submarines.
She was
based in
Iceland from
19 February
to 9 May
1942. In
August 1942,
the SCHENCK
began
escorting
convoys in
and out of
Icelandic
ports.
Between 6
and 8
February
1943, the
aged
destroyer
suffered
minor damage
as she
steamed
through
rough
weather, and
on 13 March
1943, she
was moored
in an
Icelandic
port when
gale force
winds drove
her into the
SS
EXTERMINATOR.
The damage
was
extensive
and sent the
SCHENCK to
Boston for
repairs.
Reassigned
to convoy
escort
duties in
the South
Atlantic on
28 April
1943, she
guarded
convoys
between East
Coast ports,
the
Caribbean,
and North
Africa. She
returned to
the
Chesapeake
Bay with a
convoy on 26
October
1943, and,
after
overhaul and
training,
joined a
hunter‑killer
group built
around
escort
carrier Card
(CVE‑11).
The group
conducted
patrols
against
enemy
submarines
near the
Azores
beginning on
24 November
1943.
On the night
of 23-24
December
1943, she
was with
Task Group
21.14
screening
the CARD
and scouring
the North
Atlantic for
a major
wolfpack of
some thirty
U-boats. At
0216 on 24
December,
the SCHENCK
was
screening
off the
CARD’s port
bow when her
radar led
her to a
submarine
running on
the surface.
She rapidly
closed the
distance,
catching up
with the
U-boat as it
started to
dive. The
U-645, as
the sub was
later
identified,
offered a
stern view
to the
pursuing
destroyer,
which
quickly
maneuvered
to avoid a
possible
torpedo and
began a
sonar search
for the
submerged
boat. The
SCHENCK’s
sonar
located the
submarine at
800 yards,
and at 0250
the
destroyer
began
releasing
her depth
charges.
Destroyer
and
submarine
continued
their game
of cat and
mouse until
0327 when
the SCHENCK
dropped a
second
pattern of
depth
charges. Two
minutes
later an
explosion
from the
depths of
the sea
rocked the
destroyer,
and a
widening oil
slick on the
water marked
the spot of
the U-645's
last resting
place.
While the
SCHENCK was
dispatching
the U-645,
prowling
subs had
struck,
torpedoeing
the LEARY
(DD-158).
Two, and
possibly
three,
torpedoes
ruptured the
destroyer’s
hull. Her
captain gave
the order to
abandon
ship, but
had no time
to escape
himself
before his
ship went
down. The
SCHENCK took
up the
search for
survivors
from the
LEARY, which
left only
her squadron
mate, the
DECATUR
(DD-341), to
screen the
CARD, which
began a
zigzag
course to
offer an
illusive
target in
the U-boat
infested
waters. The
SCHENCK
continued
her ASW
operations
and was
later
commended by
the task
group
commander
for her role
in
preventing a
wolf pack
attack on
the CARD;
for her
continued
aggressive
action after
the sinking
of the
LEARY,
despite
having only
fourteen
depth
charges
left; and
for her
skillful
rescue of
the LEARY’s
survivors.
In February
and March
1944, the
SCHENCK made
one more
round‑trip
convoy
voyage from
the East
Coast to
Casablanca;
and, between
17 April and
10 June, she
escorted
ANTAEUS
(AG‑67) on
troop‑carrying
voyages
along the
East Coast.
Between 10
July and 29
August she
provided
training
services for
submarines
at Bermuda
and then
entered the
Brooklyn
Navy Yard.
There she
was stripped
of her
armament in
preparation
for duty as
a torpedo
target ship
for torpedo
planes
assigned to
the Air
Force
Atlantic
Fleet. The
SCHENCK was
reclassified
as AG‑82 on
25 September
1944, and
provided
target
services for
student
pilots off
Quonset
Point, R.I.,
until the
end of the
war. The
ship was
twice holed
by exercise
torpedoes
that failed
to run at
set depth
and was
struck once
by a
low‑flying
aircraft.
The SCHENCK
ended her
career at
the Boston
Navy Yard
where she
was
inactivated
in January
1946, was
decommissioned
on 17 May of
that year,
was struck
from the
navy’s list
on 5 June;
and was sold
for scrap on
25 November
1946 to the
Boston
Metals Co.,
Baltimore,
Md.
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