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Edward W. Eberle served
with the U.S. fleet at Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War,
and later as superintendent of the Naval Academy, as commander of the
Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, and as Chief of Naval Operations.
The EBERLE (DD-430) was
launched 14 September 1940 and soon after her commissioning on 4
December 1940, she steamed south for training in the Caribbean and along
the East Coast. She remained in southern waters, operating out of
Bermuda with the United States’ neutrality patrol, until the end of
August 1941. The EBERLE made history when she joined the ERICSSON
(DD-440), and three 'four-pipers,' DALLAS (DD-199), UPSHUR (DD-144), and
ELLIS (DD-154), as part of Task Unit 4.1.1. A pioneer group, they were
the first U.S. ships to escort convoys along the western end of the
vital North Atlantic lifeline to Britain. On September 17, they picked
up the convoy of forty-four merchant ships about 350 miles east of Nova
Scotia. The untried American crews and their ships would not be tested
by German U-boats on this first run, but the men of the EBERLE had an
opportunity to prove their mettle on the night of 24-25 September. Rain,
gale-force winds, and high seas were tossing ships about when fire broke
out aboard the freighter SS NIGARISTAN. Plowing through rough seas and
damaging winds, the EBERLE steamed toward the stricken ship. Arriving on
the scene in record time, she found that the freighter’s sixty-three-man
crew had abandoned ship and were helplessly adrift in wildly plunging
lifeboats. Displaying skill and bravery, the EBERLE’s crew began hauling
the desperate men aboard. In the process, one of the seamen fell between
his lifeboat and the destroyer and was in immediate danger of being
crushed. According to the ship’s action report, Ensign L. C. Savage went
well “beyond the normal call of duty” when he swung over the side with a
bowline, grabbed the sailor, and held on as the destroyer’s crew hauled
them to safety. The EBERLE went on to successfully rescue the entire
crew of the doomed NIGARISTAN and then, continued on her way. Later on
the 25th, she and the rest of the pioneer escort group turned
the remaining thirty-nine ships over to the British and proceeded with
four of the merchantmen into Reykjavik, Iceland.
Continuing escort duty
after the United States entered the war, the EBERLE sailed the North
Atlantic as far as Scotland and then transferred to Norfolk. By August
1942, she was escorting tankers through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean
to South American ports. That fall, the Allies were preparing for the
invasion of North Africa, and on 25 October, the EBERLE left Norfolk
with the Northern Attack Group of Task Force 34. She was assigned to
antiaircraft duty with the HAMBLETON (DD-455) and MACOMB (DD-458) while
escorting army transports headed for landings at Mehdia, French
Morocco. On the morning of D-Day, on 8 November, the EBERLE opened fire
on a French shore battery that had begun shelling the landing craft
approaching Green Beach. Within two minutes, her gunners had silenced
the enemy guns.
Returning to Norfolk on
27 November, she put to sea again on 26 December heading for the South
Atlantic. She was operating out of Recife, Brazil, on 10 March 1943,
when she intercepted the German blockade runner KARIN. When a
fourteen-man boarding party from the EBERLE went aboard the KARIN, they
found themselves in the midst of a conflagration. The Germans had
planted demolition charges throughout the ship. The first explosions
killed half of the party outright. Undaunted, the remaining seven tried
to save the KARIN, but fire and further explosions finally forced them
to abandon the effort. They joined seventy-two Germans who leapt
overboard and were picked up by the EBERLE.
After an overhaul at
Charleston, the EBERLE returned to escort duty in North African waters
until 31 January 1944. She then sailed for Naples to provide fire
support for American and British troops ashore at Anzio and protection
for troops on transports at sea. On 20 April, she broke up an attack by
German E-boats on the transport anchorage, sinking one and damaging
three others so badly that they were subsequently beached.
The EBERLE continued her patrol and escort duty until 15 August 1944 and
the invasion of southern France. On 21 August, her shelling brought
about the surrender of the Ile de Porquerolles and the capture of
seventy-two Germans by Allied forces. She closed out the year on
transatlantic escort duty and then spent six months in New York for
overhaul and training before sailing for the Pacific in June 1945.
Sailing out of Pearl Harbor, she provided an antiaircraft screen for the
ANTIETAM (CV-36) and visited the Russian port of Petrovavlovsk,
Kamchatka, before heading for Charleston, South Carolina, in January
1946. She returned stateside with three battle stars for World War II
service. The EBERLE was assigned to the Naval Reserve Training program
until she was placed in reserve 19 May 1950. Finally decommissioned at
Boston on 22 January 1951, she was transferred to Greece under the
Mutual Defense Assistance Program. Renamed NIKI, the destroyer joined
the Greek navy where she served until 1972. |
