USS Abel P. Upshur
{{Short description|Clemson-class destroyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USS Abel P. Upshur (DD-193).jpg |Ship caption=Abel P. Upshur during her 1930–1934 stint in U.S. Coast Guard service. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1940}} |Ship name=USS Abel P. Upshur |Ship namesake=Abel Parker Upshur |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry-dock Co. |Ship laid down=5 April 1918 |Ship launched=4 July 1918 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=19 July 1919 |Ship decommissioned=7 August 1922 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=yes |Ship recommissioned=March 1928 |Ship decommissioned=5 November 1930 |Ship fate=Transferred to U.S. Coast Guard 5 November 1930 |Ship struck=5 November 1930 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=yes |Ship acquired=21 May 1934 (from U.S. Coast Guard) |Ship recommissioned=4 December 1939 |Ship decommissioned=23 September 1940 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honors= |Ship identification=DD-193 |Ship fate=Transferred to United Kingdom 9 September 1940 |Ship struck=8 January 1941 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=United States Coast Guard |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|coast guard-1915}} |Ship name=USCGD Abel P. Upshur |Ship namesake=Previous name retained |Ship acquired=5 November 1930 (from U.S. Navy) |Ship commissioned=5 November 1930 |Ship decommissioned=21 May 1934 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honors= |Ship identification=CG-15 |Ship fate=Transferred to U.S. Navy 21 May 1934 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=HMS Clare |Ship namesake= |Ship acquired=9 September 1940 |Ship commissioned=9 September 1940 |Ship decommissioned=August 1945 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship identification=I14 |Ship fate=Sold and scrapped 1947 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Clemson|destroyer}} |Ship displacement=1,308 tons |Ship length={{convert|314|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|30|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion= |Ship speed={{convert|35.18|kn}} |Ship range= |Ship complement=122 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*4 x 4"/50 caliber gun guns
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
USS Abel P. Upshur (DD-193) was a {{sclass|Clemson|destroyer}} in the service of the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard until transferred to the United Kingdom in 1940. During World War II, she served in the Royal Navy as HMS Clare.
Construction and commissioning
Named after Secretary of the Navy, Abel Parker Upshur, she was laid down on 20 August 1918 at Newport News, Virginia by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry-dock Co. The ship was launched on 14 February 1920, sponsored by Mrs. George J. Benson, great-great niece of Secretary Upshur, and commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 23 November 1920.
Service history
=United States=
Following her commissioning, Abel P. Upshur was assigned to Destroyer Division 37, Squadron 3, Atlantic Fleet. She cruised along the United States East Coast, taking part in fleet exercises and maneuvers. The ship was placed out of commission at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 7 August 1922.
Abel P. Upshur assumed duties at the Washington Navy Yard in March 1928 as a training ship for Naval Reserve personnel from the District of Columbia and continued this routine until 5 November 1930, when the ship was transferred to the U.S. Treasury Department. Her name was then struck from the Navy list. The ship served the Coast Guard attempting to prevent the smuggling of liquor into the United States.
Abel P. Upshur was returned to Navy custody on 21 May 1934 but was laid up at Philadelphia until 4 December 1939, when she was again placed in commission and assigned to the Atlantic Squadron. The ship operated along the U.S. East Coast on the Neutrality Patrol.
On 9 September 1940, Abel P. Upshur was decommissioned at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The vessel was transferred to Britain under an agreement by which, the United States exchanged 50 overage destroyers for bases on British colonial territory in the Atlantic. Her name was again struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941.
United Kingdom
File:The Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1945 A9155.jpg
As HMS Clare, she was assigned to the 1st {{sclass2|Town|destroyer|5}} Flotilla and arrived at Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 26 September 1940. Clare joined Escort Group 7 and escorted transatlantic convoys. On 20 February 1941, she rescued the crew of the sinking British steamship Rigmor. In the early hours of 21 February, the destroyer collided with the motor vessel Petertoum and suffered some damage.
After undergoing repairs at Plymouth, England, between March and October, Clare resumed convoy duty with Escort Group 41, Western Approaches Command. Clare was modified for long range trade convoy escort service by removal of the two forward boilers and substitution of additional fuel tanks. This modification improved endurance but reduced top speed to 25 knots. Three of the original 4"/50 caliber gun/50 caliber guns and one of the triple torpedo tube mounts were removed to reduce topside weight for additional depth charge stowage and installation of Hedgehog anti-submarine mortars.Lenton&Colledge (1968) pp.92–94
In the fall of 1942, the destroyer took part in the landings of the invasion of North Africa Operation "Torch." As a member of the Eastern Naval Task Force, she covered landings near Algiers. On 12 November 1942, the destroyer attacked a German U-boat in waters north of Oran, Algeria, and claimed to have sunk the enemy vessel. Clare left Gibraltar on 17 November 1942, returned to Britain, and resumed transatlantic convoy duty.
In July 1943, the ship participated in the invasion of Sicily. She entered drydock at Cardiff, Wales in September of that year, returned to action in May 1944, and served as a target ship for aircraft in the Western Approaches Command. In August 1945, Clare was reduced to reserve at Greenock, Scotland. Declared obsolete, she was allocated for scrap in 1947, arriving at Troon on 18 February 1947 to be broken up by West of Scotland Shipbreaking Co Ltd.
Notes
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References
- {{cite book| title=British and Dominion Warships of World War II |author=Lenton, H.T. and Colledge J.J. |publisher=Doubleday and Company |year=1968}}
- {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/abel-p-upshur.html}}
{{Clemson class destroyer}}
{{Town class destroyers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel P. Upshur (DD-193)}}
Category:Clemson-class destroyers
Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy
Category:Town-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
Category:Town-class destroyers converted from Clemson-class destroyers