USS Semmes (DD-189)

USS Semmes (DD-189) was a Clemson-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War I. Named for Confederate States Navy admiral Raphael Semmes, the ship served through the interwar period before being transferred to the United Kingdom under the Lend-Lease program in 1940. It saw extensive service in the Royal Navy and later the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II under the names HMS Broke and HMCS Broke.

Construction and commissioning

The vessel was authorized as part of the massive 1916 naval expansion program and her keel was laid down on 10 June 1918 at the Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 21 December 1918, sponsored by Miss Mary Houstoun Semmes, a descendant of the ship's namesake. The destroyer was commissioned into Atlantic Fleet service on 21 February 1920 under the command of Lieutenant Commander John D. Wainwright.

Service history

Following shakedown and initial training exercises off the Virginia Capes, the ship was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 3 of the Atlantic Fleet. She conducted routine fleet maneuvers, participated in gunnery drills, and made port visits to locations like Guantánamo Bay and Culebra. In 1921, she was temporarily attached to the United States Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters for duty in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea during the turbulent aftermath of the Russian Civil War and the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). Returning to the United States later that year, she resumed normal peacetime operations along the East Coast and in the Caribbean Sea. After a period of reduced activity, the destroyer was decommissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 7 June 1922 and placed in reserve.

With the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the ship was recommissioned on 26 September 1939 as part of the Neutrality Patrol. She operated in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, tasked with monitoring belligerent shipping and protecting American neutrality. As part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement in 1940, she was transferred to the Royal Navy on 23 October 1940 at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Renamed HMS Broke (H92), she was assigned to the 7th Escort Group of the Royal Canadian Navy for convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic, protecting vital supply lines from German U-boat attacks. In 1942, she was formally transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and redesignated HMCS Broke, continuing her arduous escort work on routes to St. John's and Iceland. Later in the war, she was converted for use as a target ship for Royal Air Force aircraft practicing anti-shipping strikes.

Fate

After the conclusion of World War II, the veteran vessel was deemed obsolete and surplus. She was sold for scrap on 20 March 1946 to the Boston Metals Company of Baltimore, Maryland. The former destroyer was subsequently towed to Baltimore and broken up later that year, ending a service career that spanned two world wars and three different naval services.

Category:Clemson-class destroyers