.gif)
USS Thatcher (DD-162)
Encyclopedia
The first USS Thatcher (DD–162) was a Wickes class
destroyer
in the United States Navy
, later transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy
as HMCS Niagara (I-57).
, she was laid down on 8 June 1918 at Quincy, Massachusetts
, by the Fore River Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
; launched on 31 August 1918; sponsored by Miss Doris Bentley, the grandniece of Rear Admiral Thatcher; and commissioned on 14 January 1919, Lieutenant Commander Henry M. Kieffer in temporary command. On 25 January, Lt. Comdr. Francis W. Rockwell
—who later commanded the 16th Naval District in the Philippines
at the outbreak of World War II
in the Pacific—assumed command.
Following shakedown, Thatcher operated with the Atlantic Fleet
into the autumn of 1919. During the transatlantic NC-boat
flights in May 1919, the destroyer operated on picket station number 9—one of 21 stations strung out from Newfoundland
to the Azores
—between her sister ships Walker (Destroyer No. 163)
and Crosby (Destroyer No. 164)
. Underway at sea, she provided visual and radio bearings for the flying boats as they passed overhead on their way toward Lisbon
, Portugal
.
Upon completion of this duty, the destroyer—reclassified as DD-162 on 17 July 1920—resumed her routine training operations off the eastern seaboard before heading west in the autumn of 1921 to join the Pacific Fleet. She operated out of San Diego, conducting exercises and training cruises off the west coast until decommissioned at San Diego on 7 June 1922.
Thatcher remained laid-up at San Diego through the summer of 1939. War broke out in Europe
on 1 September 1939, when German
troops invaded Poland
. Thatcher was recommissioned at San Diego on 18 December 1939, Lt. Comdr. Henry E. Richter in command, and conducted shakedown and training evolutions off the west coast until transferred to the Atlantic the following spring. Transiting the Panama Canal
on 1 April 1940, a month before the situation in Europe became critical when Germany began her blitzkrieg against France
and the Low Countries
, Thatcher subsequently conducted neutrality patrols
and training cruises off the east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico
through the summer of 1940.
The European situation took a drastic turn with the fall of France in June 1940. British
destroyer forces in the wake of the disastrous Norwegian
campaign and the evacuation of Dunkirk
found themselves thinly spread—especially after Italy
entered the war on Germany's side. Prime Minister Winston Churchill
appealed to the United States for help.
In response, Franklin D. Roosevelt
issued an executive order authorizing the transfer of 50 "over age" destroyers to the British in return for 99-year leases
on strategic base sites in the western hemisphere. Thatcher was accordingly withdrawn from the Atlantic Squadron and her operations with Destroyer Division 69 for transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy, which had been allocated six of the "50 ships that saved the world," as these vessels came to be known.
As such, Thatcher and her five sisters arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia
, on 20 September—the third group of the "flush deckers" transferred. Decommissioned on 24 September 1940, Thatcher was struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941.
See USS Thatcher
for other ships of this name.
forming the border between New York
and Ontario
. Niagara departed Halifax on 30 November; proceeded eastward via St. John's, Newfoundland; and arrived in the British Isles
on 11 December. Early in 1941, the destroyer was allocated to the 4th Escort Group, Western Approaches Command, and based at Greenock
, Scotland
. Subsequently transferred to the Newfoundland escort force, Niagara operated on convoy escort duties into the summer of 1941. While she was operating with this force, she took part in the capture of a German U-boat
, U-570
.
A Lockheed Hudson
bomber, flying from Kaldaðarnes, 30 miles southeast of Reykjavík
, Iceland
, located U-570 running on the surface off the Icelandic coast on 27 August 1941. The "Hudson" attacked the U-boat with depth charge
s, damaging the enemy craft so severely that she could not submerge. Soon, some of the German crew appeared on deck displaying a large white cloth — possibly a bed sheet — indicating that they had surrendered. Patently unable to capture the submarine herself, the Hudson radioed for help.
Niagara sped to the scene and arrived at 08:20 on 28 August 1941. Rough weather initially hampered the operation but eventually, by 18:00, Niagara had placed a prize crew aboard the submarine and had taken U-570 in tow. During the operation, she also took the 43-man crew of the enemy craft on board. Towed to Þorlákshöfn
, Iceland, the U-boat eventually served in the Royal Navy as HMS Graph
.
In January 1942, Niagara escorted the tempest-battered Danish
merchantman Triton into Belfast
, Northern Ireland
, after the freighter had been severely mauled in a storm at sea. In March the destroyer rescued the survivors from the American merchantman SS Independence Hall, which had run aground off Sable Island
, Nova Scotia, and had broken in half. The next month, she picked up two boatloads of survivors from the sunken steamer SS Rio Blanco, which had been torpedoed by U-160 on 1 April 1942, 40 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
The destroyer subsequently underwent boiler repairs at Pictou from May to August 1942 before resuming coastwise convoy operations between Halifax and New York and escort duty in the western Atlantic. Another refit at Pictou came in June and October 1943, before she continued her coastwise convoy escort missions through 1944.
Niagara became a torpedo-firing ship — first at Halifax and later at St. John, New Brunswick — from the spring of 1945 until the end of World War II in mid-August 1945, training torpedomen. Decommissioned on 15 September 1945, Niagara was turned over to the War Assets Corporation on 27 May 1946 and ultimately broken up for scrap soon thereafter.
Wickes class destroyer
The Wickes-class destroyers were a group of 111 destroyers built by the United States Navy in 1917-1919. Along with the 6 preceding Caldwell class and 155 subsequent Clemson-class destroyers, they formed the "flush-deck" or "four-stack" class. Only a few were completed in time to serve in World...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, later transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
as HMCS Niagara (I-57).
As USS Thatcher
Named for Admiral Henry K. ThatcherHenry K. Thatcher
Henry Knox Thatcher was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, who served during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, she was laid down on 8 June 1918 at Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
, by the Fore River Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when Bethlehem Steel Corporation acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works in 1905...
; launched on 31 August 1918; sponsored by Miss Doris Bentley, the grandniece of Rear Admiral Thatcher; and commissioned on 14 January 1919, Lieutenant Commander Henry M. Kieffer in temporary command. On 25 January, Lt. Comdr. Francis W. Rockwell
Francis W. Rockwell (admiral)
Francis Warren Rockwell was a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy who served from 1908 to 1948.-Early life and career:...
—who later commanded the 16th Naval District in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
at the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in the Pacific—assumed command.
Following shakedown, Thatcher operated with the Atlantic Fleet
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
into the autumn of 1919. During the transatlantic NC-boat
NC-4
The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat which was designed by Glenn Curtiss and his team, and manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. In May 1919, the NC-4 became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, starting in the United States and making the crossing as far as Lisbon,...
flights in May 1919, the destroyer operated on picket station number 9—one of 21 stations strung out from Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
to the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
—between her sister ships Walker (Destroyer No. 163)
USS Walker (DD-163)
The first USS Walker was a Wickes class destroyer that saw service in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Admiral John Grimes Walker.-History:...
and Crosby (Destroyer No. 164)
USS Crosby (DD-164)
USS Crosby was a Wickes class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II, later reclassified as APD-17. She was named for Admiral Peirce Crosby....
. Underway at sea, she provided visual and radio bearings for the flying boats as they passed overhead on their way toward Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
Upon completion of this duty, the destroyer—reclassified as DD-162 on 17 July 1920—resumed her routine training operations off the eastern seaboard before heading west in the autumn of 1921 to join the Pacific Fleet. She operated out of San Diego, conducting exercises and training cruises off the west coast until decommissioned at San Diego on 7 June 1922.
Thatcher remained laid-up at San Diego through the summer of 1939. War broke out in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on 1 September 1939, when German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
troops invaded Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Thatcher was recommissioned at San Diego on 18 December 1939, Lt. Comdr. Henry E. Richter in command, and conducted shakedown and training evolutions off the west coast until transferred to the Atlantic the following spring. Transiting the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
on 1 April 1940, a month before the situation in Europe became critical when Germany began her blitzkrieg against France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, Thatcher subsequently conducted neutrality patrols
Neutrality Patrol
At the beginning of World War II, when Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 started the hostilities in Europe, President Franklin D...
and training cruises off the east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
through the summer of 1940.
The European situation took a drastic turn with the fall of France in June 1940. British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
destroyer forces in the wake of the disastrous Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
campaign and the evacuation of Dunkirk
Battle of Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was a battle in the Second World War between the Allies and Germany. A part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe from 26 May–4 June 1940.After the Phoney War, the Battle of...
found themselves thinly spread—especially after Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
entered the war on Germany's side. Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
appealed to the United States for help.
In response, Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
issued an executive order authorizing the transfer of 50 "over age" destroyers to the British in return for 99-year leases
Destroyers for Bases Agreement
The Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, September 2, 1940, transferred fifty mothballed destroyers from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions...
on strategic base sites in the western hemisphere. Thatcher was accordingly withdrawn from the Atlantic Squadron and her operations with Destroyer Division 69 for transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy, which had been allocated six of the "50 ships that saved the world," as these vessels came to be known.
As such, Thatcher and her five sisters arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, on 20 September—the third group of the "flush deckers" transferred. Decommissioned on 24 September 1940, Thatcher was struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941.
See USS Thatcher
USS Thatcher
USS Thatcher may refer to:, a Wickes-class destroyer launched in 1918. She was transferred to Canada in 1940 and recommissioned HMCS Niagara . She was decommissioned in 1945 and scrapped the following year., a Fletcher-class destroyer, launched in 1942 and struck in 1945....
for other ships of this name.
As HMCS Niagara
Renamed HMCS Niagara (I57) following the Canadian practice of naming destroyers after Canadian rivers (but with deference to the U.S. origin), after the Niagara RiverNiagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
forming the border between New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Niagara departed Halifax on 30 November; proceeded eastward via St. John's, Newfoundland; and arrived in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
on 11 December. Early in 1941, the destroyer was allocated to the 4th Escort Group, Western Approaches Command, and based at Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Subsequently transferred to the Newfoundland escort force, Niagara operated on convoy escort duties into the summer of 1941. While she was operating with this force, she took part in the capture of a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
, U-570
HMS Graph (P715)
HMS Graph was a German Type VIIC U-boat used by the British Royal Navy during World War II.Commissioned as the U-570 in the German Kriegsmarine in mid-1941, she was attacked and captured on her first patrol....
.
A Lockheed Hudson
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
bomber, flying from Kaldaðarnes, 30 miles southeast of Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, located U-570 running on the surface off the Icelandic coast on 27 August 1941. The "Hudson" attacked the U-boat with depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s, damaging the enemy craft so severely that she could not submerge. Soon, some of the German crew appeared on deck displaying a large white cloth — possibly a bed sheet — indicating that they had surrendered. Patently unable to capture the submarine herself, the Hudson radioed for help.
Niagara sped to the scene and arrived at 08:20 on 28 August 1941. Rough weather initially hampered the operation but eventually, by 18:00, Niagara had placed a prize crew aboard the submarine and had taken U-570 in tow. During the operation, she also took the 43-man crew of the enemy craft on board. Towed to Þorlákshöfn
Þorlákshöfn
Þorlákshöfn is a town on the southern coast of Iceland in the Municipality called Ölfus.The town name is named after Þorláki Helga who was bishop at Skálholt...
, Iceland, the U-boat eventually served in the Royal Navy as HMS Graph
HMS Graph (P715)
HMS Graph was a German Type VIIC U-boat used by the British Royal Navy during World War II.Commissioned as the U-570 in the German Kriegsmarine in mid-1941, she was attacked and captured on her first patrol....
.
In January 1942, Niagara escorted the tempest-battered Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
merchantman Triton into Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, after the freighter had been severely mauled in a storm at sea. In March the destroyer rescued the survivors from the American merchantman SS Independence Hall, which had run aground off Sable Island
Sable Island
Sable Island is a small Canadian island situated 300 km southeast of mainland Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean. The island is a year-round home to approximately five people...
, Nova Scotia, and had broken in half. The next month, she picked up two boatloads of survivors from the sunken steamer SS Rio Blanco, which had been torpedoed by U-160 on 1 April 1942, 40 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
The destroyer subsequently underwent boiler repairs at Pictou from May to August 1942 before resuming coastwise convoy operations between Halifax and New York and escort duty in the western Atlantic. Another refit at Pictou came in June and October 1943, before she continued her coastwise convoy escort missions through 1944.
Niagara became a torpedo-firing ship — first at Halifax and later at St. John, New Brunswick — from the spring of 1945 until the end of World War II in mid-August 1945, training torpedomen. Decommissioned on 15 September 1945, Niagara was turned over to the War Assets Corporation on 27 May 1946 and ultimately broken up for scrap soon thereafter.