USS Brough

History
United States
Namesake	David Atkins Brough
Builder	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas
Laid down	22 January 1943
Launched	10 April 1943
Commissioned	18 September 1943 to 22 March 1946 7 September 1951 to June 1965
Stricken	1 November 1965
Motto	Frontier Guardian, In Peace, In War[1]
Fate	Sold for scrap in 1967
General characteristics
Class and type	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,253 tons standard 1,590 tons full load
Length	306 feet (93.27 m)
Beam	36.58 feet (11.15 m)
Draft	10.42 full load feet (3.18 m)
Propulsion	4 FM diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp (4.5 MW), 2 screws
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h)
Range	9,100 nmi. at 12 knots (17,000 km at 22 km/h)
Complement	8 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns 1 × twin 40 mm AA guns 8 × single 20 mm AA guns 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog) 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Brough (DE-148) was an

After an intense shakedown period, Brough was assigned the task of escorting allied shipping to European ports. She spent two years escorting Allied shipping without the loss of a single vessel during her twenty four Atlantic crossings, and made only five submarine attacks with the presence of U-boats unverified in each case.

At war

Wind and sea, ice and fog, furnished relentless diversion however, for unspectacular service. Five of her twenty-five months of active duty were spent in repair yards, where the scars of the

Brough, under constant and intensive training throughout the war expended 4,050 rounds of 3 inches (76 mm) 50 cal., 15,180 rounds of 40 mm, and 25,093 rounds of 20 mm—all for practice. During anti-submarine actions, 200 depth charges and 372 projectiles were fired. When Brough was commissioned her armament included torpedo tubes, eight 20mm guns, a twin 40 mm and three 3"/5O cal. guns. But as the pattern of warfare shifted from surface to air actions, repeated alterations resulted in the removal of the torpedoes, and the addition of another twin and a quad 40 mm, along with two more 20 mm.

At sea for 373 days of her 25 months active duty, most of the time she was on war patrol, with her guns manned and full watches alerted.

Second tragedy

The second and last death on Brough during

Post-war preservation

In January 1947, Brough was placed out of commission in reserve, attached to the

Upon Brough's return from Key West she berthed alongside the Yosemite (AD-19) for tender overhaul. The tender discovered that the generators warranted overhaul and Brough was sent to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine for repairs.

In November 1953, Brough, as flagship for Commander

On 4 September 1956, Brough departed Newport, R.I. to join Task Force 43 in Operation DEEPFREEZE II. Steaming independently by way of the Panama Canal, Brough reached Dunedin, New Zealand one month later. From October 1956 to March 1957, Brough operated out of Dunedin on her assigned picket station at 57° South - 170° East. Her assignment: act as weather reporting, communication and search and rescue ship in an area where high winds and forty foot waves were not uncommon. The pattern of operations was five or six days in port, nineteen to twenty-one days at sea. En route to station Brough occasionally made calls at isolated Campbell Island, New Zealand.

Deepfreeze III

The return trip to

After completing the regular overhaul in July, Brough returned to Newport and continued preparation for DEEPFREEZE III. The period 19–23 August was spent alongside the tender Yellowstone (AD-27) completing preparations for seven months independent duty.

On 26 August Brough departed Newport, R.I. for Dunedin, N.Z. via Panama Canal, arriving 25 September. During the deployment with DEEPFREEZE III, Brough made five trips to 61° South 170° East. One trip took her across the Antarctic Circle, on 5 February 1958 a "first" for Destroyer Escorts. On three occasions 75-knot (139 km/h or 86 mph) winds were encountered, but Brough came through with negligible damage.

Brough left Dunedin, N.Z. for. Newport, R.I. in March 1958, arriving 2 April. During April she enjoyed a tender, leave, and upkeep period—before departing for her new home port, Key West, Florida. From 5 May until 21 July, Brough operated with Fleet Sonar School, Key West. During that period, CORTRON 14 was disestablished and Brough joined Destroyer Division Six Zero One.

Deepfreeze IV

Between 21 July and 22 August 1958, preparations were made for DEEPFREEZE IV. On 23 August 1958, Brough departed for her third trip to Dunedin, N.Z. and her third consecutive year under the operational control of Commander Task Force 43. Arriving in Dunedin on 22 September, she departed almost immediately to continue her usual duties on station between New Zealand and Antarctica. Between 23 August and 19 November, Brough was at sea 78 days and in port only 8 days.

When Brough left Dunedin, N.Z. for the last time, on 7 February 1959, four thousand New Zealanders were there to see her sail, indicative of the excellent relations that existed between Brough personnel and the citizens of Dunedin.

Another first

The return trip to

Between 1 July and 29 September 1959 Brough underwent a regular shipyard overhaul in Key West.

After the overhaul period, Brough provided services to Fleet Sonar School until departing for refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Underway refresher training from 17 October to 24 November molded the ship into a more effective fighting unit. An upkeep period followed by a leave period kept the ship in Key West until after New Year's Day.

Beginning in January 1960, Brough settled into a regular schedule of providing services for Fleet Sonar School, Key West. She traveled to Charleston, South Carolina for tender availability between 29 February and 10 March 1960. Returning to Key West, Fleet Sonar School operations during the spring of 1960 were broken by occasional weeks of upkeep and type training. On 14 May 1960, Brough journeyed to Norfolk, Va., for tender availability alongside Sierra (AD-18), returning to Key West on 31 May. Over 4 July, Brough visited Tampa, Florida, returning to provide services to Fleet Sonar School until 18 August.

While en route to Norfolk again, in late August Brough stopped over in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a recreational visit before a period of availability alongside Amphion (AR-13) at Norfolk Va. Skirting Hurricane Donna with no damage in mid-September, she returned to Key West for Fleet Sonar School operations.

Training at Guantanamo Bay between 8 and 12 October was followed by liberty and recreation in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Brough again provided services to Fleet Sonar School until the next tender availability alongside Sierra (AD-18) in Norfolk, 14 November to 1 December.

After the Christmas leave period Brough was once again providing services of

A period of upkeep and restricted availability at U.S. Naval Station, Key West began 1 May. An In Service inspection was conducted 11 to 12 May. From 21 May Fleet Sonar School operations continued through the summer, interrupted by a return visit to Miami 14 – 16 July, a week of type training during August, and two weeks of upkeep. While in Miami, Brough was favored by a visit from Miss USA, a finalist in the Miss Universe Pageant. Miss Finland (Ritva Wachter) also visited the ship.

On 15 July 1961, Commander Destroyer Force,

August 1962, Brough arrive in Boston, Massachusetts. Brough sat next to

In October 1962, Brough sortied from Key West was part of the task force of U.S. naval vessels operating in the vicinity of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

December 1962, Brough’s picture of her were taken in Key West.^[4]

Decommissioning and disposal

Brough decommissioned in June 1965 and was removed from the

Awards

• American Campaign Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Antarctic Service Medal
  (3 awards)

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• A USS Brough webpage
• DANFS entry