USS Roche

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History
United States
NameUSS Roche
NamesakeDavid John Roche
BuilderFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newark, New Jersey
Laid down21 October 1943
Launched9 January 1944
Commissioned21 February 1944
Stricken5 June 1946
FateScuttled off Yokosuka, 11 March 1946
General characteristics
Class and typeCannon-class destroyer escort
Displacement
  • 1,240 long tons (1,260 t) standard
  • 1,620 long tons (1,646 t) full
Length
  • 306 ft (93 m) o/a
  • 300 ft (91 m)
    w/l
Beam36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft11 ft 8 in (3.56 m)
Propulsion4 × GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW), 2 screws
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range10,800 nmi (20,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement15 officers and 201 enlisted
Armament

USS Roche (DE-197) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service United States Navy from 1944 to 1945. She hit a mine in late September 1945. As it was uneconomical to repair her, she was scuttled in March 1946.

Namesake

David John Roche was born on 2 December 1918 in

Navy Cross
.

History

Roche was laid down on 21 October 1943 by the

Port Newark, New Jersey; launched on 9 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Carrie M. Roche; and commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
on 21 February 1944.

Atlantic convoys, 1944–1945

Following shakedown off

Atlantic and into the Mediterranean without incident. Then it was one alert after another. German airpower was active in the area. But the convoy reached Bizerte
on 2 June without having been attacked. Roche returned to New York on 29 June.

Following refresher training at

Casco Bay, Maine Roche departed Norfolk on 22 July with a convoy bound for Bizerte. Returning from Gibraltar as escort to a Liberty ship under tow, she evaded a German U-boat and arrived at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 9 September for overhaul. On 14 October she departed New York escorting a convoy which reached Plymouth
, England on 25 October. Throughout the winter and spring of 1945, she made five more of these trips.

In mid-Atlantic on 13 March 1945, while en route to Southampton, England, Roche rescued 11 men from the water after the collision of USAT J. W. McAndrew and the Béarn.

Pacific Fleet, 1945

In May 1945, Roche was ordered to the Pacific Fleet and on 9 June she was underway for

anti-submarine patrol as a precaution against any Japanese submarines
which had not heard of the surrender.

Roche after hitting a mine, 29 September 1945.

On 22 September Roche got underway for

fantail was a mass of twisted steel; but, due to the quick action of repair parties, all watertight hatches in the vicinity were dogged down to keep the ship afloat and a port list was created artificially to aid in maintaining watertight integrity. There were three deaths in the explosion and many injuries. Ten men were transferred to Florence Nightingale. Roche was taken in tow by ATR-35, and 15 days after the surrender papers had been signed on board the USS Missouri, Roche entered Tokyo Bay and moored to repair ship Telamon (ARB-8)
.

On 18 October a

board of inspection and survey decided that Roche was beyond economical repair and recommended that she be cannibalized. Subsequently, decommissioned, Roche's hulk was sunk off Yokosuka on 11 March 1946. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 5 June 1946.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Roche (DE-197).

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

  • "DE-197 USS Roche". Destroyer Escort Photo Archive. Retrieved 23 March 2007.


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