Abel P. Upshur DD- 193

Abel P. Upshur

(DD-193 dp. 1 308, 1. 314'41/2", b. 30'11 1/2", dr. 9'4", s. 35.18 k; cpl. 122; a. 4 4", 1 3", 12 21" tt.; cL Clemson)

Abel P. Upshur (DD-193) was laid down on 20 August 1918 at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., 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, Lt. Vincent H. Godfrey in command.

Following her commissioning, the destroyer was assigned to Destroyer Division 37, Squadron 3, Atlantic Fleet. She cruised along the 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 Treasury Department. Her name was then struck from the Navy list. The ship served the Coast Guard helping 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 east coast on neutrality enforcement patrols.

On 9 September 1940, Abel P. Upshur was decommissioned at Halifax Nova Scotia. The vessel was transferred to Great 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 struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941.

The destroyer was renamed HMS Clare and commissioned by the British on 9 Sentember 1940. She was assigned to the 1st "Town-class" Flotilla and arrived at Belfast, Ireland, on 26 September. 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 the 21st, the destroyer collided with the motor vessel Petertown 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.

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 Great 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, an] served as a target ship for aircraft in the Western Approaches Command. In August 1945, Clare was reduced to reserve at Greenock, Scotland laying nets and fleet moorings before getting underway on the 28th and heading for Saipan to prepare for the upcoming Okinawa invasion.

After a brief period spent in the Leyte Gulf staying area Abele arrived off Kerama Retto on 26 March to beginlaying net defenses. Although she was attacked by Japanese suicide boats and aircraft during the next seven weeks, she suffered no damage. On 18 April, the ship assisted in the downing of one enemy airplane. On 12 May, she sailed to Nagagusuku Wan, Okinawa and assisted in laying five miles of heavy antitorpedo nets across the harbor entrance. She also claimed credit for downing one Japanese "Val" on 11 June.

Abele was ordered to Tinian on 5 August to recover the antitorpedo net located there. Following the formal Japanese surrender early in September, the ship got underway to return to the west coast of the United States. She reached San Francisco Calif., in late November. Abele was decommissioned on 1 March 1946; her name was struck from the Navy list on 28 March 1946 and the vessel was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 7 May 1947.

Abele won one battle star for her World War II service.