Balfour (DE-73)
1945
(DE-73: displacement 1,300 tons; length 306'; beam 36'9"; draft 10'9"; speed 24 knots; complement 200; armament 3 3-inch, 8 20 millimeter, 2 depth charge tracks, 4 depth charge projectors, 1 depth charge projector (hedgehog); class Buckley)
The destroyer escort DE-73 was laid down on 19 April 1943 at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard; named McAnn on 18 May 1943; reassigned to the United Kingdom under lend lease on 10 June 1943; and reclassified BDE-73. The assignment of the name McAnn, however, was canceled on 23 June 1943 and the name reassigned to DE-179. BDE-73 was launched on 10 July 1943, turned over to the British on 7 October 1943, and simultaneously commissioned by the Royal Navy as HMS Balfour (K.464), Lt. Cmdr. Cecil D. B. Coventry, RNR (Ret.) in command.
During World War II, Balfour earned "battle honors" under the White Ensign for service in the Atlantic, off Normandy, and in the English Channel. Although originally given credit for sinking the German submarine U-1191 (Oberleutnant Peter Grau) on 25 June 1944 in concert with HMS Affleck (K.462) , the boat attacked proved to be the wreck of U-269 (Oberleutnant Georg Uhl) that had been sunk by Balfour's sister ship HMS Bickerton (K.466) (Cmdr. Donald G. F. W. MacIntyre) earlier that same day. Less than a month later, however, on 18 July 1944, Balfour so severely damaged U-672 (Oberleutnant Ulf Lawaetz) with depth charges that the latter's crew scuttled her.
Balfour was returned to the U.S. Navy at the end of the war, retaining her British name. She arrived at New York on 16 October 1945, and the transfer took place on 25 October 1945. Deemed “not essential” to the defense of the United States on 1 November 1945, Balfour was stricken from the Navy list on 5 December 1945. The ship was sold for $1.00 to the State of New York for use by the New York Maritime Academy.
Robert J. Cressman
16 December 2005
