A British name. Three earlier Torringtons served in the Royal Navy. The first Torrington was acquired in 1654 and named for a town in Devonshire, during England's First Civil War, of a victory of the Parliamentarian force commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax.
The second and third Torrington were named for Admiral George Byng, Viscount Torrington, who entered the Royal Navy in 1678 and rose steadily until he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in 1727. His greatest triumph at sea was probably his victory over the Spanish Fleet off Cape Passaro, Sicily. He died on 17 January 1733.
Torrington (BDE-568), a Buckley-class destroyer escort, was laid down under the lend-lease program on 22 September 1943, at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched on 27 November 1943; and commissioned by the Royal Navy on 18 January 1944.
Following commissioning, Torrington shook down in Casco Bay, Maine, and off Bermuda, before proceeding to England, via St. John's and Argentia, Newfoundland.After arriving in British home waters on 20 April 1944, the new DE operated in the English Channel area and first tasted combat on 21 July 1944 off Cape D'Antifer. In company with HMS Melbreak that day, Torrington engaged a German destroyer and four motor-torpedo boats ("E" boats) and drove them away from vital supply lines supporting the Allied invasion of western France.
Besides patrolling in the Channel, Torrington also served in the Atlantic and the North Sea. On 11 March 1945,she sank a German midget submarine, or Seehund off Ramsgate, England. Two days later, she destroyed a second Seehund off Dunkirk, France, sinking the enemy submersible during a determined depth charge attack.
After Germany surrendered, the DE was returned to the United States on 11 June 1946. Torrington (BDE-568) was struck from the Navy list on 15 October 1946 and sold on 26 September 1947 for scrap.
