USS Fiske (DE-143)
sunk after being torpedoed by German submarine U-804 north of Azores, 2 August 1944
| Navy | US Navy |
| Type | Destroyer Escort |
| Class | Edsall |
| Pennant | DE 143 |
| Built by | Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd. (Orange, Texas, U.S.A.) |
| Laid down | 4 Jan 1943 |
| Launched | 14 Mar 1943 |
| Commissioned | 25 August 1943 (Commander Lt. Robert Power Walker, USN) |
| Lost | 2 August 1944 |
| Loss position | 47º11'N, 33º29'W |
| History | |
| On 2 August 1944, USS Fiske was part of
the hunter-killer Task Group 22.6 formed around the escort carrier USS Wake Island
(CVE 65) and was detached together with the destroyer escort USS Douglas L.
Howard (DE 138) to investigate a visual contact about 800 nautical
miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland. The surfaced U-804 quickly dived and
fired at 15.36 hours three Gnats on the approaching ships. The first
missed, but after 3 minutes the second hit the USS Fiske on her starboard
side amidships and the third struck her after 4 minutes 30 seconds,
breaking her in two sinking in position 47º11'N, 33º29'W.
Taking 33 crew with her.The survivors, among
them 50 wounded men abandoned ship and were picked up by the destroyer
escort USS
Farquhar (DE 139), which took them to Argentina for medical attention
and then to Boston.
Hit by U-boat |