USS Borie (DD-704)

USS ''Borie'' (DD-704), an , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Adolph E. Borie, Secretary of the Navy under President Ulysses S. Grant.

Construction

''Borie'' (DD-704) was launched on 4 July 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, New Jersey sponsored by Mrs Albert Nalle (née Patty Neill Borie, great-grandniece of Adolph E. Borie); and commissioned on 21 September 1944.

Service history

World War II

''Borie'' joined the Pacific Fleet, arriving at Pearl Harbor 4 January 1945. She took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima, both the bombardment (24 January) and invasion (19–23 February). After joining Task Force 58, she participated in the Tokyo raids (16–17 and 25 February), Okinawa raid (1 March), and the raids in support of the occupation of Okinawa (17 March–14 May). From 9 July to 9 August, she served with Task Force 38 in its raids on the Japanese home islands. On 9 August, four ''kamikaze''s attempted to crash into ''Borie'', one achieving a hit on superstructure between the mast and the 5-inch gun director, causing extensive damage, killing 48 men, and wounding 66. The 3 other were shot down or missed. Due to the hit the ''Borie''s rudder was locked.

Korean War

The damaged destroyer returned to Saipan and Pearl Harbor for temporary repairs and on 10 September entered dry dock at Hunter's Point, California, for permanent repairs. Repairs completed on 20 November, she departed San Diego 4 February 1946 to join the Atlantic Fleet. ''Borie'' remained in the Atlantic Fleet, except for one cruise to Korea (6 September 1950 – 9 June 1951), during which she served with TF 77 and took part in the Hungnam Evacuation. ''Borie'' made at least five European and Mediterranean cruises. During a deployment (28 July-4 December 1956), she assisted in the evacuation of American nationals and United Nations truce teams from Haifa, Israel and Gaza, Egypt. She returned to more routine operations, with a few notable exceptions, her 1959 recovery of the Project Mercury nose cone and Sam, the space monkey and her 1960 surveillance duties with the Polaris missile submarines and .

In 1961 she completed her Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul. In the Caribbean in 1962, she rescued nine Cubans seeking asylum in the U.S. and, later, three Jamaican fishermen, and then joined the U.S. blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis where ''Borie'' participated in forcing a diesel-powered Russian submarine to the surface, then offered the submarine aid and supplies. ''Borie'', with two other destroyers, escorted the submarine out of the area. During the night, ''Borie'' received orders to head for the Panama Canal and wait for 20 amphibious ships from the west coast to establish an attack task force. Over the ensuing years, she acquired a Drone Antisubmarine Helicopter (DASH) system and during a Mediterranean deployment, rescued an F-8 Crusader pilot whose plane crashed in a landing attempt on the aircraft carrier .

Vietnam War and decommissioning

In February 1968, ''Borie'' began her Vietnam deployment, serving in the Gulf of Tonkin as plane guard and completing radar picket duty. On the gun line, her gunners fired over 7,000 rounds at enemy positions at Phan Thiet and in the Mekong Delta. Returning to peacetime operations in 1969, ''Borie'' became a naval reserve training ship until June 1972, when she was decommissioned. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1972.

Service in the Argentine Navy

She was sold to the Argentine Navy and renamed ''Hipólito Bouchard'' (D-26) after the Argentine privateer, Hippolyte Bouchard and had four Exocet anti-ship missiles fitted in 1977–78. ARA ''Bouchard'' saw action in the Falklands War, forming a part of the escort for the aircraft carrier during the initial Argentine invasion on 2 April 1982. On 26 April ''Bouchard'' and sister ship formed the escort for the cruiser when ''Belgrano'' set out from Ushuaia in response to the approaching British Task Force, and was present when on 2 May 1982, ''Belgrano'' was torpedoed and sunk.
In author Michael Rossiters' 'Sink the Belgrano', (Random House, London, 2009), it says Belgrano was unable to send any Mayday signal because of electrical failure; this and poor visibility meant the two escorting destroyers, (both also ex-United States Navy vessels), were unaware of the sinking until some hours later. A total of 323 men were killed. During the torpedo attack, the crew felt an impact which was believed to have been one of the three torpedoes fired from . They later found four cracks in the hull which were thought to have been a torpedoe striking at the end of its run.

On the night of 17/18 May a helicopter was tracked by the radar of ''Bouchard'', who sent a message to her sister ship ARA ''Piedrabuena'', patrolling on the north, and then to the naval base of Río Grande. In fact, a SH-3 Sea King reconnaissance mission on Río Grande had been launched by the British from as a prelude to Operation Mikado, but after detecting the Argentine radar signal, the crew of the Sea King and members of the SAS flew to Chile, where they destroyed their aircraft. Argentine Navy reports claim that ''Bouchard'' shelled a submarine and a number of inflatable boats while on patrol two miles off Rio Grande on the evening of 16 May 1982, during an alleged British attempt to land special forces on Tierra del Fuego.''El Bouchard y el Fracaso de la Operación Británica Mikado''
by Eugenio L. Facchin y José L. Speroni

She was broken up for scrap in 1984.

Awards

''Borie'' received three battle stars for her World War II services and four battle stars for her participation in the Korean War.

Notes

References

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Further reading

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External links

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hazegray.org: USS ''Borie''



(Retrieved 2016-10-01)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borie (DD-704)
Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers of the United States Navy
Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey
1944 ships
World War II destroyers of the United States
Cold War destroyers of the United States
Korean War destroyers of the United States
Vietnam War destroyers of the United States
Seguí-class destroyers
Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Argentine Navy
Falklands War naval ships of Argentina
Space capsule recovery ships