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Further Reading

DD-356 Porter

Specifically designed for long-range operations in the Pacific, the Porter-class destroyers were significantly larger than most other destroyers in the Battle Force. This large destroyer was more crafted along the lines of European large destroyers, heavy on artillery. With eight 5" guns in twin mounts, the Porters were almost small cruisers. Their almost pre-ordained role was that of a "destroyer leader", although the Navy did not want them to be; and yet, so they were used.

USS Porter, a 1850-ton destroyer, was built at Camden, New Jersey. Commissioned in August 1936, she operated in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans prior to World War II. In her last pre-war overhaul, an "FC" radar antenna has been fitted to Porter's main battery director, and her mast was modified to receive the antenna for an "SC" radar set. She remained in the Pacific after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and participated in the Guadalcanal campaign beginning in October 1942. On 26 October, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, Porter (DD-356) was hit inadvertantly by an American aircraft torpedo and had to be sunk by another U.S. Navy ship.

In mid-1943 Balch (DD-363) entered drydock to receive some improvements to her armament and related equipment. More had been planned, but shortages of equipment limited her modernization. She kept her twin 5-inch mounts, but 10 40-millimeter -- in a single quadruple mount and three twin mounts -- and six 20-millimeter guns replaced her old antiaircraft defenses. A main-battery radar installation significantly improved her surface gunnery capability, but no antiaircraft radar was available. These limited alterations still took close to two months, and it was not until late August that post-repair sea trials and radar-calibration gunnery drills could be conducted at sea.

In mid-1944 the Porter-class destroyers, large but considerably inferior in antiair capability compared to later designs, were transferred to the Atlantic. There, they were to replace the Coast Guard's Secretary-class cutters which were serving as convoy flagships, while the cutters themselves became amphibious command ships. After being refitted with new guns and other improvements, Phelps (DD-360), served for the rest of World War II on convoy escort duties between the U.S. and the Mediterranean.

The war in Europe ended while Balch was returning to the United States in May, and she moored at the New York Navy Yard on 23 May 1945. The destroyer underwent routine yard upkeep until 14 June when she set out for Philadelphia. Mooring at the Cramp shipyard on the 22nd, she prepared for "maximum material improvement" overhaul -- the installation of dual-purpose 5-inch guns and new mounts. On 15 August, however, in the midst of the yard work, orders came putting all armament modernization plans on hold because of the war's end. Balch left the shipyard on 31 August and, following an inspection on 18 September, was slated for deactivation.