USS Corry (DD-463)

USS "Corry" (DD-463), a "Gleaves"-class destroyer, (also known as "Bristol"-class), was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant Commander William M. Corry, Jr., an officer in the Navy during World War I and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

"Corry" was launched 28 July 1941 by Charleston Navy Yard, sponsored by Miss Jean Constance Corry; [cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/dd463.htm
title= USS "Corry" (DD-463), 1941–1944
date= 24 January 2004 | work= Online Library of Selected Images
publisher= U.S. Naval Historical Center
accessdate= 2008-04-03 ] commissioned 18 December 1941, Lt.Cmdr. E. C. Burchett in command; and reported to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

1942 – 1944

"Corry" conducted special operations with Radio Washington at Annapolis from 18 to 21 May 1942, then sailed to escort SS "Queen Elizabeth" into New York Harbor 22 May. After an escort voyage to Bermuda, she patrolled off Newfoundland between 31 May and 23 June and rejoining her group at Newport on 1 July, operated on coastal patrol and escort, voyaging several times to Caribbean ports, until 19 October, when she put in to Bermuda. During this period she picked up survivors of the torpedoed SS "Ruty" from a life raft off Trinidad.

"Corry" cleared Bermuda on 25 October 1942 for Casablanca to participate in the Moroccan landings, in the screen of the aircraft carrier "Ranger" (CV-4). She left Casablanca 16 November for Norfolk and Boston, and after overhaul resumed her coastal and Caribbean operations until 13 February 1943, when she sailed on escort duty from Norfolk for north Africa, returning 6 March for operations in the western Atlantic. On 11 August she sailed for Scotland and operated with the British Home Fleet, cruising once to Norway as providing escort for "Ranger" in the successful Allied air raid on Bodø, Norway in October 1943 (Operation Leader). "Corry" sailed twice to Iceland to cover the movement of Russia-bound convoys. Returning to Boston on 3 December, "Corry" sailed on 24 December for escort duty to New Orleans and Panama.

Similar operations continued until 16 February 1944, when "Corry" sailed for hunter-killer operations in the Atlantic with Task Group 21.16 (TG 21.16), arriving at Casablanca 8 March. She left Casablanca 11 March, and on 16 March joined with "Bronstein" (DE-189) in attacking the German submarine "U-801". Following "Corry"'s depth charge attack mid-day on 17 March, when the submarine surfaced "Corry" sank her with gunfire, and picked up her 47 survivors. Two days later, on 19 March 1944, "Corry" rescued eight survivors of "U-1059", which was sunk at coord|13.10|N|33.44|W|format=dms, southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, by aircraft from carrier "Block Island" (CVE-21). [cite web
url= http://uboat.net/boats/u1059.htm
title= "U-1059"
author= Guðmundur Helgason
date= |year= |month= |work= |publisher= uboat.net
accessdate= 2008-04-01 ] Among the "U-1059" survivors was the commanding officer. "Corry" arrived at Boston on 30 March for overhaul followed by training.

Invasion of Normandy

"Corry" cleared Norfolk on 20 April 1944 for Great Britain, and the staging of the Normandy invasion. Getting underway from Plymouth, England, she was the lead destroyer of the Normandy Invasion task force, escorting ships and transports across the English Channel. Upon arriving off the coast of Normandy, France, she headed for Îles Saint-Marcouf, her station for fire support on the front lines at Utah Beach. On D-Day morning 6 June 1944 she fired several hundred rounds of 5-inch ammunition at numerous Nazi targets.

As H-Hour (06:30) neared, when troops would begin fighting their way onto the beaches, the plane assigned to lay smoke for the "Corry" to conceal her from enemy fire suddenly got shot down, leaving the "Corry" fully exposed to German gunners who were now firing at her in full fury. At approximately H-Hour, during a duel with a shore battery, "Corry" suffered direct heavy-caliber artillery hits in her engineering spaces amidships. [cite web
url= http://www.uss-corry-dd463.com/d-day_u-boat_photos/d-day_photos.htm
title= June 6, 1944 — D-Day
author= Kevin McKernon
date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=
accessdate= 2008-04-03 ] With her rudder jammed she went around in a circle before all steam was lost. Still under heavy fire, the "Corry" began sinking rapidly with her keel broken and a foot-wide crack across her main deck amidships. After the order to abandon ship, crewmembers fought to survive in bone-chilling 54-degree water for more than two hours as they awaited rescue under constant enemy fire from German shore gunners. One crewmember raised the American flag up the sinking "Corry"'s main mast, which remained above the surface of the shallow 30-foot deep water when the ship settled on the bottom at coord|49|30|50|N|1|11|30|W |display=title,inline.cite web
url= http://www.uss-corry-dd463.com/d-day_u-boat_photos/corry_loss_rpt.htm
title= Loss of Ship Report Excerpt
author= Kevin McKernon
date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=
accessdate= 2008-04-08 ] "Corry" survivors were rescued by "Fitch" (DD-462), "Hobson" (DD-464), "Butler" (DD-636), and "PT-199". Of her crew, 24 were killed and 60 were wounded.

Discrepancy over the sinking of the USS "Corry" (DD-463)

The official loss of ship report for the "Corry" states that at 06:33 she hit a mine, which was said to have exploded below her engineering spaces. Initial reports by the commanding officer, however, state that "Corry" was sunk by a salvo of heavy caliber projectiles which detonated amidships below the water level in the engineering spaces and caused the breaking in half and sinking of the vessel.cite web
url= http://www.uss-corry-dd463.com/d-day_u-boat_photos/corry_loss_initial_rpts.htm
title= Two Initial Loss Reports Detailing Gunfire as Cause
author= Kevin McKernon
date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=
accessdate= 2008-04-08 ] German reports also state that the Saint Marcouf (Crisbecq) battery, located 1½ miles inland, with its three 210-millimeter (8.25-inch) guns scored a direct hit on an American warship at approximately H-Hour (0630), causing its sinking. The warship was initially believed to be a light cruiser (due to the "Corry"'s silhouette resembling that of a light cruiser at a distance).cite web
url= http://www.uss-corry-dd463.com/d-day_u-boat_photos/marcouf_rpts_translated.htm
title= German D-Day Reports From the Saint-Marcouf (Crisbecq) Battery
author= Kevin McKernon
date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=
accessdate= 2008-04-08 ] About two weeks after D-Day, a detailed report stating that heavy artillery fire had sunk the "Corry" was about to be submitted as the official loss of ship report, but it was suddenly scrapped and rewritten stating that the "Corry" had struck a mine. No officers or crew were consulted for input on the rewrite of the report. This final official loss report for the "Corry" stated on its last page that shelling received simultaneously with the proposed mine resulted in "merely incidental damage".

Awards

"Corry" received four battle stars for World War II service.

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c14/corry-ii.htm

*cite web
url= http://www.uss-corry-dd463.com
title= USS Corry (DD-463) website
author= Kevin McKernon
date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=
accessdate= 2008-04-03

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/463.htm navsource.org: USS "Corry"]