USS Thatcher (DD-162) aka HMCS Niagara (I57)

Undated, HMCS Niagara (I57) attached to mooring buoy, location unknown. Photo taken by Lt H. W. Tomlin, Royal Navy official photographer. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3290)

 

The first USS Thatcher (DD–162) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy, later transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Niagara.

Construction and Career

United States Navy

Named for Admiral Henry K. Thatcher, she was laid down on 8 June 1918 at Quincy, Massachusetts, by the Fore River Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation. The ship was launched on 31 August 1918; sponsored by Miss Doris Bentley, the grandniece of Rear Admiral Thatcher. Thatcher was commissioned on 14 January 1919. On 25 January, Lieutenant Commander Francis W. Rockwell assumed command.

Following shakedown, Thatcher operated with the Atlantic Fleet into the autumn of 1919. During the transatlantic NC-boat flights in May 1919, the destroyer operated on picket station number 9—one of 21 stations strung out from Newfoundland to the Azores—between her sister ships Walker and Crosby. Underway at sea, she provided visual and radio bearings for the flying boats as they passed overhead on their way toward Lisbon, Portugal.

Upon completion of this duty, the destroyer—reclassified as DD-162 on 17 July 1920—resumed her routine training operations off the eastern seaboard before heading west in the autumn of 1921 to join the Pacific Fleet. She operated out of San Diego, conducting exercises and training cruises off the west coast until decommissioned at San Diego on 7 June 1922.

Thatcher remained laid-up at San Diego through the summer of 1939. War broke out in Europe on 1 September 1939, when German troops invaded Poland. Thatcher was recommissioned at San Diego on 18 December 1939 and conducted shakedown and training evolutions off the west coast until transferred to the Atlantic the following spring. Transiting the Panama Canal on 1 April 1940, a month before the situation in Europe became critical when Germany began her blitzkrieg against France and the Low Countries, Thatcher subsequently conducted neutrality patrols and training cruises off the east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico through the summer of 1940.

The European situation took a drastic turn with the fall of France in June 1940. British destroyer forces in the wake of the Norwegian campaign and the evacuation of Dunkirk found themselves thinly spread—especially after Italy entered the war on Germany's side. Prime Minister Winston Churchill appealed to the United States for help.

In response, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order authorizing the transfer of 50 over-aged destroyers to the British in return for 99-year leases on strategic base sites in the Western Hemisphere. Thatcher was accordingly withdrawn from the Atlantic Squadron and her operations with Destroyer Division 69 for transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy, which had been allocated six of the "50 ships that saved the world," as these vessels came to be known.

As such, Thatcher and her five sisters arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 20 September—the third group of the "flush deckers" transferred. Decommissioned on 24 September 1940, Thatcher was struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941.

Royal Canadian Navy

Renamed HMCS Niagara following the Canadian practice of naming destroyers after Canadian rivers (but with deference to the U.S. origin), after the Niagara River forming the border between New York and Ontario. Niagara departed Halifax on 30 November; proceeded eastward via St. John's, Newfoundland; and arrived in the British Isles on 11 December. Early in 1941, the destroyer was allocated to the 4th Escort Group, Western Approaches Command, and based at Greenock, Scotland. Subsequently transferred to the Newfoundland escort force, Niagara operated on convoy escort duties into the summer of 1941. While she was operating with this force, she took part in the capture of a German U-boat, U-570.

A Lockheed Hudson bomber, flying from Kaldaðarnes, 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Reykjavík, Iceland, located U-570 running on the surface off the Icelandic coast on 27 August 1941. The Hudson attacked the U-boat with depth charges, damaging the enemy craft so severely that she could not submerge. Soon, some of the German crew appeared on deck displaying a large white cloth — possibly a bed sheet — indicating that they had surrendered. Patently unable to capture the submarine herself, the Hudson radioed for help.

Niagara sped to the scene and arrived at 08:20 on 28 August 1941. Rough weather initially hampered the operation but eventually, by 18:00, Niagara had placed a prize crew aboard the submarine and had taken U-570 in tow. During the operation, she also took the 43-man crew of the enemy craft on board. Towed to Þorlákshöfn, Iceland, the U-boat eventually served in the Royal Navy as HMS Graph.

In January 1942, Niagara escorted the tempest-battered Danish merchantman Triton into Belfast, Northern Ireland, after the freighter had been severely mauled in a storm at sea. In March the destroyer rescued the survivors from the US merchantman SS Independence Hall, which had run aground off Sable Island, Nova Scotia, and had broken in half. The next month, she picked up two boatloads of survivors from the sunken steamer SS Rio Blanco, which had been torpedoed by U-160 on 1 April 1942, 40 nautical miles (74 km) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

The destroyer subsequently underwent boiler repairs at Pictou, Nova Scotia from May to August 1942 before resuming coastwise convoy operations between Halifax and New York and escort duty in the western Atlantic. Another refit at Pictou came in June and October 1943, before she continued her coastwise convoy escort missions through 1944.

Niagara became a torpedo-firing ship — first at Halifax and later at Saint John, New Brunswick — from the spring of 1945 until the end of World War II in mid-August 1945, training torpedomen. Decommissioned on 15 September 1945, Niagara was turned over to the War Assets Corporation on 27 May 1946 and broken up for scrap soon thereafter.

Commands Listed for HMCS Niagara (I57)

Commander	From	To
Lt.Cdr. (retired) Edgar Lorne Armstrong, RCN	24 Sep 1940	2 Jul 1941
T/Lt. Thomas Philip Ryan, RCNR	3 Jul 1941	23 Feb 1942
Lt.Cdr. Ronald Fraser Harris, RCNR	24 Feb 1942	4 Oct 1942
A/Lt.Cdr. Geoffrey Huntley Davidson, RCN	5 Oct 1942	14 Oct 1942
Lt.Cdr. Ronald Fraser Harris, RCNR	15 Oct 1942	9 Sep 1943
A/Lt.Cdr. William Herbert Willson, RCN	10 Sep 1943	5 Mar 1944
T/Lt. Jack Cranfield Smyth, RCNR	6 Mar 1944	22 Jun 1944
T/Lt. Raymond Nelson Smillie, RCNVR	30 Jun 1944	18 Jul 1944
T/Cdr. Raymond Butler Mitchell, RD, RCNR	19 Jul 1944	15 Sep 1945

General Information

Name: USS Thatcher

Namesake: Henry K. Thatcher

Builder: Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts

Laid down: 8 June 1918

Launched: 31 August 1918

Commissioned: 14 January 1919

Decommissioned: 7 June 1922

Recommissioned: 18 December 1939

Decommissioned: 24 September 1940

Stricken: 8 January 1941

Identification: DD-162

Fate: Transferred to United Kingdom, 24 September 1940

Canada

Name: HMCS Niagara

Namesake: Niagara River

Acquired: 24 September 1940

Decommissioned: 27 May 1946

Identification: Pennant number: I57

Honors and awards: Atlantic 1940-44

Fate: Scrapped 1946

General Characteristics

Class and type: Wickes-class destroyer

Displacement: 1,191 tons

Length: 314 ft 4+1⁄2 in (95.822 m)

Beam: 30 ft 11+1⁄4 in (9.430 m)

Draft: 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)

Speed: 35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph)

Complement: 122 officers and enlisted

Armament:

4 × 4 in (102 mm)/50 guns

2 × 3 in (76 mm)/23 guns

12 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

References

Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press.

Mooney, James Longuemare (1981). Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), Vol. VII. Navy Dept., Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division.

 

Thatcher underway, circa 1919-1921. (US Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 41953)

 

Henry K. Thatcher, born in Thomaston, Maine, on 26 May 1806, was appointed a midshipman on 4 March 1823. He was promoted to lieutenant on 28 February 1833; commander on 14 September 1855; captain in 1861; commodore on 3 July 1862; and to rear admiral on 25 July 1866. Thatcher cruised on the Pacific, Mediterranean, African, and Pacific Stations and held important positions at various shore installations from 1823 to 1862. In 1862 and 1863, he commanded Constellation in the Mediterranean. In 1864 and 1865, he commanded Colorado and a division of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in the attacks on Fort Fisher in December 1864 and January 1865. After the fall of Fort Fisher, he was appointed to command the West Gulf Squadron and immediately began active operations in cooperation with the Army against Mobile, which surrendered on 12 April 1865. On 10 May 1865, the Confederate Naval Forces in the waters of Alabama surrendered to Admiral Thatcher. Sabine Pass and Galveston capitulated in May and June. Admiral Thatcher was relieved of the command of the West Gulf Squadron and ordered north in early 1866. His last duty was that of port admiral, Portsmouth, N.H., from 1869 to 1870. He was placed on the retired list on 26 May 1868 and died at Boston on 5 April 1880. (Rear Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher, USN portrait engraved by J.A.J. Wilcox, Boston, published during the latter 19th Century. The print features a facsimile of Thatcher's signature. US Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 43977)

 

Undated, location unknown. (Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum photo)

 

Post World War I San Diego image including the USS Walker (DD-163), USS Lea (DD-118), USS Gamble (DD-123), USS Montgomery (DD-121), USS Roper (DD-147), USS Ramsay (DD-124), USS Tarbell (DD-142), USS Thatcher (DD-162), USS Evans (DD-78), USS Crosby (DD-164), USS Jacob Jones (DD-130), USS Hazelwood (DD-107), USS Gillis (DD-260), USS McLanahan (DD-264), USS Howard (DD-179), USS Schley (DD-103), USS Dorsey (DD-117), USS Tattnall (DD-125), USS Wickes (DD-75), USS Laub (DD-263), USS Zane (DD-337), USS Perry (DD-340) and USS Alden (DD-211). (US Navy photo)

 

USS Thatcher (DD-162) Leading other destroyers into a harbor, circa 1919-1921. The next ship astern is USS Crosby (DD-164). (US Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 41952)

 

Destroyers at Mare Island Navy Yard, 1919. These ships are from left to right: USS Tarbell (DD-142); USS Thatcher (DD-162); USS Rizal (DD-174); USS Hart (DD-110); USS Hogan (DD-178); USS Gamble (DD-123); USS Ramsay (DD-124) and USS Williams (DD-108). (US Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 42538, donation of Rear Admiral Ammen Farenholt, USN [Medical Corps])

 

Destroyers at the Mare Island Navy Yard, 1919. These ships are (from left to right): USS Tarbell (DD-142); USS Thatcher (DD-162); USS Rizal (DD-174); USS Hart (DD-110); USS Hogan (DD-178); USS Gamble (DD-123); USS Ramsay (DD-124) and USS Williams (DD-108). (US Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 42537, donation of Rear Admiral Ammon Fahrenholt, USN [Medical Corps])

 

Postcard of the Thatcher in San Juan Harbor, probably circa 1920's. (Charles Munson Collection photo)

 

Thatcher (DD-162) at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 14 January 1919. Panoramic photograph by J. Crosby, Naval Photographer, # 11 Portland Street, Boston. (US Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 99264)

 

Destroyers Thatcher (Destroyer No. 162), Palmer (Destroyer No. 161), and Ramsay (Destroyer No. 124) moored at Balboa, Panama, 25 July 1919. (US Navy photo)

 

USS Cuyama (Oiler No. 3) at Acapulco, Mexico, circa 1919 with several destroyers alongside, from left to center: USS Walker (Destroyer # 163); USS Crosby (Destroyer # 164); and USS Thatcher (Destroyer # 162). USS Gamble (Destroyer # 123) is moored along Cuyama's port side. (US Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 85033, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1976)

Undated photo of the HMCS Niagara (I 57) attached to mooring buoy at an unknown location. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3288.

Undated, HMCS Niagara (I 57) in the wardroom, officers enjoy a quiet spell while awaiting orders to put to sea. Photo taken by Lt. H.W. Tomlin, Royal Navy official photographer. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3292)

Undated, HMCS Niagara, down on the mess deck members of the "Red" watch play cards. Photo taken by Lt. H.W. Tomlin, Royal Navy official photographer. (Imperial War Museum photo A3296)

Undated, HMCS Niagara, up on the signal deck, Signalmen receive a signal instructing the Commanding Officer to take his ship to sea. Photo taken by Lt. H.W. Tomlin, Royal Navy official photographer. (Imperial War Museum photo A3301)

Undated, HMCS Niagara, the First Lieutenant, a veteran of the last war makes the rounds of the ship. Photo taken by Lt. H.W. Tomlin, Royal Navy official photographer. (Imperial War Museum photo A3306)

When at sea the Captain can only leave the bridge for brief snatches of sleep. Here is the Commanding Officer of HMCS Niagara (I57) having a well earned nap, but fully clothed ready for instant summons from the bridge. Photo taken by Lt. H.W. Tomlin, Royal Navy official photographer. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3287)

HMCS Niagara in the standard 'Town' class camouflage scheme applied during her Devonport refit in December 1940. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3289)

HMCS Niagara after further refit. Probably photographed in southern waters away from operations, certainly prior to January 1943.

HMCS Niagara underway circa 1941. Astern of her is the Type VIIc U-boat U-570 that had not yet officially surrendered to the RN because the seas were too rough to launch boats. She finally surrendered to Lieutenant H. B. Campbell of the trawler HMS Kingston Agate. She was subsequently commissioned into the RN as HMS/m Graph.

HMCS Niagara (I57).

HMCS Niagara ship's badge.

HMCS NIAGARA (I57) takes the crew of U-570 after they surrendered to an RAF Coastal Command aircraft south of Iceland on 28 August 1941.

Poem "The Fighting Niagara" by H. O'Reilly, AB, RCN .

HMCS Niagara, location likely Halifax.

HMCS Niagara in the slips at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in December 1941.

HMCS Niagara at Pictou, Nova Scotia in 1942.

Doug Newman by the depth charge rails on HMCS Niagara at Pictou, Nova Scotia in 1942.

HMCS Niagara (I57).

HMCS Niagara (I57).

HMCS Niagara (I57) in April 1944.

HMCS Niagara (I57).

HMCS Niagara (I57).

HMCS Niagara jettisoning ammunition in September 1944.

Depth charges exploding astern of HMCS Niagara in September 1944. 

Depth charges exploding astern of HMCS Niagara in September 1944. 

Looking aft from the mast of HMCS Niagara in September 1944.

Loading practice torpedoes on HMCS Niagara in September 1944.  Note the dents in the one torpedo on deck.

The practice torpedo heads off in the direction of a merchant ship in September 1944.

The practice torpedo heads off in the direction of a merchant ship (the merchant ship is barely visible in the photo) in September 1944.

Its run complete, the practice torpedo floats on the surface in September 1944.

Practice torpedo being recovered.

HMCS Niagara hoisting the practice torpedo back onboard in September 1944.

HMCS Niagara in the Dartmouth Slips for repairs in September 1944.

HMCS Niagara (I57) with the British Royal Navy Submarine HMS P553 (former USS S-21) alongside. This image was taken at Halifax circa 1943-44 as P553, transferred to the Royal Navy at New London on 14 September 1942, was then based at Halifax as an anti-submarine warfare training boat until returned to the USN at Philadelphia on 11 July 1944 and sunk as a target.

HMCS Niagara. Action stations, loading the ‘Twelve Pounder’. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3285)

HMCS Niagara. Replacing the oil fuel jets after ensuring the efficiency of these important sections of the motive power. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3300)

HMCS Niagara. On the bridge, the Captain prepares to take the ship to sea. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3303)

HMCS Niagara. Members of the crew fix the fuse caps to projectiles for the ‘Twelve Pounder’ gun. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3283)

HMCS Niagara. The boiler room receives instructions on the boiler room telegraph. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3305)

HMCS Niagara. In his cabin the Engineer Officer, Lieut E Surtees, enters up details of the work done by his staff. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3298)

HMCS Niagara. Down in the engine room, the Telegraph rings ‘half speed ahead’. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3304)

HMCS Niagara. The Mate, (a rank not used in the British Navy) Sub Lieutenant G H Doty, who until he joined the Canadian Navy was a newsreel cameraman, works out the course on the chart.  (Imperial War Museum photo A 3302)

HMCS Niagara. The gun sight setter with his voice tube awaits orders. (Imperial War Museum photo A 3286)