Wreck of USS Fechteler (DE 157)

 Second World War 1939-1945, shipwreck

USS Fechteler was a Buckley Class Destroyer Escort laid down in February 1943 and commissioned into US Navy service as a member of the US Atlantic Fleet in July of the same year. Following crew training and shakedown off the US East coast, the Fechteler commenced the duty their ship was built for; transoceanic convoy escort.

Operating primarily on the Caribbean - New York – North Africa convoy route through 1943 and into 1944, the Fechteler and her crew were often tasked with the highly dangerous job of escorting heavily laden oil tankers from the refineries in Aruba, Curacao and Venezuela to the European and North African fronts. After a period in the shipyard for repairs and upgrades to her onboard systems in early 1944 she and her crew resumed their convoy escort work in March.

Standing out of Norfolk on April 3rd escorting a mixed convoy bound for Bizerte, Tunisia the Fechteler saw her convoy safely across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean, however two days out of their destination the ships were attacked by the German Luftwaffe, suffering heavy losses. Departing Bizerte on May 2nd after refueling and joining with US-bound convoy GUS-38, the Fechteler was three days out of port and bound for Gibraltar when a large explosion occurred off her bow shortly after 0400hrs on May 5th. Fellow convoy escorts quickly confirmed the presence of a submerged contact and moved in to attack, the Fechteler included.

Following the USS Laning (DE-159) towards an echo-located outline of a U-boat the Fechteler's crew readied their depth charges as the Laning began her attack. Still closing on the position at 0441hrs, lookouts aboard the Fechteler sighted the unmistakable trail of a torpedo in the water heading for their ship and evasive maneuvers were ordered. The Fechteler heeled to Port to comb the onrushing torpedo, but the German G7es or GNAT (German Navy Acoustic Torpedo) homed in on the sound produced by the Fechteler's engines and struck the Destroyer Escort directly amidships on the bottom of her hull. Lifted clear of the water by the force of the explosion, the Fechteler's hull and keel were broken as she slammed back down on the surface and quickly began to wrench apart as the ship wallowed to a halt. Clearly seeing that the ship was beginning to break apart, the Captain of Fechteler ordered her abandoned before she split up and sank.

Though the majority of her 186 crew managed to get off the ship in time, 29 men were lost when the USS Fechteler finally broke in two and sank at this location at 0500hrs on May 5th 1944. For her actions on the day of her loss, USS Fechteler was awarded her first and final Battle Star for her World War Two service.

www.navsource.org/archives/06/157.htm