View source for USS Bronstein (DE-189)

{{Short description|Cannon-class destroyer escort}}
{{other ships|USS Bronstein}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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|Ship image=USS Bronstein (DE-189) underway at sea on 11 August 1944 (80-G-366278).jpg
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''Bronstein''
|Ship namesake= Ben Richard Bronstein
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|Ship builder=[[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Newark, New Jersey]]
|Ship laid down= 26 August 1943
|Ship launched= 14 November 1943
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|Ship commissioned= 13 December 1943
|Ship decommissioned= 5 November 1945
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|Ship struck=14 May 1952
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|Ship honors=3 [[battle star]]s (World War II)
|Ship fate=Sold to [[Uruguay]], 3 May 1952
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|Ship country= Uruguay
|Ship flag=[[Image:Flag of Uruguay.svg|100x35px|border|Uruguayan Navy Ensign]]
|Ship name= ROU ''Artigas'' (DE-2)
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|Ship acquired= 3 May 1952
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|Ship fate= Broken up, 1988
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class= {{sclass|Cannon|destroyer escort}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1240|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} standard
*{{convert|1620|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length=*{{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
*{{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length at the waterline|w/l]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|36|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|11|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=4 × GM Mod. 16-278A [[diesel engine]]s with electric drive, {{convert|6000|shp|0|abbr=on}}, 2 [[Propeller|screws]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|21|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= {{convert|10800|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=15 officers and 201 enlisted
|Ship armament=*3 × single Mk.22 [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s
*1 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm Mk.1 AA gun]]
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm Mk.4 AA guns]]
*3 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] Mk.10 [[anti-submarine mortar]] (144 rounds)
*8 × Mk.6 [[depth charge]] projectors
*2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks
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'''USS ''Bronstein'' (DE-189)''' was a {{sclass|Cannon|destroyer escort}} in service with the [[United States Navy]] from 1943 to 1945. In 1952, she was sold to [[National Navy of Uruguay|Uruguay]], where she served as ROU ''Artigas'' (DE-2) until being decommissioned and scrapped in 1988.
==History==
===United States Navy (1943-1952)===
USS ''Bronstein'' was named in honor of Ben Richard Bronstein, Assistant Surgeon, who was killed in action 28 February 1942 when {{USS|Jacob Jones|DD-130|3}} was sunk by an enemy submarine off [[Cape May, New Jersey]]. The ship was laid down on 26 August 1943 at [[Kearny, New Jersey]], by the [[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], Port [[Newark, New Jersey]]; launched on 14 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Dina Bronstein Kurtz, the mother of Lt.(jg.) Bronstein; and commissioned on 13 December 1943.
==== Battle of the Atlantic ====
Following shakedown exercises off [[Bermuda]] in January 1944, the destroyer escort sailed to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], where she was assigned to [[task force|Task Group]] (TG) 21.16, an [[anti-submarine]] [[Hunter-killer Group|hunter-killer]] group composed of carrier {{USS|Block Island|CVE-21|3}}, [[destroyer]] {{USS|Corry|DD-463|3}}, and destroyer escorts ''Bronstein'', {{USS|Thomas|DE-102|3}}, {{USS|Breeman|DE-104|3}}, and {{USS|Bostwick|DE-103|3}}. On 16 February, the group left Norfolk for patrol in the North Atlantic.
After initially conducting a futile search for a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] submarine reported to be operating between Bermuda and the [[Azores]], the group turned its attention to a [[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|wolf pack]] of about nine German submarines. Task Group 21.16 made numerous attacks on the pack; and, on the evening of the 29th, ''Thomas'' made a surface [[radar]] contact, and ''Bostwick'' joined her in the search to identify the contact. Meanwhile, ''Block Island'' had detached ''Bronstein'' to search for a second suspected [[U-boat]]; and, while the destroyer escort hunted the new enemy, one of her star shells revealed {{ship|German submarine|U-709||2}} on the surface preparing to attack ''Thomas'' and ''Bostwick''. ''Bronstein'' opened fire, and her guns registered several hits. The submarine went deep to escape, and the three destroyer escorts attacked her with [[depth charges]]. ''Thomas'' finally sank ''U-709'' early the next morning.
As the second U-boat stealthily maneuvered to attack ''Block Island'', ''Bronstein'' made [[sonar]] contact on her and immediately began dropping [[depth charge]]s. After only an hour's work, the [[warship]]'s crew received the reward of a tremendous explosion that could only have been the end of the submarine, later identified as {{ship|German submarine|U-603||2}}. The hunter-killer group put into [[Casablanca]] on 8 March for voyage repairs and refueling.
Departing the [[Morocco|Moroccan]] coast on the 11th, the ''Block Island'' group made radar contact four days later with {{ship|German submarine|U-801||2}}. The submarine surfaced on the evening of 16 March only to be attacked by aircraft from the carrier. The U-boat dived and managed to evade the hunters until the early hours of the 17th, when the German skipper erred and sent a radio message. ''Corry'' ran down the bearing of the transmission, and she and ''Bronstein'' methodically boxed in the U-boat, forcing her to surface. The crew abandoned and scuttled their boat.
''Bronstein'' and ''Breeman'' were detached on 22 March for special duty in [[Dakar]], where they arrived on the 25th. There, they cleared space for 15 tons of [[gold]] ingots belonging to the [[Bank Polski SA|Bank of Poland]] and worth over 60 million dollars. Once loaded, the two escorts sailed for [[New York City|New York]] with orders not to deviate from their course for any reason. They arrived on 3 April and were relieved of their precious cargo by an army of policemen and armored trucks.
Following a 10-day availability at the [[New York Navy Yard]], ''Bronstein'' joined the screen of a [[Mediterranean]]-bound convoy and crossed the Atlantic without incident. The convoy reached [[Bizerte]], Tunisia, on 4 May. ''Bronstein'' also escorted the returning convoy, which sailed on 11 May. A German submarine attacked and disabled two merchantmen on 14 May, and ''Bronstein'' remained at the scene until relieved by ships of Destroyer Division ([[DesDiv]]) 19. The remainder of the cruise passed more peacefully, and the convoy entered New York harbor on 29 May.
''Bronstein'' sailed for [[Casco Bay]], [[Maine]], on 10 June for refresher training and then proceeded to Norfolk to join a hunter-killer group formed around {{USS|Card|CVE-11|3}}. Designated task group TG 21.10, the group headed for [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] in pursuit of a U-boat reported to be operating in that vicinity. {{USS|Baker|DE-190|3}} and ''Thomas'' sank {{ship|German submarine|U-233||2}} on 5 July, and TG 21.10 set course for Boston to land the prisoners and for ''Thomas'' to repair damage she suffered while ramming the submarine. The task group left [[Boston]], Massachusetts, on 10 July to patrol the [[West Indies]]. On the 16th, a plane spotted a contact 60 miles to the northwest of the formation, and ''Bostwick'' joined ''Bronstein'' in the search. In the early evening, ''Card'' suffered an engine casualty and, for six hours thereafter, lay dead in the water, making it impossible for the carrier to recover the airplane. ''Bronstein'' vectored the plane safely to [[Puerto Rico]] before spending the rest of the night in a fruitless search for the U-boat. The escorts rejoined TG 21.10 en route to [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]], where they arrived on 18 July.
Three of the escorts resumed the search immediately after refueling. ''Baker'' and ''Bronstein'' relieved two of them on 24 July. The entire hunter-killer group continued to a point northeast of the Azores by 17 August without contacting any submarines; and, by the end of the month, the escorts were in the New York Navy Yard for repairs.
Following the yard work, ''Bronstein'' underwent refresher training in Casco Bay and then sailed for Norfolk to rejoin ''Card''. On 18 September, she got underway with TG 22.2 for Bermuda to conduct coordinated air/sea/subsurface training exercises. The hunter-killer group then conducted an unsuccessful search north of the Azores for a reported submarine; and, after making a refueling stop at Casablanca on 25 and 26 October, TG 22.2 returned to New York.
''Bronstein'' stood out to sea with TG 22.2 on 13 November for training near Bermuda. She spent [[Christmas]] in the West Indies, but returned to New York in time to celebrate [[New Year's Day]], 1945. During January and the first two weeks of February, the destroyer escort performed a variety of duties such as lifeguard work for carrier qualifications, training, and coastal escort assignments. On 11 February, ''Bronstein'' departed Casco Bay to join {{USS|Core|CVE-13|3}} south of [[Iceland]].
She sighted the ''Core'' group, TG 22.4, on 16 February; and all 12 destroyer escorts of the group formed a scouting line 90 miles long to search for a weather-reporting submarine believed to be in the vicinity. The task group did not find the U-boat, but did encounter high winds and mountainous seas. For two days, the escorts fought the weather and, as it improved, made needed repairs. The winds returned in force on the 23rd, but ''Bronstein'' made port safely at [[Hvalfjörður]], Iceland, on 25 February.
On the last day of February, the destroyer escorts put to sea again to follow several submarines reportedly heading west toward the [[Flemish Cap]]. Although the weather had improved somewhat, the warships were continually pounded by the seas and were grateful to be relieved on 14 March. ''Bronstein'' arrived in New York on 17 March for five days of voyage repairs and then, with ''Baker'', reported to [[New London, Connecticut]], to serve as an escort and target ship for submarine training.
''Bronstein'' returned to patrol duty on 14 April when all ships of her division received orders to search for a submarine off the entrance to [[Chesapeake Bay]]. With ''Baker'' and ''Breeman'', ''Bronstein'' searched the southern channels. The group searching the northern channel attacked and sank a submarine on the night of 29 and 30 April. The warships sailed to New York and were there on 7 May to celebrate Germany's surrender.
On 9 May, ''Bronstein'' returned to screening carriers during pilot qualification flights, working with ''Card'', {{USS|Mission Bay|CVE-59|3}}, and {{USS|Croatan|CVE-25|3}}. She interrupted this duty once, in July, to embark civilians for an "industrial incentive cruise" followed by a technical availability in the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]]. ''Bronstein'' entered the [[Boston Navy Yard]] later in the year for repairs to one of her main [[engines]] and then sailed to New York on 23 October to participate in the [[Navy Day]] Review.
=== National Navy of Uruguay (1952-1988) ===
''Bronstein'' departed New York on 3 November and proceeded to [[Green Cove Springs, Florida]], where she was decommissioned on 17 June 1946 and berthed with the [[St. Johns River]] Group. On 3 May 1952, ''Bronstein'' was sold to [[National Navy of Uruguay|Uruguay]] and recommissioned as '''ROU  ''Artigas'' (DE-2)'''. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|U.S. Navy List]] on 14 May 1952. ''Artigas'' (DE-2) was finally decommissioned and scrapped in 1988.
==Awards==
''Bronstein'' earned three [[battle star]]s for her World War II service.
== References ==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/bronstein-i.html}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Bronstein (DE-189)}}
* {{navsource|06/189|USS Bronstein (DE-189)}}
{{Cannon class destroyer escort}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronstein (DE-189)}}
[[Category:Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the National Navy of Uruguay]]