Last updated: February 5, 2025
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HMS GORE (K-481)
Boston National Historical Park, BOSTS-11405.
The Royal Navy in Charlestown
The immense shipbuilding output at the Charlestown Navy Yard helped bring the United States to victory in World War II, but not every vessel that departed its shipways was American. Even before the United States officially entered the war, the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941 allowed the transfer of vital war materiel to the United Kingdom, which was at that point the only state resisting Nazi Germany in Europe. For American supplies to reach Britain, they had to cross the Atlantic Ocean, under threat of attack from German submarines. The United States and United Kingdom developed a convoy system to protect against the U-boat threat, with Destroyer Escorts (DEs) guarding merchant ships as they crossed the Atlantic. Of the 60 Destroyer Escorts built at the Navy Yard during the course of the war, 31 served in the Royal Navy.[1]
The Navy Yard received an order for a destroyer escort on January 25, 1942, and workers laid the keel for the new ship on May 20, 1943. Initially, the ship was designated the Evarts-class destroyer escort USS Herzog (DE-277), named in honor of United States Navy Lieutenant (junior grade) William Ralph Herzog. Lt. Herzog had been killed in action when the steam tanker SS Pan New York was sunk by a U-boat on October 29, 1942.
USS Herzog did not have that name for long, however, as the ship was officially transferred to Royal Navy service in a ceremony at the Charlestown Navy Yard on October 14, 1943. Mrs. H. P. Webster, the wife of a "design officer" at the Yard, christened the ship, now designated as the Captain-class frigate HMS Gore (K481).[2] HMS Gore was named after Sir Thomas Gore, a British admiral famous for his actions in command of HMS Triton during the French Revolutionary Wars.
Royal Navy official photographer, Imperial War Museums, IWM (FL 13520)
World War II - Hunting U-Boats in the Atlantic
Under the command of Lieutenant John Vivian Reeves-Brown, HMS Gore set sail in late 1943. After stops in Casco Bay, Maine, and Bermuda, Gore reached Pollock Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland. As part of the 1st Escort Group, Gore took part in exercises off the coast of Larne, Northern Ireland, on February 20, 1944. Not long after, on February 26, Gore and its crew saw their first action, attacking and sinking the German U-boat U-91 alongside HMS Affleck and HMS Gould.
A few days later, on March 1, the three ships, alongside HMS Garlies, sank U-358 off the coast of the Azores Islands, but not before it had torpedoed and sunk Gould. A New York City newspaper described both actions:
HMS Gore first made contact with the enemy submarines. Depth charges force one U-boat to the surface. Gunfire from the frigates shattered its conning tower and shot away the U-boat's after gun. The Germans began to abandon the vessel which soon sank. Sixteen Germans were rescued. HMS Affleck, Gore, Gould, and Garlies then forced a second U-boat to the surface with depth charges. They closed speedily and with gunfire set the submarine’s conning tower on fire. Further depth charges were loosed and an explosion broke the U-boat’s back and it sank. One survivor was rescued. The Gould was lost in the action.[3]
Lt. C H Parnall, Imperial War Museums, IWM (A 22703)
In September 1944, HMS Gore helped escort the merchant vessels of Convoy SL 171 to Falmouth in Cornwall, which the convoy reached on October 7. After more exercises off the coast of Larne alongside Garlies and submarine HMS Vengeful, Gore escorted Convoy UC 48A south of Ireland from December 10 until 11. Gore remained in place off the Irish coast as the convoy reached New York City safely on December 22.
In January and February 1945, HMS Gore took part in Convoy CU 56, breaking off from the main convoy on February 5 to escort the American merchant ship Black Warrior to the port of Cherbourg, France. By 1945, Allied supremacy in the Atlantic was all but assured, though individual U-boats still posed threats to Allied shipping. On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, ending the war in Europe.
The End of HMS Gore
On May 2, 1946, the Royal Navy returned HMS Gore to the United States Navy, which in turn sold Gore for scrapping on June 10, 1947. Despite the ship's relatively short lifespan, HMS Gore played an important role in turning the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic for the Allies, protecting merchant vessels from U-boat attacks. The story of Gore also speaks to the international cooperation of the Charlestown Navy Yard, which produced ships for the Royal Navy and frequently repaired damaged British and French vessels throughout the war.
Contributed by: Raphael Pierson-Sante, Digital Content Support Volunteer.
Footnotes
[1] Stephen P. Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study, Vol 1 (Boston, MA: Division of Cultural Resources, Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior, 2010), 134.
[2] "Three DE Boats To Be Launched," Portland Evening Express (Portland, Maine), October 13, 1943, p. 11.
[3] "Four Frigates Sink 2 U-Boats," Daily News (New York, New York), May 18, 1944, p. 292.
Sources
Carlson, Stephen P. Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study, Vol 1-3. Boston, MA: Division of Cultural Resources, Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior, 2010.
"HMS Gore (K 481)" uboat.net. https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5468.html.