USS Menges ( DE - 320 ) The USS " Menges " ( DE - 320 ) was an " Edsall " - class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named for Ensign Herbert Hugo Menges ( a naval aviator who was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ) , she was the first U . S . naval vessel to bear the name . History . World War II . " Menges " was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corporation of Orange , Texas on 22 March 1943 ; launched 15 June 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Charles Menges , mother of the late Ensign Menges ; and commissioned 26 October 1943 with Lieutenant Commander Frank M . McCabe , USCG , in command . After shakedown off Bermuda , " Menges " spent January 1944 on " schoolship " duty in the lower Chesapeake Bay . On 26 January she got underway from Norfolk for New York City , and on 31 January departed for Europe , on the first three month long deployment escorting convoys . On the night of 20 April her convoy , UGS 38 , while off the coast of Algiers en route to the east coast of the U . S . , was attacked by 30 German torpedo bomber s . After shooting down one of the planes , " Menges " rescued 137 survivors of the USS " Lansdale " ( DD - 426 ) , sunk by a torpedo , and two German aircrew . Torpedo attack . On 3 May " Menges " was 15½ miles astern of the convoy chasing down a radar contact when she was hit at 0118 hours by an G7es acoustic torpedo from U - 371 ( which was in turn sunk the next day by USS " Joseph E . Campbell " ( DE - 70 ) , USS " Pride " ( DE - 323 ) and other warships ) . The explosion was so violent that the aft third of the ship was destroyed , killing 31 men and wounding 25 . However , Commander McCabe properly refused to give the order to abandon ship as long as there was chance of saving her . In addition , several of the crew members heroically jumped astride torpedoes loosened in the blast to disarm them . " Menges " , thanks to such creditable action , remained afloat . Four hours later " Menges " was taken in tow by HMS " Aspirant " , and later on 3 May reached Bougie , Algeria to disembark her dead and wounded . On 23 June , the temporarily repaired " Menges " got underway from Oran , under tow by USS " Carib " ( AT - 82 ) , bound for New York , and arrived 22 July . From 14 to 31 August the stern of the USS " Holder " ( DE - 401 ) , whose forward two thirds had been blown away by a torpedo in the Mediterranean Sea on 11 April , was welded to the remaining two thirds of " Menges " . The " new " ship came out of drydock at the New York Navy Yard for shakedown from 26 September to 20 October in Casco Bay , Maine . Convoy duty . On 15 November " Menges " steamed in convoy CU 47 from New York for Europe , arriving Plymouth , England on 26 November . She spent the next few months again on Atlantic convoy duty before joining " Pride " , USS " Mosley " ( DE - 321 ) , and USS " Lowe " ( DE - 325 ) late in February 1945 to form the only hunter - killer group in the North Atlantic to be manned completely by Coast Guard personnel . On 18 March " Menges " assisted " Lowe " in sinking U - 866 , their first target . She continued antisubmarine sweep and patrol operations until the German unconditional surrender on 7 May . Coast guard service . On 30 May she escorted her last convoy to Europe , CU 73 , arriving Cheshire , England on 8 June . " Menges " arrived back in New York on 21 June for duty as a training ship for the U . S . Coast Guard Academy , with two cadet cruises to the West Indies before arriving New London , Connecticut on 7 September . Three days later she departed for the Cape Cod area , arriving Boston , Massachusetts the 17th . By Navy Day , 27 October , " Menges " was moored at Fall River , below Boston . " Menges " received two battle stars for her World War II service . Retirement . The escort ship moved on to Green Cove Springs , Florida for assignment in March 1946 to the 16th ( Inactive Reserve ) Fleet . " Menges " decommissioned in January 1947 and entered the berthing area in the St . Johns River to spend the next 15 years there in reserve . By 1 January 1962 she was berthed at Orange , Texas in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet , where she remained until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 2 January 1971 , the ship was sold for scrapping 10 April 1972 .