USS Beatty ( DD - 640 ) USS " Beatty " ( DD - 640 ) , a " Gleaves " - class destroyer , was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Frank E . Beatty . " Beatty " was laid down as " Mullany " on 1 May 1941 at the Charleston Navy Yard . The name " Beatty " was originally assigned to a destroyer scheduled to be built in San Francisco , but the names of DD - 528 and DD - 640 were switched on 28 May 1941 to accommodate Mrs . Charles H . Drayton , the daughter of the late Rear Admiral , who had asked that the ship honoring her father be built at the Charleston Navy Yard . Sponsored by Mrs . Drayton , " Beatty " was launched on 20 December 1941 , and commissioned on 7 May 1942 , Lieutenant Commander Frederick C . Stelter , Jr . , in command . Service history . World War II . 1942 . Following shakedown , " Beatty " escorted the Norwegian tanker " Britainsea " and from the Isles of Shoals to Portland , Maine , on 8 August before she was detached for patrol duty and antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) training . She next steamed to Boston to embark Admiral Royal E . Ingersoll , Commander in Chief , Atlantic Fleet , on 12 August . In company with , the destroyer transported her high - ranking passenger to Halifax , Nova Scotia , and Argentia , Newfoundland , before disembarking him at Portland on 22 August . The destroyer then escorted , with Admiral Ingersoll aboard , from Portland to New London , Connecticut where she arrived on the 23d . " Beatty " took part in exercises out of New London with friendly submarine s until the 25th and then sailed south to Charleston , S . C . , for voyage repairs . After that , she steamed to the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico , reaching Cristobal in the Panama Canal Zone on 10 September . There , she joined Convoy NC - 5 , four Army transports which got underway for the British West Indies on the 11th . The warship shepherded her charges to Trinidad , and made port on the 15th . Clearing Trinidad shortly before noon on 16 September , " Beatty " joined and in an antisubmarine sweep near Tobago Island . At 1858 , " Eberle " reported a submarine contact and carried out an attack , without achieving any definitive results . " Beatty " then rendezvoused with a convoy on the 17th , escorting it to a dispersal point off Georgetown , British Guiana , and then heading back to Trinidad . After shifting to San Juan , where she made port on the 23rd , " Beatty " sailed with Convoy NC - 5 , " via " Kingston , Jamaica , and Belize , Honduras , to New Orleans . Sailing for the east coast on 6 October , she reached the Charleston Navy Yard on the 8th to prepare for her next operation . Underway again on 16 October 1942 , " Beatty " sailed for Hampton Roads and there joined Task Group 34 . 10 ( TG 34 . 10 ) — the Southern Attack Group assembling there for Operation Torch , the invasion of North Africa . This group was slated to assault Safi , French Morocco . Arriving off the North African shore on 7 November , TG 34 . 10 began preparations for landing early the following morning . " Beatty " joined the transport area ' s antisubmarine screen at midnight and patrolled south of and as they circled slowly , waiting for the order to land their troops at Safi . Enjoying the element of surprise , " Beatty " proceeded toward the beach , staying on " Bernadou " s starboard quarter as she and " Cole " began their movement shoreward . At 0415 , " Beatty " took her station along with other ships of the fire support group , and , at 0430 , heard the prearranged code words " Play Ball . " Uncertain as to the position of the assault groups , " Beatty " checked fire momentarily until intercepting a radio transmission that told of the assault wave ' s arrival at the line of departure . Assured that no friendly troops had yet landed in that sector , " Beatty " opened fire at 0431 , continuing for ten minutes before checking fire to await instructions for fire support . " Beatty " lost communication with the Army troops on shore , and by 0520 maneuvered seaward toward the transport area , to take station in a screen before sunrise . At 0640 , she observed enemy fire from batteries at Point de la Tour , and saw some splashes close aboard and in the vicinity of the boat lane to the " Red " and " Blue " beaches . A minute later , " Beatty " fired at these guns , silenced them in 20 minutes . For the remainder of her participation in " Torch , " " Beatty " served in the screen . She returned to the United States late in November and entered the New York Navy Yard for voyage repairs and alterations . 1943 . For the next four months , " Beatty " covered convoys plying the Atlantic . During this period , she made three round - trip cycles . Ending the third cycle upon her arrival at New York on 28 April , " Beatty " underwent the usual voyage repairs and conducted type training before getting underway for Hampton Roads on 13 May . Reaching Norfolk the following day , she escorted " Vixen " , with Admiral Ingersoll embarked , to New York , arriving on the 15th . Further type training in the Chesapeake Bay area followed , before she stood out of Hampton Roads on 8 June , as part of the escort for fast Convoy UGF - 9 , bound for Algeria . She arrived at Mers - el - Kébir on 25 June 1943 . Patrolling , escorting , and training followed " Beatty " s arrival in the Mediterranean basin . On 5 July , the destroyer sailed for Sicily , assigned to the " Cent " attack force for the invasion of Sicily . Arriving off the transport area on 9 July , she observed antiaircraft fire in the skies over Sicily at 2240 . The fire grew in intensity over Gela , Biscari , Vittoria , and Santa Croce Camerina . She observed several planes crashing around 2325 , and a large fire burning to south of Biscari . " Beatty " screened the southeastern flank of the transport area until they anchored offshore in their assigned zone , and then took her station in her fire support area . Led by and , the first landing craft from began nosing shoreward around 0342 . lay on " Speed " s port beam , with " Beatty " 500 yards off " Cowie " s port beam . At about 0407 , " Speed " requested the destroyers to open fire . " Beatty " promptly complied , beginning with rapid fire and then slowing to eight rounds per gun per minute . Having observed no return fire , she ceased fire at 0416 . After the neutralization of the landing zone , " Beatty " returned to the transport area to take up screening duties and to await contact with her shore fire control party ( SFCP ) . At 0830 , SFCP - 7A , attached to the 2nd Battalion of the Army ' s 180th Regimental Combat Team , informed " Beatty " that the landing had been successful . During the forenoon , " Beatty " observed enemy planes appearing low and fast out of the Valle Forte , over Lagi di Biviere , and from the valley just west of the Fiume Acati , strafing ground troops , bombing the beaches and seemingly disappearing almost as soon as they were seen . The enemy planes " maintained their nuisance value the entire period of daylight , " enjoying what almost amounted to immunity because " ships could not fire on them also without danger to ( our ) own forces . " The enemy aircraft proved devastating to Allied spotting planes . " Beatty " observed four Reggiane Re . 2001 s gang up on and shoot down a SOC Seagull at 1021 . At 1315 , a Focke - Wulf Fw 190 downed another Seagull to the southeast of Scoglitti . " Beatty " claimed some solid hits on one of the Re . 2001s that had downed the first Seagull , observing it disappear over a nearby section of high ground . At 1046 , a plane roared out of the " favorite valley " toward the ships . " Beatty " opened fire , pumping out 26 rounds from her Bofors 40 mm gun s and 60 from her Oerlikon 20 mm cannon s before the plane was seen to be a P - 51 Mustang . For the remainder of the 10th , " Beatty " remained off the invasion beaches . Shell fragments hit " Beatty " s main deck and port side when tank landing craft ( LCTs ) nearby fired on " friendly " planes at 1847 . The threat of further air attacks prompted the destroyer to help lay a smoke screen over the LCTs . The harassment continued after sunset . A heavy bomb landed about 500 yards astern of the ship , shaking her " considerably , " while she observed a nearby dogfight . One of the antagonists shot the other down . The latter crashed in flames , starting a brush fire where it fell . Meanwhile , considerable gunfire from the beach and the ships offshore criss - crossed the night skies . Enemy bombing raids ushered in the next day , the 11th , and " Beatty " fired at a Messerschmitt Bf 110 at 0651 , after it had bombed Allied positions on " Dime " beach . At 0735 , SFCP - 7A requested " Beatty " to " stand by for target designation . " After receiving the target coordinates , " Beatty " set to work at 0738 , blasting a railroad and highway junction until 0811 . Her shore party later informed her that the targets had been " tanks and bridges . " In just over three hours , " Beatty " hurled 799 rounds at targets designated by her spotters , inflicting what she suspected was a considerable amount of damage on the enemy positions . When she left the beaches only 192 rounds remained . When she was relieved by at 1100 , her crew had been at battle stations since 2024 on 9 July . Nevertheless , " Beatty " took station in the antisubmarine screen at 1140 , and sent her men to general quarters several times during the afternoon due to air attacks on transport and beach areas . Near 1900 , " Beatty " moved southeast of a minefield to await the formation of a convoy she had been directed to escort , and took up screening patrol south of Scoglitti , crossing the waters between Point della Camerina and Point Braccetto . At 2224 , the enemy began dropping flares and bombs near Scoglitti . The flares cast their light over the ships offshore , marking them as targets . About 2230 , eight flares lit up the waters south of Point Braccetto , followed by two heavy bombs . " Beatty " stood towards the transport area around 2246 and detected the sound of an approaching aircraft . The plane made an unusual amount of noise as it approached the beaches at Scoglitti ; the crew could hear it , but not see it . At almost the same time , " Beatty " suffered hits on her starboard side by what were believed to be machine gun bullets . " Beatty " s men suddenly noticed the plane pass across the ship ' s bow at about 40 feet ( 12 m ) , " missing the forecastle by a few feet " , and turned down the port side of the ship , landing in the water next to the number two stack , about 50 feet ( 15 m ) away . " Beatty " s 20 mm guns fired two bursts before the plane came to a stop in the swells alongside . At that point , " Beatty " s sailors could see that the plane was an United States Army Air Forces C - 47 Skytrain troop transport . " Beatty " ceased fire as six flares lit up the area . The destroyer then rang up flank speed as she pulled away from the sinking Skytrain . " Beatty " s executive officer , Lieutenant Commander William Outerson , marked the charts with the American plane ' s position . After the flares had burned out , " Beatty " returned to the spot and found a rubber boat with all four members of the Skytrain ’ s crew . The plane , attached to the 15th Troop Carrier Squadron , had endured quite an evening since leaving Malta with paratroop s on board . She had been hit by gunfire from both friend and foe alike . The plane had disgorged her paratroops before she crash - landed at sea ; her pilot , First Lieutenant P . J . Paccassi , USAAF , earned praise from " Beatty " s commanding officer for the skill with which he had landed his badly damaged aircraft . The large amount of noise " Beatty " s sailors had heard had been caused by one of the Skytrain ' s engines disintegrating . " Beatty " remained on antisubmarine patrol until 2100 on 12 July , when she departed the Scoglitti area in the screen for a group of transports returning to Algeria . The warship arrived at Oran on the 15th . Underway for the United States on 21 July , " Beatty " escorted a convoy to New York where she arrived on 3 August . Following voyage repairs at the New York Navy Yard , she again sailed for the Mediterranean on 21 August . Action soon followed her return to the Mediterranean . On 2 September , while part of the antisubmarine screen of Section II of Convoy UGF - 10 , bound for Bizerte , Tunisia , " Beatty " went to general quarters upon the report of enemy aircraft in the vicinity . None came near enough for " Beatty " to take them under fire , but one managed to torpedo at around 2117 . Almost immediately , " Beatty " closed the damaged destroyer and stood guard until relieved by later that night . While anchored off Bizerte four days later , " Beatty " received a red alert at 2030 and again went to general quarters . Intense antiaircraft fire commenced at 2050 , directed toward what later evaluation considered to have been Junkers Ju 88 s . Clearing Bizerte on 7 September , the destroyer joined up with a fast US bound convoy , GUF - 10 , the next day . Outside of a submarine contact one day out , upon which " Beatty " dropped depth charges , the voyage homeward proved uneventful . She reached the New York Navy Yard on 21 September for voyage repairs . Fate . Post availability trials and further antisubmarine training were completed by 7 October when " Beatty " embarked upon her last transatlantic crossing . She screened a convoy to Bangor , Northern Ireland , from 7 October to 17 October , and then joined the screen for Convoy KMF - 25A , en route to the Mediterranean . Making rendezvous on schedule , the destroyer took her station and proceeded into the Mediterranean . Convoy KMF - 25A sailed deployed in three columns , with the escorts steaming in a protective circle around the troopships and merchantmen . " Beatty " was steaming in the rear of the formation at 1800 on 6 November 1943 . At general quarters , " Beatty " observed machine gun fire on the port side of the convoy at 1803 . Many small pips appeared on her radar screen in the direction of , stationed on that side of the convoy . A minute after observing the gunfire , " Beatty " noted a large bomb explode close aboard her colleague , a glider bomb which had missed its target . " Beatty " s radar picked up five incoming aircraft , two of which passed the port side of the convoy , inside the screen . The action proved fast and furious . At 1805 , " Beatty " s radar picked up two more incoming planes that showed American IFF ( Identification , Friend or Foe ) signals . Lieutenant Commander Outerson passed the word to his main battery control to pick them up and open fire if they came within range . Control identified one as a Ju 88 , but a smoke screen obscured the view over the next few moments , and radar alternatively picked up and lost contacts in the heavy haze . While " Beatty " strove to fight her assailants , one German plane managed to close to about 500 yards and dropped a torpedo which struck the ship near frame 124 at about 1813 , only ten minutes after the start of action . The blast jammed mounts 51 and 54 in train , hurled a K - gun and a depth charge stowage rack overboard , bent the starboard propeller shaft , flooded the after engine room , cut off all electrical power , flooded a magazine and put the ship in a 12 - degree list to port . A quick muster showed 11 men missing , one officer and six men injured , and a man at the battle searchlight platform fatally burned by steam . One sailor at the starboard K - gun was blown overboard , and was picked up the next morning by . The torpedo explosion in " Beatty " s vitals broke her back at about frame 124 . It left the port side of the main deck awash from the break of the forecastle to about mount 54 and only 30 inches of freeboard on the starboard side . As a result , the ship slowly settled aft . While a bucket brigade valiantly attempted to bail out the flooding compartments , " Beatty " s sailors jettisoned practically everything from ready ammunition to her searchlight and smoke generator . Through a mistake of haste , even the towing cable went overboard as well . Hopes of saving the ship flickered for the next four hours , as " Beatty " battled for her life . More and more stations were secured to release men for damage control tasks until only a bridge detail and crews on two 20 mm guns remained at battle stations . Around 1900 , her sailors placed her boats and rafts in the water . Forty minutes later , " Beatty " transferred her wounded to . As the list increased , her crew continued abandoning her until around 2230 , when the last group left the ship and reached the rescue vessel , . After breaking in two , " Beatty " sank at 2305 on 6 November 1943 . An estimated 25 German aircraft , many equipped with glider - bombs , took part in the raid , and sank two merchantmen in addition to " Beatty " . Awards . " Beatty " received three battle star s for her World War II service .