USS Balch ( DD - 50 ) USS " Balch " ( Destroyer No . 50 / DD - 50 ) was an built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I . The ship was the first U . S . Navy vessel named in honor of George Beale Balch , a US Navy officer who served in the Mexican - American War and the American Civil War , and as Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy . " Balch " was laid down by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia in May 1912 and launched in December . The ship was a little more than in length , just over abeam , and had a standard displacement of . She was armed with four guns and had eight torpedo tube s . " Balch " was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to . After her March 1914 commissioning , she participated in a at New York City in May . After a period in reserve , " Balch " served on Neutrality Patrol duty . As a part of that duty in October 1916 , she was one of several US destroyers sent to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket . She picked up passengers and crew from a British ocean liner before the U - boat sank it . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Balch " was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland . " Balch " made several unsuccessful attacks on U - boats . In October 1918 , US destroyer collided with " Balch " , sending her into Queenstown for two weeks of repairs . Upon returning to the United States after the war in January 1919 , " Balch " was placed in reduced commission . After alternating periods of activity and time in reserve , " Balch " was decommission ed at Philadelphia in June 1922 . In November 1933 she dropped her name , becoming known only as DD - 50 . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in March 1935 and ordered scrapped in April . Design and construction . " Balch " was authorized in March 1911 as the last of four ships of the , which was almost identical to the s authorized at the same time . Construction of the vessel — like her three sister ships — was awarded to William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia which laid down her keel on 7 May 1912 . On 21 December , " Balch " was launched by sponsor Miss Grace Balch , daughter of the ship ' s namesake , George Beale Balch . The ship was the first U . S . Navy ship named for Balch , a US Navy officer who served in the Mexican - American War and the American Civil War and , as a rear admiral , served as Superintendent of United States Naval Academy from 1879 – 81 . As built , the destroyer was in length , abeam , and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded . " Balch " had two steam turbines that drove her two screw propellers , and an additional pair triple - expansion steam engines , each connected to one of the propeller shafts , for cruising purposes . Four oil - burning boilers powered the engines , which could generate , moving the ship at up to . " Balch " s main battery consisted of four / 50 cal Mark 9 guns , with each gun weighing in excess of . The guns fired armor - piercing projectile s at . At an elevation of 20° , the guns had a range of . " Balch " was also equipped with eight torpedo tube s . Pre - World War I . " Balch " was commissioned into the United States Navy on 26 March 1914 under the command of Lieutenant Commander David C . Hanrahan . " Balch " served briefly with the Torpedo Flotilla , Atlantic Fleet , carrying out torpedo firing practice off the Virginia Capes before participating in a for President Woodrow Wilson at New York City on 7 May . Following fleet maneuvers with the Submarine Flotilla out of New London , Connecticut , the Torpedo Flotilla joined the battleship squadrons in Narragansett Bay for maneuvers organized by the Naval War College . Returning to the New York Navy Yard that summer , " Balch " was placed in reserve commission on 24 July 1914 . The destroyer was placed in full commission again on 17 December 1914 and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet . In June 1915 , one of " Balch " s , torpedoes was unloaded at the Brooklyn Navy Yard , loaded on a horse - drawn truck , and hauled across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Astor Hotel in Manhattan . There , the weapon was on display — along with a shell from a naval gun — for two days at the " Peace and Preparation " conference of the National Security League . A year later , " Balch " served as the US Navy ' s observation platform during the inter - club cruise after the Seawanhaka - Corinthian Yacht Club ' s annual June regatta . " Balch " was sent to examine which of the powerboats entered into the cruise — reported by " The New York Times " as about half of the 200 entries — might be suitable for use as naval auxiliaries . Prior to the entrance of the United States into World War I , she served on Neutrality Patrol duty , trying to protect American and neutral - flagged merchant ships from interference by British or German warships and U - boats . In the course of performing those duties , " Balch " was at Newport , Rhode Island , in early October 1916 . At 0530 on 8 October , wireless reports came in of a German submarine stopping ships near the Lightship Nantucket , off the eastern end of Long Island . After an SOS from the British steamer was received at about 1230 , Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves ordered " Balch " and other destroyers at Newport to attend to survivors . The American destroyers arrived on the scene about 1700 when the U - boat , under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Hans Rose , was in the process of stopping the Holland - America Line cargo ship . Shortly after , " U - 53 " stopped the British passenger ship . As Rose had done with three other ships " U - 53 " had sunk earlier in the day , he gave passengers and crew aboard " Blommersdijk " and " Stephano " adequate time to abandon the ships before sinking the pair . At one point , Rose signaled " Balch " requesting that she move out of the way to allow " Stephano " to be torpedoed , much to the later chagrin of Lord Beresford , who denounced " Balch " s compliance as " aiding and abetting " the Germans in a speech in the House of Lords . In total , 226 survivors from " U - 53 " s five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla . " Balch " picked up the crew of " Stephano " and a number of passengers , later transferring them to destroyer for return to Newport . World War I . When the United States entered World War I in 6 April 1917 , " Balch " fitted out — installing depth charge racks and other wartime gear — in preparation for foreign service . Sailing for European waters on 25 October , " Balch " arrived at Queenstown , Ireland on 17 November and reported for duty with the Queenstown Force Commander . The destroyer began convoy escort duties on 24 November , which generally meant shepherding merchant ships through the " submarine danger zone " in the western approaches to the United Kingdom and France . While this duty was relatively uneventful , " Balch " did twice encounter German submarines . On 29 January 1918 , while steaming off Liverpool , she dropped two depth charges over a diving U - boat , without effect . Then , on 12 May , the destroyer joined other escorts in depth - charging a U - boat spotted near convoy HS 60 , with " Balch " dropping 12 depth charges that helped drive off the submarine . There were other perils at sea , however , most notably on 20 October 1918 when collided with " Balch " during convoy escort operations . The collision knocked " Balch " s port depth charge overboard , but Boatswain ' s Mate Second Class Albert Cerveny , Coxswain Frank Sekowski , and Gunner ' s Mate Second Class Frank H . Sumner — all of whom received letters of commendation from the US Navy — recognized that a collision was imminent and set the depth charges to " safe " . " Balch " did suffer steering gear damage which required two weeks of repair at Queenstown . Then , on 5 November , while escorting a convoy in the English Channel , the " Balch " helped American destroyer rescue 29 survivors of the foundering merchant ship " Dipton " , returning the survivors to Queenstown . Inter - war period . Following the signing of the Armistice on 11 November which ended all fighting , " Balch " received orders to sail for home and she departed Ireland on 16 November . She arrived at Norfolk , Virginia , via Ponta Delgada , Azores , on 1 January 1919 and was placed in ordinary . Returned to commission in early April , the destroyer sailed to the West Indies for three weeks of maneuvers out of Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . " Balch " then returned to Norfolk on 28 April for an overhaul . In July 1920 , she was assigned the hull code of " DD - 50 " under the US Navy ' s alphanumeric classification system . Postwar funding shortages kept the destroyer in port until late 1921 , when " Balch " briefly cruised with the Torpedo Flotilla , Atlantic Fleet , before financial considerations led to her inactivation . " Balch " was decommission ed at Philadelphia on 20 June 1922 . On 1 November 1933 , she dropped the name " Balch " to free it for a new destroyer of the same name , becoming known only as " DD - 50 " . The ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 March 1935 , and , on 23 April , was ordered scrapped at the Philadelphia Navy Yard .