USS Baker ( DE - 190 ) USS " Baker " ( DE - 190 ) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II . She served in the Atlantic Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys . She returned home at war ’ s end with a one battle star for her assistance in sinking a German submarine . " Baker " was named after Ensign John Drayton Baker who was awarded a Navy Cross posthumously after the Battle of Coral Sea . The ship was laid down on 9 September 1943 at Port Newark , New Jersey , by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . ; launched on 28 November 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Margaret Baker , the mother of Ens . Baker ; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 23 December 1943 , Lt . Comdr . Luke B . Lockwood , USNR , in command . World War II Atlantic Ocean operations . After fitting out at her builders ’ yard , running the required trials in Long Island Sound , and undergoing a final check , the new destroyer escort departed the New York Navy Yard on 9 January 1944 for shakedown training . Following these drills and exercises that she conducted off Bermuda with friendly submarines , she returned to New York on 4 February . " Baker ’ s " first convoy escort cycle proved uneventful . Sailing from New York to Hampton Roads on 11 and 12 February , she set out for French Morocco the following day and arrived at Casablanca on 3 March . Upon her return to New York on 24 March , the ship underwent a week long overhaul before carrying out antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) training at Casco Bay , Maine . Assigned to Escort Division ( CortDiv ) 48 , she returned to Hampton Roads . Sinking of German submarine U - 616 . Her second voyage to North Africa proved to be quiet , and " Baker " reached Bizerte , " Tunisia " , with her convoy on 30 April . She commenced her passage back to New York with convoy UGS 39 on 11 May , but a German submarine enlivened the return trip . On 14 May , before the convoy cleared the Mediterranean , torpedo ed two merchantmen , and . Each managed to limp into port for repairs , although their assailant , " U - 616 " , soon fell victim to the combined efforts of eight American destroyers and several British aircraft . After post voyage upkeep at the New York Navy Yard early in June and ensuing ASW exercises at Casco Bay , " Baker " sailed for Hampton Roads as part of a “ hunter killer ” group , Task Group ( TG ) 22 . 10 , formed around the escort carrier . Departing Casco Bay on 20 June , the task group reached Hampton Roads on the 22d , and cleared the Virginia Capes on the 25th . Following exercises at Bermuda , TG 22 . 10 proceeded on its appointed mission . On 2 July , its air patrol sighted a surfaced U - boat , but her lookouts must have spotted the planes because a search by two escorts dispatched proved to be fruitless . Attack on a German submarine . While hunting south of Newfoundland on 5 July , " Baker " picked up a submarine on her sound gear at 1907 , and carried out a depth charge attack . The force of the explosions , however , rendered the training mechanism on her sound gear inoperable and three men had to go below to turn the gear manually . " Baker " again located the submarine and delivered another depth charge attack , blowing the enemy to the surface . Her guns opened fire at 1 , 200 yards as soon as the submarine broke the surface . The destroyer escort ' s crew observed hits on the submarine and splashes close aboard . As " Baker " came left and steadied , all guns except the starboard 20 millimeters kept up a " heavy and accurate " fire . Two torpedoes fired by the destroyer escort hit the U - boat but failed to detonate due to the short run . As " Baker " passed close ahead of the submarine , she then laid a full 13 charge pattern squarely in the path of the enemy . The charges exploded , catching the U - boat in the midst of them . Sinking of the German submarine U - 233 . Nearby , , the division flagship , observed that " Baker ' s " depth charge attacks and gunnery had been effective because smoke and flame issued from the conning tower . " Thomas " joined the action with her forward three - inch guns at 8 , 000 yards , firing 29 rounds as she closed . She delivered the coup de grâce by ramming the U - boat ' s starboard side some 20 to 30 feet abaft the conning tower . After a 70 degree roll to port , the submarine wallowed in the swell . At 1947 , her bow rose high out of the water , and she then slid back into the sea at an angle of 60° . " Baker " rescued 31 survivors , one of whom was the U - boat commander , Oberleutnant Hans Stein , who died the following day from shrapnel wounds . The submarine damaged by " Baker " and sunk by Thomas proved to be the 1 , 600 ton minelayer , U - 233 . Putting into Boston on 7 July , TG 22 . 10 turned over its prisoners and provisioned , before getting under way again on the 10th to resume its " hunter killer " operations . Reaching San Juan , Puerto Rico , on 18 July , the task group rested there until the 24th . " Baker " then cruised as far east as the Azores before returning to New York on 25 August . After voyage repairs at the Navy Yard Annex , Bayonne , New Jersey , from 25 August to 7 September , the destroyer escort honed her ASW skills at Casco Bay before proceeding to Hampton Roads along with the rest of CortDiv 48 . A tropical hurricane enlivened the passage to the Virginia Capes but fortunately caused no appreciable damage on board . New Year ’ s Day in New York City . The warship departed for Bermuda on 18 September and arrived there two days later for five days of ASW exercises . She then set out for some hunter - killer operations that proved uneventful . " Baker " returned to the New York Navy Yard on 5 November and , after repairs there , she again exercised in Casco Bay before participating in exercises in the waters off Bermuda . After returning to New York on New Year ’ s Eve , " Baker " operated out of Newport , Rhode Island , from 4 to 21 January 1945 , serving as plane guard for escort carrier as she conducted pilot qualifications . Detached on the 22d , the destroyer escort returned to the New York Navy Yard where she spent the remainder of January and the first few days of February . " Baker " then escorted " Card " from the Delaware Breakwater to New York before heading south toward Hampton Roads . Assigned to a “ hunter killer ” group formed around escort carrier , " Baker " sailed from Norfolk , Virginia , on 8 February . This task group , TG 22 . 3 , merged with TG 22 . 4 eight days later and the two groups patrolled as far as Iceland , frequently groping through heavy snow and rain squalls . The suspicion that U - boats were operating in the vicinity prompted the groups to investigate each contact thoroughly . However , several “ likely ” contacts proved to be negative . Damaged in North Atlantic storms . Although the group did not meet any U - boats , on 23 February it did encounter a storm of terrible ferocity , whipped by winds clocked at 115 knots . " Baker " sustained heavy , but not critical , damage : sprung frames , ruptured steam lines , downed lifelines , shorted out fire control circuits , and inoperable sound gear . " Baker " , and the rest of CortDiv 48 , subsequently anchored in Reykjavík Harbor , Iceland , to repair the damage . Sinking German submarine U - 548 . Returning to the New York Navy Yard on 17 March , she spent a week there undergoing voyage repairs and receiving upkeep before shifting to New London , Connecticut , for operations out of that port with friendly submarines until 14 April when she received orders to proceed to the Virginia Capes to deal with U - boats operating nearby . One of these , , torpedoed two merchantmen , on 18 April and on the 23rd , but eventually ran afoul of three of Baker ' s division mates — " Thomas " , , and , and the frigate - and was sunk off the Virginia coast on 30 April . Celebrating the end of the war with Germany . After the end of the war with Germany , " Baker " operated out of Quonset Point , Rhode Island , as plane guard for escort carriers " Card " and as they qualified pilots , carrying out that duty through September . She participated in the big Navy Day observances at New York City on 27 October ; anchored in the Hudson River above the George Washington Bridge , she fired a 21 gun salute to President Harry S . Truman , who was embarked in to review the assembled fleet . Going into the New York Naval Shipyard the next day for repairs , " Baker " cleared the yard for Quonset Point on the 31st , to resume her plane guard occupation , but soon received orders re - routing her to New London , Connecticut . There , she joined , which after the surrender of Germany , had made a 10 - week submerged voyage to Argentina where she was turned over to the Argentines on 17 August 1945 . Over the next few weeks , " Baker " and " U - 977 " visited Albany , Poughkeepsie , and Newburgh , New York ; Wilmington and Lewes , Delaware ; Richmond , Virginia ; and Washington , D . C . , affording the American public in those places an opportunity to see a German U - boat and a destroyer escort to stimulate interest in the Victory Loan fund raising drive , winding up the tour at the nation ’ s capital on 8 December 1945 . Post - war decommissioning . Decommissioned on 4 March 1946 , " Baker " was placed in reserve at Green Cove Springs , Florida , where she remained until turned over to the French Government under the Mutual Defense Aid Program ( MDAP ) on 29 March 1952 . Her name was struck from the Navy list on 18 April 1952 . Renamed " Malgache " ( F . 724 ) , the ship served under the Tricolor until decommissioned on 1 January 1969 . The warship was sunk as a target by U . S . 6th Fleet units sometime during 1970 . Awards . " Baker " ( DE - 190 ) earned one battle star for her World War II service , in assisting in the destruction of " U - 233 " .