USS Brough (DE-148) was an Edsall class destroyer escort of the United States Navy.
Namesake
David Atkins Brough was born on 15 June 1914 at Pueblo, Colorado. He was appointed as a Naval Aviation Cadet, United States Naval Reserve in October 1939 and was appointed Ensign on 30 July 1940. At the beginning of World War II, Lieutenant (junior grade) Brough, attached to Patrol Squadron 42, flew scouting missions along the Alaskan Coast and participated in regular bombing raids on the Japanese held islands of Attu and Kiska. During June 1942, Brough participated in numerous bombing raids on Japanese shipping in Kiska Harbor, For this action he was recommended for the Air Medal. However, before the Air Medal could be presented to him he was killed in an airplane crash following a scouting mission. The Air Medal was presented posthumously to his sister, Miss Jack Bell.
History
Construction and commissioning
Brough was built by the Consolidated Steel Corporation of Orange, Texas. Her keel was laid on 22 January 1943 and she was launched on 10 April 1943. Mrs. Jack Bell, sister of Lieutenant Brough, served as sponsor. Brough was placed in full commission on 18 September 1943 at Orange, Texas under command of Lieutenant Commander Kenneth J. Hartley of Jamestown, New York.
After an intense shakedown period, Brough was assigned the task of escorting allied shipping to European ports. She spent two years escorting Allied shipping without the loss of a single vessel during her twenty four Atlantic crossings, and made only five submarine attacks with the presence of U-boats unverified in each case.
At war
Wind and sea, ice and fog, furnished relentless diversion however, for unspectacular service. Five of her twenty-five months of active duty were spent in repair yards, where the scars of the North Atlantic were smoothed again as she prepared for new crossings. Her first Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander K. J. Hartley was killed when heavy seas smashed him against the splinter shield of her number one gun.
Brough, under constant and intensive training throughout the war expended 4,050 rounds of 50 cal., 15,180 rounds of 40 mm, and 25,093 rounds of 20 mm—all for practice. During anti-submarine actions, 200 depth charges and 372 projectiles were fired. When Brough was commissioned her armament included torpedo tubes, eight 20mm guns, a twin 40 mm and three 3"/5O cal. guns. But as the pattern of warfare shifted from surface to air actions, repeated alterations resulted in the removal of the torpedoes, and the addition of another twin and a quad 40 mm, along with two more 20 mm.
At sea for 373 days of her 25 months active duty, most of the time she was on war patrol, with her guns manned and full watches alerted.
Second tragedy
The second and last death on Brough during World War II was the result of the accidental discharge of a K-gun, when a crewman was killed.
Post-war preservation
In January 1947, Brough was placed out of commission in reserve, attached to the Florida Group, U.S. Atlantic Fleet at Green Cove, Florida, Brough was anchored at Green Cove Springs, Florida, forty statute miles (60 km) from the sea in the sluggish St. Johns River.
Korea
The Korean Emergency in the summer of 1951 brought Brough back into naval service. Thoroughly overhauled by the Merrill-Stevens Shipyard, Jacksonville, Florida, Brough was commissioned 7 September 1951 . She was attached to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and usual intensive shakedown period followed.
Atlantic Fleet service
In the fall of 1952 Brough participated in joint NATO operations in the Atlantic and visited various European ports including Bergen, Norway; Greenwich, Scotland; Cherbourg, France; and various Caribbean ports. Returning in November Brough reported for scheduled shipyard overhaul in Philadelphia until the end of February. After a week of "shakedown" she steamed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for refresher training. Despite a green crew, Broughs training progress was such that she was released one week early; the only ship thus privileged during 1953. Brough, after a short stay in Newport, Rhode Island left in early June for Key West, Florida, where she reported to provide services to the Fleet Sonar School, Key West. Until late August Brough operated daily, acting primarily as a school ship for officers and enlisted students from the Sonar School.
Upon Brough'''s return from Key West she berthed alongside the Yosemite (AD-19) for tender overhaul. The tender discovered that the generators warranted overhaul and Brough was sent to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine for repairs.