USS Balch (DD-363)

The second U.S. Navy ship named for the late Rear Adm. George Beall Balch (1821-1908); see Balch I (Destroyer No. 50) for biography.

The second Balch (DD-363) was laid down on 16 May 1934 at Quincy, Mass., by the Bethlehem Ship Building Corp.; launched on 24 March 1936; sponsored by Miss Gertrude Balch, granddaughter of Rear Adm. Balch; and commissioned on 20 October 1936, Cmdr. Thomas C. Latimore in command.

After fitting out at the Boston [Mass.] Navy Yard, the destroyer conducted shakedown and training in New England waters, though occasionally sailing as far south as Norfolk, Va. The warship entered the Boston Navy Yard for post-shakedown availability on 1 July 1937, finishing those repairs and alterations by 30 September. Balch departed Boston on 5 October, arriving at the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, R.I., late that same day. Over the next three weeks, she trained her torpedo crews and conducted experimental torpedo firings in Narragansett Bay. Ordered to the Pacific, the warship stood out for Hampton Roads on the 25th, refueling there the next day, and arrived at Guantánamo Bay early on the 29th. The destroyer operated locally for the next two weeks before steaming to Colón in the Canal Zone on 14 November. After transiting the Panama Canal the next day, Balch proceeded up the west coast of Central America and arrived at San Diego, Calif., early on 23 November.

Continue to the full service history →About 4,661 words

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Balch II (DD-363)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.