USS Herbert (DD-160) was a Wickes-class destroyer. She was named for Hilary A. Herbert (1834–1919), Secretary of the Navy from 1893 to 1897.
Construction and commissioning
Herbert was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden in New Jersey on 9 April 1918, launched on 8 May 1919 by Mrs. Benjamin Micou, daughter of the late Hilary A. Herbert and commissioned on 21 November 1919.
Service history
After shakedown in South Atlantic waters, Herbert trained in the Caribbean until 1 May 1920, returning there 20 July with the Atlantic Fleet destroyer squadron. Herbert participated in torpedo practices, antiaircraft drills, and short range battle practice along the east coast. She decommissioned at Philadelphia 27 June 1922.
Herbert recommissioned 1 May 1930 and joined the Scouting Fleet at Newport, Rhode Island. For the next 4 years she operated in both East and West Coast waters, playing important roles in annual fleet problems and battle practice. From 16 January 1935 until August 1939, Herbert served as a training ship for Naval Reserves and midshipmen. As war swept across Europe, she sailed to Portugal via the Azores 2 October 1939 and remained there until July 1940.
Returning to the States, the destroyer underwent overhaul and 10 October reported to New London for sound school training. Herberts training kept pace with the steadily intensifying war in Europe as she spent most of 1941 in battle practice, torpedo drills, and antisubmarine work.
World War II
With America's entry into the war, Herbert operated as a convoy escort along the American coast from Key West north to Halifax and Iceland. Guiding virtually defenseless merchant ships through coastal and Caribbean waters patrolled by U-boats, Herbert carried out frequent depth charge attacks on marauding submarines. From April through June 1943 she visited Gibraltar and North Africa, as the build-up for the invasion of Sicily intensified. A hunter-killer patrol followed. After a second patrol, Herbert escorted a convoy from Bermuda to Casablanca, returning to Charleston 22 November 1943 for conversion to a high-speed transport.
Convoys escorted
{|class="wikitable"
!Convoy
!Escort Group
!Dates
!Notes
|-
|HX 165
|
|17–24 Dec 1941
|from Newfoundland to Iceland
|-
|ON 51
|
|2–11 Jan 1942
|from Iceland to Newfoundland
|-
|HX 172
|
|28 Jan-4 Feb 1942
Awards
Herbert received six battle stars for her World War II service.