Allied Warships

USS Greer (DD 145)

Destroyer of the Wickes class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Wickes
Pennant	DD 145
Built by	William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Comp
Ordered
Laid down	24 Feb 1918
Launched	1 Aug 1918
Commissioned	31 Dec 1918
End service	19 Jul 1945
History	Decommissioned at San Diego, California on 22 June 1922 Recommissioned on 31 March 1930 Decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 13 January 1937 Recommissioned on 4 October 1939 Decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 19 July 1945 Stricken on 13 August 1945 Sold 30 November 1945 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Greer (DD 145)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Cdr. John Joseph Mahoney, USN	4 Oct 1939	4 Mar 1940
2	Lt. William Kilian Romoser, USN	4 Mar 1940	10 Jun 1940
3	Cdr. Carl Wright Brewington, USN	10 Jun 1940	12 Dec 1940
4	Lt.Cdr. Forrest Close, USN	12 Dec 1940	8 Sep 1941
5	Lt.Cdr. Lawrence Hugh Frost, USN	8 Sep 1941	20 Jun 1942
6	T/Lt.Cdr. Thomas Henry Copeman, USN	20 Jun 1942	25 Apr 1943
7	Lt. Merle David Cooper, USNR	25 May 1943	25 Dec 1943
8	John Chapman Jolly, USN	25 Dec 1943	1 Jan 1945
9	J. P. Field, Jr., USNR	1 Jan 1945	19 Jul 1945

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Notable events involving Greer include:

4 Sep 1941
On 4 September 1941, USS Greer had been signalled by a British bomber, that a German U-boat was hiding in the vicinity. Greer found sound contact, and started to pursue the U-boat U-652 from close range. The aircraft dropped 4 depth charges, and left the scene, leaving the two fighting ships. Soon after the U-boat fired a torpedo at the US warship, perhaps believing she dropped the four bombs. After this USS Greer went into attack, and a 2 hour battle followed, during which she dropped 19 depth charges, and the U-boat fired another torpedo, without results. President Roosevelt used this event in his campaign to convince the US to go to war, and the "undeclared war" between U-boats and US escorts escalated dramatically. (1)

1 Mar 1942
USS Greer picks up 13 survivors from the Panamanian merchant Equipoise that was torpedoed and sunk on 27 February 1942 about 60 miles south-east of Cape Henry in position 36°36'N, 74°45'W by German U-boat U-160.

23 Apr 1942
USS Greer picks up 24 survivors from the American merchant Robin Hood that was torpedoed and sunk on 16 April 1942 by German U-boat U-575 about 300 nautical miles south-east of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts in position 38°45'N, 66°45'W.

23 Mar 1943
HMS H 34 (Lt. J.P. Angell, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with USS Greer, HMCS Trillium (T/Lt. P.C. Evans, RCNR) and HMCS Dauphin (T/Lt. M.H. Wallace, RCNR). (2)