USS Charles F. Hughes (DD-428) - 1943-1944

1943-1944

In 1943, Hughes joined in regular UC and CU convoys of tankers from the Bristol Channel to the Netherlands West Indies. The first of these, on which she sailed from Londonderry Port 15 February, was almost constantly under attack or shadowed by "wolfpacks". Hughes and the other escorts kept losses low by their aggressive attacks, and only one submarine attack, on the night of 23/24 February, was successful in penetrating the alert screen.

Hughes escorted a convoy to Casablanca, returning to New York, in November and December 1943, and on 4 January 1944, sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, to join the 8th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. After convoy operations in North African waters supporting the buildup of forces on the bitterly contested Anzio beachhead, on 7 February she moved north to base at Naples.

Through early March, she returned to Anzio again and again, to provide shore bombardment, screening, and patrol services. For the American troops dug in under almost constant German counterattack, the whistle of shells over head from such ships as Hughes was a most comforting sound. From 3 March to 4 April, the destroyer resumed convoy escort duties in north African waters and patrol at Gibraltar, then returned to operate off Anzio until just before the final breakout from the beachhead late in May.

Returning to antisubmarine patrol and escort duties in the western Mediterranean, Hughes arrived at Naples 30 July 1944 to prepare for the invasion of southern France. While protecting the eastern flank of the shipping off the beachhead from attack on the night of 19/20 August, she spotted three German E-boats attempting to penetrate the screen, and forced two of them to beach while she sank the third by gunfire. With the beachhead secure, Hughes resumed patrol and escort services throughout the western Mediterranean, particularly in the Gulf of Genoa. Between 7 and 16 December, she provided call-fire support off Monaco, previously bypassed because of its neutrality, but now under attack because German forces had invested it.