The USS Schenck (DD-159)-- Part 1: Neutrality Patrol and Civil War Connection

From Wikipedia.

Yesterday, I wrote about Rear Admiral Robert B. Ellis.  At one time, he commanded the destroyer USS Schenck (DD-159)  It was a Wickes-Class destroyer commissioned 30 October 1919.

It was named after James F. Schenck who served in the Mexican and Civil War.  he was the first to raise and American flag in California in 1846.  During the Civil War, he commanded the USS Powhattan and the Third Division of ships during Admiral Porter's bombardment of Fort Fisher.

The USS Schenck began its Neutrality Patrol off the east coast of the United States on 8 September 1939 and then patrolled off Key West.  It then took USNA midshipmen on two cruises from Annapolis and then began patrolling the Caribbean looking for German ships.  Ellis commanded the Schenck from 1941 to May 25, 1942.

On September 15, 1941, it went to Newfoundland and escorted convoys.

--GreGen