USS Bristol (453)

[ellenheid]

I am looking for pictures of the destroyer USS Bristol (DD453) that went down in the Algeria on Dec.13,1943. I am looking for pictures of any of the crew members or any information about this destroyer. Charles A. Heidenreich was one of the 52 men that died.
thanks

[RF]

I hadn't heard of this ship, it must be one of the few warship losses to the Germans sustained by the US Navy.

I presume its loss was down to a mine? There was little in the way of German airpower in that region and hardly any U-boats?

[ellenheid]

The Bristol USS was a american Gleaves class destroyer. On October 13,1943 at 4:30 the Bristol was struck on the port side at the forward engine room by a single torpedo from German submarine U-371. Bristol suffered the loss of 52 of her crew. The survivors were rescued by Trippe (DD-403) and Wainwright(DD_419). Bristol received three battle stars for her World WarII service. I am trying to find and pictures of the crew.

[RF]

October 1943, that makes things clearer.

Good luck with your search.

[jorgea]

Are you still looking for this?

[ellenheid]

Yes I am still looking for information on the USS BRISTOL(453). If you have any information please let me know.

[Ljohnson]

It's a year later, are you still wanting photos & information?

My uncle, Roy Strieter, was also lost on the same ship, his body never recovered.

I have websites, such as uboat.net , photos from navsource.net and you may even search findagrave.com for your crewman'a memorial - my uncle has 3 of them! There is also a video here: https://archive.org/details/NPC-3133 that can be downloaded. It's a Navy Recruitment film, but around the 3 minute mark is DD-453 being launched in 1941.

Hope this helps you or others out there who are looking. I'm continuing the search myself.

L J