USS Balch (DD-50)
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USS Balch (DD-50) during trials, 22 February 1914.
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | Balch |
| Namesake: | Rear admiral George Beale Balch |
| Ordered: | March 1911 |
| Builder: | |
| Cost: | $780,036.55 (hull and machinery) |
| Yard number: | 386 |
| Laid down: | 7 May 1912 |
| Launched: | 21 December 1912 |
| Sponsored by: | Miss Grace Balch |
| Commissioned: | 26 March 1914 |
| Renamed: | DD-50, 1 November 1933 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 June 1922 |
| Struck: | 8 March 1935 |
| Identification: |
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| Fate: | scrapped at Philadelphia Navy Yard after 23 April 1935 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Aylwin-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1,036 long tons (1,053 t) |
| Length: | 305 ft 3 in (93.04 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft 2 in (9.50 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) (mean) |
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| Complement: | 5 officers 96 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Balch (Destroyer No. 50/DD-50) was an Aylwin-class destroyer built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of George Beale Balch, a US Navy officer who served in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War, and as Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.
Balch was laid down by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia in May 1912 and launched in December. The ship was a little more than 305 ft (93 m) in length, just over 31 ft (9.4 m) abeam, and had a standard displacement of 1,036 long tons (1,053 t). She was armed with four 4 in (100 mm) guns and had eight 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. Balch was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to 29.5 kn (33.9 mph; 54.6 km/h).
After her March 1914 commissioning, she participated in a Presidential Fleet Review at New York City in May. After a period in reserve, Balch served on Neutrality Patrol duty. As a part of that duty in October 1916, she was one of several US destroyers sent to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine U-53 off the Lightship Nantucket. She picked up passengers and crew from a British ocean liner before the U-boat sank it. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Balch was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. Balch made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats. In October 1918, US destroyer Paulding collided with Balch, sending her into Queenstown for two weeks of repairs.
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