USS Balch (DD-50) - Pre-World War I

Pre-World War I

Balch was commissioned into the United States Navy on 26 March 1914 under the command of Lieutenant Commander David C. Hanrahan. Balch served briefly with the Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, carrying out torpedo firing practice off the Virginia Capes before participating in a Presidential Fleet Review for President Woodrow Wilson at New York City on 7 May. Following fleet maneuvers with the Submarine Flotilla out of New London, Connecticut, the Torpedo Flotilla joined the battleship squadrons in Narragansett Bay for maneuvers organized by the Naval War College. Returning to the New York Navy Yard that summer, Balch was placed in reserve commission on 24 July 1914.

The destroyer was placed in full commission again on 17 December 1914 and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet. In June 1915, one of Balch's 21 ft (6.4 m), 1,350 lb (610 kg) torpedoes was unloaded at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, loaded on a horse-drawn truck, and hauled across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Astor Hotel in Manhattan. There, the weapon was on display — along with a shell from a 14 in (360 mm) naval gun — for two days at the "Peace and Preparation" conference of the National Security League. A year later, Balch served as the US Navy's observation platform during the inter-club cruise after the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club's annual June regatta. Balch was sent to examine which of the powerboats entered into the cruise—reported by The New York Times as about half of the 200 entries—might be suitable for use as naval auxiliaries.

Prior to the entrance of the United States into World War I, she served on Neutrality Patrol duty, trying to protect American and neutral-flagged merchant ships from interference by British or German warships and U-boats. In the course of performing those duties, Balch was at Newport, Rhode Island, in early October 1916. At 0530 on 8 October, wireless reports came in of a German submarine stopping ships near the Lightship Nantucket, off the eastern end of Long Island. After an SOS from the British steamer West Point was received at about 1230, Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves ordered Balch and other destroyers at Newport to attend to survivors. The American destroyers arrived on the scene about 1700 when the U-boat, U-53 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Rose, was in the process of stopping the Holland-America Line cargo ship Blommersdijk. Shortly after, U-53 stopped the British passenger ship Stephano. As Rose had done with three other ships U-53 had sunk earlier in the day, he gave passengers and crew aboard Blommersdijk and Stephano adequate time to abandon the ships before sinking the pair. At one point, Rose signaled Balch requesting that she move out of the way to allow Stephano to be torpedoed, much to the later chagrin of Lord Beresford, who denounced Balch's compliance as "aiding and abetting" the Germans in a speech in the House of Lords. In total, 226 survivors from U-53's five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla. Balch picked up the crew of Stephano and a number of passengers, later transferring them to destroyer Jenkins for return to Newport.