USS Niblack (DD-424), a , is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Albert Parker Niblack. Niblack became the Director of Naval Intelligence 1 March 1919, and Naval Attache in London 6 August 1920. As vice admiral, he commanded U.S. Naval Forces in European waters from 15 January 1921 to 17 June 1922. Niblack was laid down 8 August 1938 by the Bath Iron Works Corp. Bath, Maine; launched 18 May 1940; sponsored by Mrs. Albert P. Niblack, widow of Vice Admiral Niblack; and commissioned 1 August 1940. On 10 April 1941 Niblack dropped depth charges aimed at a German U-boat, the first hostile action between American and German forces during World War II. Service history Service in the Atlantic, 1940–43 After shakedown and training in the Caribbean, Niblack made her first convoy trip to NS Argentia, Newfoundland. In July 1940 she escorted the task force which landed the American occupation troops in Iceland. However, before the actual landings, Niblack made preliminary reconnaissance. On 10 April 1941, as she was nearing the coast, the ship picked up three boatloads of survivors from a torpedoed merchantman. When a submarine was detected, the division commander, Denis L. Ryan, ordered a depth charge attack which drove off the . This bloodless battle apparently was the first action between American and German forces in World War II. On 1 July 1941, Niblack sailed from Argentia with the occupation force, arriving on 7 July. The destroyer continued escort duty and, with four other destroyers, was escorting a fast convoy across the Atlantic when, on 31 October 1941, a German U-boat's torpedo struck blowing her in half — the first United States naval vessel to be lost in World War II. Only 44 survivors were picked up. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor pushed America officially into the war 7 December 1941, Niblack continued to escort North Atlantic convoys to Reykjavík, Iceland, Derry, Northern Ireland, and Greenock, Scotland. In July 1942 she was transferred to the Caribbean for temporary duty at the height of the U-boat campaign there, resuming northern duty in August. In November 1942, she escorted the first support convoy to Casablanca after the Allied landings on the Moroccan Coast. The ship then performed coastal convoy escort duty until departing early in May 1943 for Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria. Service in the Mediterranean, 1943–44 During the invasion of Sicily she performed