prior to the turnover ceremony. On 9 September 1940 Welborn C. Wood unfurled the Union Flag; she was subsequently struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941. The destroyer was renamed HMS Chesterfield (I28). During fitting out, she twice rammed which was lying alongside, before she sailed for the British Isles. As part of the first flotilla, Chesterfield sailed for Belfast, Northern Ireland, and arrived at her destination on 18 November. Shifting to Plymouth on 22 November, the destroyer underwent a refit at Chatham before joining the 11th Escort Group, Western Approaches Command, based at Greenock. Chesterfield was modified for trade convoy escort service by removal of three of the original /50 caliber guns and three of the triple torpedo tube mounts to reduce topside weight for additional depth charge stowage and installation of Hedgehog anti-submarine mortars. From 1941 to 1943, Chesterfield escorted convoys in the North Atlantic. Chesterfield was assigned to Escort Group B-7 of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force during the winter of 1942–43. Screening Convoy HX 222 with Escort Group C-1 on 17 January 1943, the destroyer attacked the U-boat with a depth charge barrage, only to suffer damage from her own charges. Limping to Plymouth for repairs soon thereafter, the ship remained there until November 1943. Allocated to the 5th Western Approaches Command for duty as a target vessel for aircraft, she remained engaged in this significant, but unglamorous, duty through 1944. Subsequently placed in reserve at Grangemouth, Firth of Forth, on 17 January 1945 Chesterfield was eventually broken up for scrap in 1948. Notes References Photo gallery at navsource.org Clemson-class destroyers Ships built in Newport News, Virginia 1920 ships Ships of the United States Coast Guard Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy Town-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Town-class destroyers converted from Clemson-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom