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Nye, Richard Piersol, LT.
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CLASS - BENSON As Built. Displacement 2395 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 348' 4"(oa) x 36' 1" x 13' 2" (Max) Armament 4 x 5"/38AA, 6 x 0.5" MG, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5). Machinery, 50,000 SHP; Bethlehem Turbines, 2 screws Speed, 35 Knots, Range 6500 NM@ 12 Knots, Crew 208. Operational and Building Data Laid down by Bethlehem Steel, Quincy. May 1 1941. Launched December 31 1941 and commissioned April 30 1942. Decommissioned February 1 1946. Stricken June 1 1971. Fate Sold March 16 1973 and broken up for scrap.
Named after George Bancroft born on 3 October 1800 at Worcester, Mass. and was graduated from Harvard University in 1817 and then studied at the University of Göttingen, Germany, where he received a doctorate in 1820. Upon his return to the United States, Bancroft tutored in Greek at Harvard for one year, but left when his foreign social and educational views clashed with those of the students and the faculty alike. ...
After Polk won election, he rewarded Bancroft by appointing him Secretary of the Navy. Though his term lasted only 18 months, Bancroft made significant contributions to the foundation upon which the Navy rests. Most notably, he established the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., and strongly supported the work of the Naval Observatory. In 1846, Bancroft began his career as a diplomat when he went to London as United States minister to Great Britain. In addition to performing his duties as American minister, Bancroft continued research for his History, consulting European sources by then available to him. He returned to the United States in 1849 and concentrated upon his historical research and writing. Between 1852 and 1866, he issued six more volumes of the History carrying the work through the end of the American Revolution. Though initially skeptical about Abraham Lincoln's ability to handle the national dilemma brought on by secession and the Civil War, Bancroft quickly reversed his opinion and gave Lincoln all his support, both written and oral. He also enjoyed warm ties with Lincoln's vice president and successor, Andrew Johnson. That friendship brought Bancroft another diplomatic post in 1867 as United States minister in Berlin. There he witnessed the consolidation of Bismarck's Germany from the North German Confederation to the German Empire. He remained at that post until 1874.
