USS Branch (DD-197)

USS Branch underway, ca. 1920.
History
United States
Namesake	John Branch
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company
Cost	$1,143,689.68 (hull & machinery)[1]
Laid down	25 October 1918
Launched	19 April 1919
Commissioned	26 July 1920
Decommissioned	11 August 1922
Recommissioned	4 December 1939
Decommissioned	8 October 1940
Stricken	8 January 1941
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom, 8 October 1940
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Beverley
Acquired	8 October 1940
Commissioned	8 October 1940
Identification	Pennant number: H64
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by U-188, 11 April 1943
General characteristics
Class and type	Clemson-class destroyer
Displacement	1,215 tons
Length	314 ft 4 in (95.81 m)
Beam	31 ft 9 in (9.68 m)
Draft	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Propulsion	26,500 shp (19,800 kW); geared turbines, 2 screws
Speed	35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	4,900 nmi (9,100 km; 5,600 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	122 officers and enlisted
Armament	4 × 4 in (102 mm)/50 guns 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/23 gun 12 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Branch (DD-197) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy that entered service in 1920. After a short active life, Branch was placed in reserve in 1922. The ship was activated again for World War II before being transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940. Renamed HMS Beverley, the destroyer served in the Battle of the Atlantic as a convoy escort and was torpedoed and sunk on 11 April 1943.