History
United States
Namesake	Isaac Foote Dortch
Builder	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,Kearny, New Jersey
Laid down	2 March 1943
Launched	20 June 1943
Commissioned	7 August 1943
Decommissioned	13 December 1957
Stricken	1 September 1975
Fate	Transferred toArgentina asEspora 1 August 1961
History
Argentina
Name	Espora
Acquired	16 August 1961
Stricken	1977
Fate	Scrapped, 1977
General characteristics
Class and type	Fletcher-classdestroyer
Displacement	2,050 tons
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.7 m)
Beam	39 ft in (12.1 m)
Draft	17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45 MW); geared turbines; 2 propellers
Speed	38knots (70 km/h; 44 mph)
Range	6,500 nautical miles at 15 kt   (12,000 km at 30 km/h)
Complement	329
Armament	5 ×5 in (130 mm)/38 guns, 10 ×40 mm AA guns, 7 ×20 mm AA guns, 10 ×21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes, 6 ×depth charge projectors, 2 × depth charge tracks

USSDortch (DD-670) was aFletcher-classdestroyer of theUnited States Navy.

Isaac Foote Dortch was born on 12 December 1883 inGadsden,Alabama. He graduated from theUnited States Naval Academy in 1905. He commanded theUSS Warrington from November 1915 to November 1917,^[1] and then duringWorld War I, commandedUSS Wadsworth and fitted out and commissionedUSS Talbot. For his distinguished service while commandingWadsworth andTalbot, he was awarded theNavy Cross.Captain Dortch served as naval attaché inArgentina andChile during 1922–1925. He died while on active duty on 4 June 1932, atSan Francisco, California.

Dortch (DD-670) was laid down on 2 March 1943 and launched 20 June 1943 byFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,Kearny, New Jersey; sponsored by Miss M.C. Dortch, daughter of Captain Dortch; and commissioned 7 August 1943.

During October and November 1943 Dortch sailed toTrinidad,British West Indies, where she served as plane guard and screen forUSSLangley (CVL-27) during the carrier's shakedown cruise. Dortch sailed fromNorfolk on 3 December in the screen of newly commissionedUSSIntrepid (CV-11) and arrived atPearl Harbor on 28 December.

Dortch served in the screen of theFast Carrier Task ForceTF 58 during the capture andoccupation of theMarshall Islands from 29 January 1944. She took part in the initial raids onTruk of 16 February and 17 and onthe Marianas on 23 February, then sailed with the task group providing air cover forlandings on Emirau Island in March. Later that month she rejoined TF 58 for raids onPalau,Yap,Ulithi andWoleai from 30 March to 1 April; support of theHollandia operation inNew Guinea on 21 April and 22; and a repeat raid on Truk from 29 April to 1 May.

After screening escort carriers toPearl Harbor,Dortch returned to TF 58 for the capture and occupation ofSaipan, screening the carriers as they fought and won the decisiveBattle of the Philippine Sea. During the invasion ofGuamDortch patrolled west of the island as life guard and fighter director ship, as well as screening the carriers that provided air support for the troops ashore.

Dortch saw action in the 5th Fleet raids on theBonins on 4 and 5 August 1944, then returned to cover the landings onPeleliu,Palau Islands, on 15 September. She remained with the fast carriers while they poundedairfields and installations in theNansei Shoto,Formosa,Luzon, and on theChinese coast to neutralizeJapanese bases in preparation for the invasion of thePhilippines. She continued to protect the carriers as they launched strikes against the Japanese fleet in theBattle for Leyte Gulf 24–25 October.

On 10 February 1945 Dortch sortied in a scouting line ahead of TF 58 for the strike on the Tokyo Bay area of 16 February and 17. On the following dayDortch, withUSSClarence K. Bronson (DD-668), attacked and seriously damaged an enemy picket vessel;Dortch received 14 casualties in the action. On the 19th she was offIwo Jima for the assault landings, and continued to patrol off the island in the day and screen transports at night. She rejoined the carriers for raids onTokyo on 25 February and strikes andphoto reconnaissance missions overOkinawa 1 March. Returning to duty at Iwo Jima,Dortch sailed 29 March for an overhaul on the west coast, arriving inSan Francisco 21 April. Dortch got underway on 9 July 1945, and bombardedWake Island on 8 August while making her passage to Guam. On 27 August she entered Tokyo Bay, and served in the occupation of Japan and its possessions until sailing for the States 5 December 1945. She was placed out of commission in reserve at Charleston, S.C. on 19 July 1946.

Recommissioned 4 May 1951 Dortch was assigned to theAtlantic Fleet, and fromNewport, Rhode Island, operated on the east coast and in theCaribbean. In August 1952 she sailed to take part inNATOOperation Mainbrace off Norway and Denmark, returning to Newport 9 October. On 27 April 1953 she sailed for thePacific, and operated with TF 77 offKorea until October. She continued west to complete a round-the-world cruise, returning to Newport in December. In 1954-55 and 1957 she served with the 6th Fleet in theMediterranean, patrolling off theGaza Strip, where conditions remained tense after theSuez Crisis, during the latter cruise.Dortch continued her east coast and Caribbean operations until again placed out of commission in reserve on 13 December 1957.

Dortch received eightbattle stars forWorld War II service and one forKorean War service.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(June 2016)

Dortch was placed out of commission in reserve on 13 December 1957, transferred toArgentina asEspora (D-21) on 16 August 1961, and finally struck from theNavy list on 1 September 1975. ARAEspora was stricken from the Argentine Navy list and broken up for scrap in 1977.

•  This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.

• navsource.org: USSDortch
• hazegray.org: USSDortch

• Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy
• Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey
• 1943 ships
• World War II destroyers of the United States
• Cold War destroyers of the United States
• Korean War destroyers of the United States
• Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Argentine Navy
• Cold War destroyers of Argentina

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from October 2024
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use dmy dates from October 2024
• Articles to be expanded from June 2016
• All articles to be expanded
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships