USS Parker (DD-48)

USS ''Parker'' (Destroyer No. 48/DD-48) was an built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of Foxhall A. Parker, Jr., a U.S. Navy officer who served in the American Civil War, and as Superintendent of United States Naval Academy.

''Parker'' was laid down by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia in March 1912 and launched in February 1913. The ship was a little more than in length, just over abeam, and had a standard displacement of . She was armed with four guns and had eight 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. ''Parker'' was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to .

After her January 1914 commissioning, she assisted her sister ship when that ship suffered an explosion in one of her fire rooms in April. After the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, ''Parker'' served as an escort for the fourth group of the first American troop convoy of the war. Afterwards, she patrolled the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. ''Parker'' rescued nine survivors of a torpedoed British hospital ship in February 1918, and her crew received accolades from the British Parliament, the Admiralty, and U.S. Navy officials.

Upon returning to the U.S. after the war in July 1919, ''Parker'' rejoined the Atlantic Fleet. ''Parker'' was decommissioned in June 1922. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in March 1935, and ordered scrapped in April.

Design and construction

''Parker'' was authorized in March 1911 as the third of four ships of the , which was almost identical to the s authorized at the same time.The is considered a part of the by ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921'' (p. 122), but is classed separately by the United States Navy. See, for example, Construction of the vessel — like her three sister ships — was awarded to William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia which laid down her keel on 11 March 1912. On 8 February 1913, ''Parker'' was launched by sponsor Mrs. Henry W. Hand, wife of the vice president of the Cramp shipyard. The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel to be named for Foxhall A. Parker, Jr., a U.S. Navy officer who served in the American Civil War, and as Superintendent of United States Naval Academy; he was also a co-founder of the United States Naval Institute. As built, the destroyer was in length, abeam, and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded.

''Parker'' had two steam turbines that drove her two screw propellers, and an additional pair triple-expansion steam engines, each connected to one of the propeller shafts, for cruising purposes. Four oil-burning boilers powered the engines, which could generate , moving the ship at the design speed of ; After sister ship failed to meet the design speed in her July 1913 builder's trials, ''Parker'' was outfitted with redesigned propellers, and exceeded the contracted speed in her trials in November, when she topped out at during runs off the Delaware Breakwater.

''Parker''s main battery consisted of four /50 caliber Mark 9 guns,The ''50'' denotes the length of the gun barrels; in this case, the gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as its bore, or in this case. The Mark number is the version of the gun; in this case, the ninth U.S. Navy design of the 4-inch/50 gun. with each gun weighing in excess of . The guns fired armor-piercing projectiles at . At an elevation of 20°, the guns had a range of . ''Parker'' was also equipped with four twin mount torpedo tubes.

Pre-World War I

''Parker'' was commissioned into the United States Navy on 30 December 1913. ''Parker'' was attached to the Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, operating off the Atlantic coast during the years of American neutrality in World War I. On 6 April 1914, ''Parker'' and sister ships and were exercising off the North Carolina coast, about off the Diamond Shoals lightship. An explosion ripped through the forward fire room on ''Aylwin'', injuring three men. ''Benham'' loaded the three wounded sailors and sped to the naval hospital at Norfolk, Virginia, while ''Parker'' took on the remainder of ''Aylwin''s crew. One of the injured men died on ''Benham'' before landfall was made in Virginia; another died a short time later. ''Aylwin'' remained afloat but, unmanned, was towed into Norfolk by ''Parker'' and U.S. Navy tug . The crews of all three destroyers raised $250 to help defray funeral expenses for the widow of one of the men.

In early April 1915, ''Parker'' and destroyer were temporarily assigned to patrol near the New York City Quarantine Station. There were concerns by Dudley Field Malone, the local port collector, that some of the interned German steamships at New York might try to slip out during a heavy snowstorm. As a part of these patrols, Malone discovered what ''The New York Times'' termed a "widespread conspiracy" intended to supply British warships outside U.S. territorial waters, in violation of the American neutrality in World War I.

After participating in winter maneuvers in Cuban waters in early 1917, ''Parker'' joined the fleet at Yorktown, Virginia, in March, immediately prior to the American entry into World War I.

World War I

After the U.S. entered World War I on 6 April 1917, ''Parker'' was selected for overseas duty. She sailed on 17 June as an escort for the fourth group of the first American convoy, which carried units of the American Expeditionary Force.The individual groups of the first convoy were typically counted as separate convoys in post-war sources. See, for example, Crowell and Wilson, Appendix G, p. 603. The convoy consisted of United States Army transports , , , and ; U.S. Navy transport ; and oiler . The escorts — in addition to ''Parker'' — were the cruisers , and destroyers , , and . The group departed from New York for Brest, France, steaming at an pace. A thwarted submarine attack on the first convoy group, and reports of heavy submarine activity off of Brest, resulted in a change in the convoy's destination to Saint-Nazaire where the convoy arrived 2 July.

From St. Nazaire, ''Parker'' steamed to Queenstown, Ireland, joining the U.S. Naval Forces patrolling the Irish Coast. There she escorted convoys safely through the war zone, and assisted vessels in distress. From July–November 1918, ''Parker'' was attached to the base at Plymouth, England, and operated with U.S. submarine chasers. ''Parker'' made contact with German submarines on several occasions during the war. She was credited with probably seriously damaging an enemy submarine on 3 August 1917.

On 26 February 1918, ''Parker'' assisted in rescuing nine survivors of British hospital ship , which had been torpedoed by German submarine . The information on the website is extracted from The men of ''Parker'' were commended by the British Parliament, the Admiralty, and the U.S. naval authorities. On 1 November, ''Parker'' sailed from Plymouth for Gibraltar but returned to Plymouth at the end of the war.

Postwar

After returning to Plymouth after the Armistice was signed, ''Parker'' carried mail and passengers between Plymouth and Brest. She made a cruise to German ports in early 1919 to implement the terms of the armistice, before steaming to the Baltic Sea to assist members and vessels of the American Relief Administration. Parker sailed for New York on 20 July 1919 and, upon arrival, was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 1, Atlantic Fleet.

The destroyer was based out of Norfolk, Virginia from 1919-mid-1921. In July 1920, ''Parker'' was operating in the Mediterranean when she played a role in the search for an American missionary couple, Paul Nilson and Harriet Fisher Nilson, thought abducted by Turkish Nationalists. ''Parker'' was sent to Mersina to demand the release of the pair, and dispatched messages by airplane to Tarsus and Adana to that effect.The Nilsons were apparently released unharmed and continued to teach in Turkey until retiring and returning to the U.S. in 1957. See:

After making a final cruise to Newport, Rhode Island, in mid 1921, ''Parker'' was decommissioned on 6 June 1922. After 13 years in reserve, the ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 March 1935, and, on 23 April, was ordered scrapped.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker (Dd-48)
Aylwin-class destroyers
Ships built by William Cramp & Sons
1913 ships
World War I destroyers of the United States