The ''O'Brien'' class of destroyers was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of six ships designed by and built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

shortly before the United States entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The ''O'Brien'' class was the third of five classes of destroyers that were known as the "thousand tonners", because they were the first U.S. destroyers over

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

. The design of what became the ''O'Brien'' class was the result of discussions between the

General Board of the United States Navy The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, somewhat akin to a naval general staff and somewhat not. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by Secretary ...

and the U.S. Navy's

Bureau of Ordnance The Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was a United States Navy organization, which was responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval weapons, between the years 1862 and 1959. History Congress established the Bureau in the Departme ...

. What resulted was a design that was an incremental development of the , which itself was similar to the first of the thousand tonners, the (which displaced about a third more than the preceding ). The key difference in the ''O'Brien'' class was the increase in torpedo size, going up to from the preceding classes' torpedoes. The ships had a median displacement of , were just over in length, and had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of about . All of the ships had two direct-drive steam turbines and a combination of other engines for cruising at speeds less than . All of the ships were designed for a maximum speed of . As built, they were armed with four guns and had four twin 21 inch (533 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s with a load of eight

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es, but all were later equipped with depth charges. The ships were built by four private American shipyards—

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest ...

, Fore River Shipbuilding Company,

New York Shipbuilding Corporation The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United ...

, and

William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) of Philadelphia was founded in 1830 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder of the late 19th century. Company hi ...

—and were

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

between September and November 1913; launched between April 1914 and February 1915; and commissioned into the U.S. Navy between June 1914 and August 1915. All six ships operated in the Atlantic or Caribbean until the U.S. entrance into World War I in April 1917, when all six were sent overseas to

Queenstown, Ireland Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

, for convoy escort duties. Several of the ships rescued passengers and crew from ships sunk by

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

s, and several had encounters with U-boats themselves; helped sink in November 1917, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Navy. All six members of the class had returned to the United States in January 1919 and were decommissioned by June 1922. In 1924, two of the six— and —were commissioned into the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

to help enforce

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

as a part of the "

Rum Patrol The Rum Patrol was an operation of the United States Coast Guard to interdict liquor smuggling vessels, known as "rum runners" in order to enforce prohibition in American waters. On 18 December 1917, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was sub ...

". They were returned to U.S. Navy custody in 1932 and 1933, respectively. All six ships had been sold for

scrapping Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

by June 1936.

Background

For the 1913

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

, the

determined that six destroyers would be authorized. The design for Destroyers No. 51 through No. 56—what became the ''O'Brien'' class, was to closely follow the design of the and es from fiscal year 1912. The chief of the U.S. Navy's

(BuOrd) suggested that the new destroyers be equipped with ten

s and urged that the new

be adopted. The General Board agreed in principle, adopting the 21-inch torpedo tubes, but eliminated BuOrd's proposed centerline torpedo tubes and keeping the number of tubes at eight,Friedman, p. 29. the same as the ''Cassin'' and ''Aylwin'' classes.Bauer and Roberts, p. 170. The additional weight of the larger torpedoes, of top weight, was offset by reducing the planned two aft-facing guns to a single one. This gave the class four guns, which, again, matched the

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

of the ''Cassin'' and ''Aylwin'' classes. The design for the ''O'Brien'' class was approved on 20 August 1912, and authorized by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

on 4 March 1913.

Design

As built, the ''O'Brien''-class ships were in length (

overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...

), were

abeam This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...

, and had a standard

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . The hull shape featured the distinctive high forecastle typical of U.S. destroyer classes since the 1908–09 , the first destroyers designed to be truly ocean-going vessels.Gardiner, p. 121. The ships displaced between with a median of . The ships were equipped with two

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

s and two direct-drive,

Zoelly Heinrich Zoelly (1862–1937) was a Mexican-Swiss engineer. He developed steam turbines and turbine-driven locomotives and patented the geothermal heat pump in 1912. Life and work Heinrich Zoelly was the fifth child of Franz Xaver Zoelly. His fa ...

steam turbines fed by four

White-Forster boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, a ...

s. The power plant of the ships generated which drive the ships to the design speed of .Gardiner, p. 123. Because of inherent inefficiency of turbines at low speeds,Friedman, pp. 25, 27.While turbines were most efficient at high speeds,

propellers A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

were most efficient at low speeds. Turbines directly connected to the

s—as was the case with the main turbines of all the ''O'Brien'' ships—were particularly inefficient at low speeds. See: Friedman, pp. 25, 27. all of the ships were equipped with supplemental cruising engines for travel at speeds under . All except were equipped with supplemental triple-expansion reciprocating engines: , , and each had a pair of reciprocating engines for cruising; and were outfitted with only one. Instead of reciprocating engines, ''Cushing'' was equipped with a pair of geared steam turbines for cruising. The main

of the ''O'Brien'' class consisted of four /50 Mark 9 guns,The ''50'' denotes the length of the gun barrels; in this case, the gun is 50

calibers In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore matc ...

, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as it is in diameter, 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 Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many wars ...

projectiles at . At an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of 20°, the guns had a range of . The ''O'Brien'' ships were also equipped with four twin

s, for a total load of eight Mark 8 torpedoes. Although the General Board had called for two

anti-aircraft guns Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

for the ''O'Brien'' class, they were not originally outfitted with the weapons; the later was the first American destroyer class so armed. Likewise, there is no record of any of the ''O'Brien'' ships being outfitted with mine-laying apparatus. During World War I, most American destroyers were used in

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

roles, and were equipped with depth charges and delivery systems, such as

Y-gun A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use ...

s and depth charge racks. ''O'Brien''-class ships were equipped with depth charges during the war, but no specific mentions of the types of depth charges used or delivery system are recorded in secondary sources.

Comparisons with other "thousand tonners"

The "thousand tonners" were the 26 United States Navy destroyers of five classes—''Cassin'', , ''O'Brien'', , and ''Sampson''—so named because they were the first U.S. Navy destroyers to have displacements greater than 1,000 long tons.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, The ''Cassin'' class, the first of the thousand tonners, displaced about a third more than the preceding . The introduction of the thousand tonners led to the ''Paulding''s and other older, smaller displacement destroyers of previous classes to be dismissively called "flivvers", a nickname also commonly applied to the Ford Model T.Cashman, p. 278.According to Cashman (p. 278), a flivver—a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words The ''O'Brien'' class was the third of the five classes of "thousand tonners". The earlier ''Cassin''- (DD-43 to DD-46) and ''Aylwin''-class (DD-47 to DD-50) ships were about the same length as the ''O'Brien'' ships and all had median displacements in the range of ; the later ''Tucker''- (DD-57 to DD-62) and ''Sampson''-class (DD-63 to DD-68) ships were about longer and had median displacements of . All five classes were armed with four guns, but the torpedo size and complement varied. All were equipped with four twin

s loaded with eight

es except for the ''Sampson''s (which had four triple tubes carrying twelve torpedoes), but the ''Cassin'' and ''Aylwin'' classes were armed with torpedoes. The ''O'Brien'' ships were the first armed with the new Mark 8 torpedoes; the ''Tucker'' and ''Sampson'' ships also used the 21-inch torpedoes. The ''Sampson''s were the only group originally equipped with

, a pair of guns with a caliber of .

Construction

The construction of the six ''O'Brien''-class ships was allocated to four U.S. shipbuilders. William Cramp constructed a trio of ''O'Brien'' destroyers, while the Fore River Shipbuilding Company,

, and

built one ship each. The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

s for all six ships were

between July and November 1913, with being the first and the last.Bauer and Roberts, p. 171. All were launched between April 1915 and January 1915, with ''McDougal'' again being the first and being the last. ''McDougal'' was commissioned in June 1914, two months after her launch; the rest were commissioned between April and August 1915, with the final ship to enter service. The cost of each ship for hull and machinery was $790,000.Friedman, p. 31.The hull-and-machinery cost does not include the costs of any weapons.

Ships in class

All six members of the class served in the Atlantic or Caribbean throughout their U.S. Navy careers.

Naval History & Heritage Command The Naval History and Heritage Command, formerly the Naval Historical Center, is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage located at the historic Washington Navy Yard. ...

"''Cushing''"
''

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' (''DANFS'') is the official reference work for the basic facts about ships used by the United States Navy. When the writing project was developed the parameters for this series were designed to ...

'' (''DANFS''). Retrieved on 18 January 2015. In October 1916, with the United States still neutral in

, five of the six class members (all except ''Nicholson'') were among the U.S. destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five ships torpedoed by German submarine off the

Lightship Nantucket The station named ''Nantucket'' or ''Nantucket Shoals'' was served by a number of lightvessels (also termed lightships) that marked the hazardous Nantucket Shoals south of Nantucket Island. The vessels, given numbers as their "name," had the st ...

. After the United States entered the war in April 1917, all six class members were sent overseas to

, for convoy escort and anti-submarine duties. ''McDougal'' was in the first group of six American destroyers that arrived at Queenstown on 4 May; ''Ericsson'' and ''Winslow'' followed in the second group, which arrived thirteen days later, and ''Cushing'', ''Nicholson'', and ''O'Brien'' in the third group, a week after that. Several of the ships had encounters with U-boats during the war: ''Nicholson'', working with in November 1917, helped to sink , which was the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Navy;Sweetman, p. 124. earlier, in June, ''O'Brien'' had depth-charged and was thought by the British Admiralty to have seriously damaged the U-boat, but post-war analysis of records showed that ''U-16'' survived the attack and returned safely to port. All six ships returned to the United States in January 1919 and served in various roles over the next two years. ''Cushing'' was

decommission Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear dec ...

ed in August 1920, followed by ''Nicholson'' and ''McDougal'' in May 1922, and the remaining three in the following month. In June 1924, two of the six ships—''Ericsson'' and ''McDougal''—were reactivated for service with the

's "

". ''Ericsson'' was returned to the U.S. Navy in May 1932, and ''McDougal'' in June 1933; both were sold for

in 1934. ''O'Brien'' was sold for scrapping in 1935, and the remaining three in June 1936.

USS ''O'Brien'' (DD-51)

USS ''O'Brien'' (Destroyer No. 51/DD-51) was

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

in September 1913 and launched in July 1914. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of

Jeremiah O'Brien Captain Jeremiah O'Brien (1744–1818) was an Irish-American captain in the Massachusetts State Navy. Prior to its existence (or that of the Continental Navy), he commanded the sloop ''Unity'' when he captured the Royal Navy, British armed s ...

and his five brothers, Gideon, John, William, Dennis, and Joseph who, together on the sloop ''Unity'', captured a British warship during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. After ''O'Brien''s May 1915 commissioning, she sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of the U.S. destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine ''U-53'' off the Lightship Nantucket in October 1916. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ''O'Brien'' was sent overseas to patrol the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

out of

. After returning to the United States in January 1919, ''O'Brien'' returned to European waters in May to serve as one of the picket ships for the NC-type

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

s in the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic. ''O'Brien'' was

ed at Philadelphia in June 1922. She was struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

in March 1935 sold for

in April.

USS ''Nicholson'' (DD-52)

USS ''Nicholson'' (Destroyer No. 52/DD-52) was laid down by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia in September 1913 and launched in August 1914. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of five members of the Nicholson family who gave distinguished service in the American Revolutionary War, the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, and the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

: brothers

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, Samuel, and John Nicholson; William Nicholson, son of John; and

James W. Nicholson Rear Admiral James William Augustus Nicholson (10 March 1821 – 28 October 1887) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. Life and naval career The son of Nathaniel Nicholson and gra ...

, grandson of Samuel. After ''Nicholson''s April 1915 commissioning, she sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ''Nicholson'' was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. In October 1917, ''Nicholson'' steamed to the rescue of , driving off German submarine , which had shelled the American cargo ship for over three hours. In November, ''Nicholson'' and another U.S. destroyer, , were responsible for sinking German submarine , the first submarine taken by U.S. forces during the war. In September 1918, ''Nicholson'' helped drive off after that U-boat had torpedoed the American troopship off the coast of France. Upon returning to the United States after the war, ''Nicholson'' was placed in reduced commission in November 1919. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia in May 1922. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1936 sold for scrapping in June.

USS ''Winslow'' (DD-53)

USS ''Winslow'' (Destroyer No. 53/DD-53) was laid down by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia in October 1913 and launched in February 1915. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of

John Ancrum Winslow John Ancrum Winslow (19 November 1811 – 29 September 1873) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. He was in command of the steam sloop of war during her historic 1864 action off C ...

, a U.S. Navy officer notable for sinking the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

commerce raider Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...

during the American Civil War. After ''Winslow''s August 1915 commissioning, she sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of the U.S. destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine ''U-53'' off the Lightship Nantucket in October 1916. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ''Winslow'' was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. ''Winslow'' made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft. Upon returning to the United States after the war, ''Winslow'' was placed in reduced commission in December 1919. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia in June 1922. In November she dropped her name to free it for a new destroyer of the same name, becoming known only as ''DD-53''. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1936 sold for scrapping in June.

USS ''McDougal'' (DD-54)

USS ''McDougal'' (Destroyer No. 54/DD-54) was laid down by

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

, in July 1913 and launched in April 1914. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of David Stockton McDougal, a U.S. Navy officer notable for his leadership during an 1863 battle off Japan while in command of . After ''McDougal''s June 1914 commissioning, she sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of the U.S. destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine ''U-53'' off the Lightship Nantucket in October 1916, and carried 6 crewmen from a sunken Dutch cargo ship to

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ''McDougal'' was part of the first U.S. destroyer squadron sent overseas. Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland, ''McDougal'' made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of ships sunk by the German craft. After a collision with a British cargo ship in February 1918, ''McDougal'' was under repair until mid-July, and afterwards, operated out of

Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French m ...

. Upon returning to the United States after the war, ''McDougal'' conducted operations with the destroyers of the Atlantic Fleet until August 1919, when she was placed in reserve, still in commission. After a brief stint of operations in mid 1921, she was placed in reserve until she was decommissioned at Philadelphia in May 1922. In June 1924, ''Ericsson'' was transferred to the

to help enforce

as a part of the "

". She operated under the name USCGC ''McDougal'' (CG-6) until May 1933, when she was returned to the Navy. In November she dropped her name to free it for a new destroyer of the same name, becoming known only as ''DD-54''. She was struck for the Naval Vessel Register in July 1934 sold for scrapping in August.

USS ''Cushing'' (DD-55)

USS ''Cushing'' (Destroyer No. 55/DD-55) was laid down by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts, in September 1913 and launched in January 1915. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of

William B. Cushing William Barker Cushing (4 November 184217 December 1874) was an officer in the United States Navy, best known for sinking the during a daring nighttime raid on 27 October 1864, for which he received the Thanks of Congress. Cushing was the youn ...

, a U.S. Navy officer best known for sinking the Confederate

ironclad warship An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

during the American Civil War. After ''Cushing''s August 1915 commissioning, she sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of the U.S. destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine ''U-53'' off the Lightship Nantucket in October 1916. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ''Cushing'' was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. ''Cushing'' made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft. Upon returning to the United States after the war, ''Cushing'' was placed in reserve in reduced commission. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia in August 1920. She was struck for the Naval Vessel Register in January 1936 and was sold for scrapping in June.

USS ''Ericsson'' (DD-56)

USS ''Ericsson'' (Destroyer No. 56/DD-56) was laid down by the

New York Shipbuilding The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United ...

of Camden, New Jersey, in November 1913 and launched in August of the following year. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of

John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive ''Novelty'', which co ...

, the Swedish-born builder of the ironclad warship during the American Civil War. After ''Ericsson''s May 1916 commissioning, she sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of the U.S. destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine ''U-53'' off the Lightship Nantucket in October 1916, and carried 81 passengers from a sunken British ocean liner to Newport, Rhode Island. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ''Ericsson'' was part of the first U.S. destroyer squadron sent overseas. Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland, ''Ericsson'' made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft. Upon returning to the United States after the war, ''Ericsson'' conducted operations with the destroyers of the Atlantic Fleet until August 1919, when she was placed in reserve, still in commission. After a brief stint of operations in mid 1921, she was placed in reserve until she was decommissioned at Philadelphia in June 1922. In June 1924, ''Ericsson'' was transferred to the United States Coast Guard to help enforce Prohibition as a part of the "Rum Patrol". She operated under the name USCGC ''Ericsson'' (CG-5) until May 1932, when she was returned to the Navy. She was sold for scrap in August 1934.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * Silverstone, Paul H., ''U.S. Warships of World War I'' (Ian Allan, 1970), .

External links

DestroyerHistory.org Thousand Tonner pageDestroyerHistory.org O'Brien class page
{{good article Destroyer classes