USS Winslow (DD-53)

Winslow during trials in 1915
USS Winslow (DD-53) during trials in 1915.
History
United States
NameWinslow
NamesakeRear admiral John Ancrum Winslow
OrderedMarch 1913[4]
Builder
Cost$856,100.67 (hull and machinery)[2]
Yard number406[3]
Laid down1 October 1913[5]
Launched11 February 1915[1]
Sponsored byMiss Natalie E. Winslow[1]
Commissioned7 August 1915[5]
Decommissioned5 June 1922[1]
RenamedDD-53, 1 July 1933[5]
Stricken7 January 1936[5]
Identification
FateSold on 30 June 1936 and scrapped[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeO'Brien-class destroyer
Displacement
Length305 ft 3 in (93.04 m)[5]
Beam31 ft 1 in (9.47 m)[5]
Draft
  • 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) (mean)[6]
  • 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) max[5]
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed
  • 29 kn (33 mph; 54 km/h)[1]
  • 29.05 kn (33.43 mph; 53.80 km/h) (Speed on Trial)[6]
Complement5 officers 96 enlisted[7]
Armament

USS Winslow (Destroyer No. 53/DD-53) was an O'Brien-class destroyer built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the second US Navy vessel named in honor of John Ancrum Winslow, a US Navy officer notable for sinking the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama during the American Civil War.

Winslow was laid down by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia in October 1913 and launched in February 1915. The ship was a little more than 305 ft (93 m) in length, just over 31 ft (9.4 m) abeam, and had a standard displacement of 1,050 long tons (1,070 t). She was armed with four 4 in (100 mm) guns and had eight 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. Winslow was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to 29 kn (33 mph; 54 km/h).

After her August 1915 commissioning, Winslow sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of seventeen 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 and sold for scrapping in June.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Naval History & Heritage Command. "Winslow". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  2. ^ "Table 21 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 762. 1921.
  3. ^ "Winslow (6105024)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  4. ^ a b Gardiner, pp. 122–23.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Bauer and Roberts, p. 171.
  6. ^ a b "Table 10 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 714. 1921.
  7. ^ "Table 16 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 749. 1921.