USS Ericsson (DD-56)

USS Ericsson (DD-56), Steaming at 19.93 knots during Run No. 10 of builder's trials, 18 May 1915. Her armament has not yet been installed.
History
United States
Name	Ericsson
Namesake	John Ericsson
Ordered	March 1913[4]
Builder	New York Shipbuilding Corporation[1] Camden, New Jersey
Cost	$866,166.00 (hull and machinery)[2]
Yard number	141[3]
Laid down	10 November 1913[5]
Launched	22 August 1914[1]
Sponsored by	Mrs. J. Washington Logue[1]
Commissioned	14 August 1915[5]
Decommissioned	16 June 1922[1]
Stricken	5 July 1934[5]
Identification	Hull symbol:DD-56 Code letters:NIS
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Coast Guard, 7 June 1924[1] Sold on 22 August 1934 and scrapped[1]
United States
Name	Ericsson
Acquired	7 June 1924[1]
Commissioned	28 May 1925[6]
Decommissioned	30 April 1932[6]
Identification	Hull symbol:CG-5
Fate	Returned to the Navy on 27 April 1934[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	O'Brien-class destroyer
Displacement	1,020 long tons (1,040 t)[5] 1,171 long tons (1,190 t) when fully loaded.[4]
Length	305 ft 3 in (93.04 m)[5]
Beam	31 ft 1 in (9.47 m)[5]
Draft	9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) (mean)[7] 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) max[5]
Installed power	4 × White-Forster boilers 17,000 shp (13,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Zoelly direct-drive steam turbines 2 × screw propellers[4]
Speed	29 kn (33 mph; 54 km/h)[1] 30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h) (Speed on Trial)[7]
Complement	5 officers 87 enlisted[8]
Armament	4 × 4 in (100 mm)/50 caliber guns 8 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (4 × 2)

USS Ericsson (Destroyer No. 56/DD-56) 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 U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of John Ericsson, the Swedish-born builder of the ironclad warship USS Monitor during the American Civil War.

Ericsson was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding of Camden, New Jersey, in November 1913 and launched in August of the following year. The ship was a little more than 305 feet (93 m) in length, just over 31 feet (9.4 m) abeam, and had a standard displacement of 1,090 long tons (1,110 t). She was armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) guns and had eight 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. Ericsson was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to 29 knots (54 km/h).

After her May 1916 commissioning, Ericsson 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, 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.