USS McDougal (DD-54)

USS McDougal (DD-54), 20 July 1914.
History
United States
Name	McDougal
Namesake	David Stockton McDougal
Ordered	March 1913[4]
Builder	Bath Iron Works,[1] Bath, Maine
Cost	$832,046.14 (hull and machinery)[2]
Yard number	215[3]
Laid down	29 July 1913[5]
Launched	22 April 1914[1]
Sponsored by	Miss Marguerite S. LeBreton[1]
Commissioned	16 June 1914[5]
Decommissioned	26 May 1922[1]
Stricken	5 July 1934[5]
Identification	Hull symbol:DD-54 Code letters:NIT
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Coast Guard, 7 June 1924[1] Sold on 22 August 1934 and scrapped[1]
United States
Name	McDougal
Acquired	7 June 1924[6]
Commissioned	13 May 1925[6]
Decommissioned	26 May 1933[6]
Identification	Hull symbol:CG-6
Fate	transferred back to the US Navy, 30 June 1933[6]
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 McDougal (Destroyer No. 54/DD-54) 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 David Stockton McDougal, a U.S. Navy officer notable for his leadership during an 1863 battle off Japan while in command of Wyoming.

McDougal was laid down by Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, in July 1913 and launched in April 1914. 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 1,020 long tons (1,040 t). She was armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) guns and had eight 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. McDougal was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to 29 knots (54 km/h).

After her June 1914 commissioning, McDougal 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 6 crewmen from a sunken Dutch cargo ship to Newport, Rhode Island. 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.

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 United States Coast Guard to help enforce Prohibition as a part of the "Rum Patrol". 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 and sold for scrapping in August.