Tucker - class destroyer The " Tucker " class of destroyer s was a ship class of six ships designed by and built for the United States Navy shortly before the United States entered World War I . The " Tucker " class was the fourth of five classes of destroyers that were known as the " thousand tonners " , because they were the first U . S . destroyers over displacement . The design of what became the " Tucker " class was the result of compromises between the General Board of the United States Navy and the U . S . Navy ' s Bureau of Construction and Repair . The General Board , tasked with creating an integrated battle fleet , wanted a larger ship that could serve in a scouting role and proposed a ship larger than the unique British destroyer of 1907 , and more than twice the displacement of any previous U . S . destroyer . Input from Construction and Repair resulted in 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 ships were built by four private American shipyards — Bath Iron Works , Fore River Shipbuilding Company , New York Shipbuilding Corporation , and William Cramp and Sons — and were laid down between February and November 1914 ; launched between April and July 1915 ; and commissioned into the U . S . Navy between July 1915 and May 1916 . The ships had a median displacement of , were just over in length , and had a beam of about . Most of the ships had two direct - drive steam turbines and a single geared cruising turbine ; was equipped with two geared steam turbines only and , as the first U . S . destroyer so equipped , greatly influenced later U . S . Navy destroyer designs . All of the ships were designed for a maximum speed of and a range of at more economical speeds . As built , they were armed with four guns and had four twin torpedo tube s with a load of eight torpedo es , but all were later equipped with depth charge s . 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 , for convoy escort duties . Several of the ships rescued passengers and crew from ships sunk by U - boats , and several had encounters with U - boats themselves ; was torpedoed and sunk by in December 1917 . All five surviving members of the class had returned to the United States by early 1919 and been decommission ed by June 1922 . Between 1924 and 1926 , four of the five ( all but " Wadsworth " ) were commissioned into the United States Coast Guard to help enforce Prohibition as a part of the " Rum Patrol " . They were returned to U . S . Navy custody between 1934 and 1936 , and had all been sold for scrapping by 1936 . Background . In September 1912 , the General Board of the United States Navy asked the Navy ' s Bureau of Construction and Repair ( C & R ) to develop plans for the next class of destroyer s . The General Board asked for a design with four guns , six twin torpedo tube s , and twenty floating mines , that could travel at up to with steaming radius of . C & R came back with a design for a long , displacement , triple - screw " super - destroyer " requiring to make the design speed of . The C & R design was similar to , but larger than the unique British destroyer of 1907 , and more than twice the displacement of the largest U . S . destroyers . The General Board , whose main concern was the integrated operation of the United States battle fleet , pushed for the design to provide more scouting capabilities for fleet operations . But the high cost of the design — $ 1 , 900 , 000 for hull and machinery vs . $ 790 , 000 for the ships — and the lack of operating experience with the — the first of the " thousand tonners " ( destroyers exceeding displacement ) which were just beginning to be launched — caused C & R to resist the much larger design . The Chief Constructor of the Navy , the head of C & R , pointed out that the British had not repeated the " Swift " design in the five years since her introduction , and noted that " a destroyer that gets too large loses many of the desirable features of the type " . In November 1912 , the General Board offered several alternatives to reduce the size of the destroyer , and was convinced by C & R that the most practical solution was a design that shared much with the " O ' Brien " class : matching that class ' main battery and torpedo load but with a design speed of and the desired steaming radius . The General Board also specified that the ships be equipped with " two aeroplane guns , if they can be developed and installed " , have provisions for laying thirty - six mines , and a strengthened bow for ramming . The C & R design for the " Tucker " class , DD - 57 through DD - 62 , was approved by the Secretary of the Navy in December 1912 , and authorized by Congress in 1913 . Design . As built , the " Tucker " class ships were in length ( overall ) , were between and abeam , and had a median draft 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 . The ships displaced between with a median of . The ships were equipped with two propeller shafts and two Curtis steam turbines fed by four Yarrow boilers , providing a minimum of to achieve the design speed of . For all of the ships except , the pair of main turbines was supplemented with a cruising turbine geared to one of the shafts . " Wadsworth " had no cruising turbines , but instead had her twin turbines geared directly to the propeller shafts — the first American destroyer so outfitted . She served as a testbed , and had a considerable effect on U . S . destroyer design after her trials in July 1915 . The main battery of the " Tucker " class consisted of four / 50 Mark 9 guns , with each gun weighing in excess of . The guns fired armor - piercing projectile s at . At an elevation of 20° , the guns had a range of . The " Tucker " class was also equipped with four twin torpedo tube s , for a total load of eight torpedoes . Although the General Board had called for two anti - aircraft guns for the " Tucker " class , they were not originally outfitted with the weapons ; the was the first American destroyer class so armed . Likewise , there is no record of any of the " Tucker " ships being outfitted with mine - laying apparatus . During World War I , most American destroyers were used in anti - submarine warfare roles , and were equipped with depth charge s and delivery systems , such as Y - guns and depth charge racks . " Tucker " - 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 available sources . Comparisons with other " thousand tonners " . The " thousand tonners " were the 26 United States Navy destroyers of five classes — " Cassin " , , " O ' Brien " , " Tucker " , and " Sampson " — so named because they were the first U . S . Navy destroyers to have displacements greater than 1 , 000 long tons . 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 . The " Tucker " class was the fourth of the five classes of " thousand tonners " . The earlier " Cassin " - ( DD - 43 to DD - 46 ) , " Aylwin " - ( DD - 47 to DD - 50 ) and " O ' Brien " - class ( DD - 51 to DD - 56 ) ships were about shorter than the " Tucker " ships and had a lower displacement , between less than the median displacement of the " Tucker " s ; the later " Sampson " - class ( DD - 63 to DD - 68 ) ships were the same length and displaced more . All five classes were armed with four guns , but the torpedo size and complement varied . All were equipped with four twin torpedo tube s loaded with eight torpedo 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 rest with torpedoes . The " Sampson " s were the only group originally equipped with anti - aircraft guns , a pair of guns with a caliber of . Construction . The construction of the six " Tucker " - class ships was allocated to four U . S . shipbuilders . The Fore River Shipbuilding Company and Bath Iron Works built one ship each , while William Cramp and New York Shipbuilding each constructed a pair of " Tucker " destroyers . The keels for all six ships were laid down between February and November 1914 , with " Wadsworth " being the first and the last . All were launched between April and July 1915 , with " Wadsworth " again being the first and being the last . " Wadsworth " was commissioned in July 1915 , three months after her launch ; the rest were commissioned between January and May 1916 , with the final ship to enter service . Ships in class . All six members of the class served in the Atlantic throughout their U . S . Navy careers , and all were sent overseas to Queenstown , Ireland , for convoy escort and anti - submarine duties after the United States entered World War I in April 1917 . , " Porter " , " Wadsworth " , and " Wainwright " were in the first group of six American destroyers , arriving at Queenstown on 4 May ; " Tucker " and followed as part of the second group , which arrived thirteen days later . Several of the ships had encounters with U - boats during the war : " Conyngham " s commander was commended for what was thought a probable " kill " of one U - boat ; " Jacob Jones " was sunk by in December 1917 . All surviving ships of the class had returned to the United States by early 1919 and served in various roles over the next two years . " Tucker " was decommission ed in May 1921 , followed by " Wainwright " in May 1922 , and the remaining three in June 1922 . Between 1924 and 1926 , four of the five ships — " Conyngham " and " Porter " in 1924 , " Tucker " and " Wainwright " in 1926 — were reactivated for service with the United States Coast Guard ' s " Rum Patrol " . All were returned to the U . S . Navy in 1933 with the exception of " Tucker " , which followed in 1934 . " Conyngham " , " Porter " , and " Wainwright " were sold for scrapping in 1934 ; the other two in 1936 . USS " Tucker " ( DD - 57 ) . USS " Tucker " ( DD - 57 ) , the lead ship of the class , was laid down by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy , Massachusetts , in November 1914 and launched in May 1915 . She was the first U . S . Navy vessel named for Samuel Tucker . After her April 1916 commissioning , " Tucker " sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Tucker " was part of the second U . S . destroyer squadron sent overseas . Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland , " Tucker " made several rescues of passengers and crew from ships sunk by U - boats . For her part in rescuing crewmen from the in August 1918 , " Tucker " received a commendation from the " Préfet Maritime " . In June , " Tucker " was transferred to Brest , France , and spent the remainder of the war there . Upon returning to the United State near the end of 1918 , " Tucker " underwent repairs at the Boston Navy Yard . After a New England recruiting tour through October 1919 , she was placed in reduced commission and then decommission ed in May 1921 . In March 1926 , " Tucker " 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 " Tucker " ( CG - 23 ) until 1933 ; during her Coast Guard service , she was the first American ship to arrive at the crash site of Navy airship . After her transfer back to the Navy later in 1933 , the ship was renamed " DD - 57 " to free the name " Tucker " for another destroyer . She was sold for scrap and hulked in December 1936 . USS " Conyngham " ( DD - 58 ) . USS " Conyngham " ( DD - 58 ) was laid down by the William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia in July 1914 and launched in July of the following year . She was the first U . S . Navy vessel named for Gustavus Conyngham . After her January 1916 commissioning , " Conyngham " sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Conyngham " was part of the first U . S . destroyer squadron sent overseas . Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland , " Conyngham " made several rescues of passengers and crew from ships sunk by U - boats . " Conyngham " s commander was commended for actions related to what was thought at the time to be a " probable " kill of a German submarine . Upon returning to the United State in December 1918 , " Conyngham " underwent repairs at the Boston Navy Yard . She remained there in reduced commission through 1921 , with only brief episodes of activity . After returning to active service for about a year , she was decommissioned in June 1922 . In June 1924 , " Conyngham " 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 " Conyngham " ( CG - 2 ) until 1933 , when she was returned to the Navy . Later that year , the ship was renamed " DD - 58 " to free the name " Conyngham " for another destroyer . She was sold for scrap in August 1934 . USS " Porter " ( DD - 59 ) . USS " Porter " ( DD - 59 ) was laid down by the William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia in August 1914 and launched in August of the following year . She was the second U . S . Navy vessel named in honor of both David Porter and his son David Dixon Porter . After her April 1916 commissioning , " Porter " conducted her shakedown cruise in the Caribbean . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Porter " was part of the first U . S . destroyer squadron sent overseas . Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland , " Porter " severely damaged the German submarine in April 1918 . Upon returning to the United States after the war , " Porter " operated off the east coast until she was decommissioned in June 1922 . In June 1924 , " Porter " 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 " Porter " ( CG - 7 ) until 1933 , when she was returned to the Navy . Later that year , the ship was renamed " DD - 59 " to free the name " Porter " for another destroyer . She was sold for scrap in August 1934 . USS " Wadsworth " ( DD - 60 ) . USS " Wadsworth " ( DD - 60 ) was laid down by the Bath Iron Works of Bath , Maine , in February 1914 and launched in April 1915 . She was the first U . S . Navy vessel named for Alexander Scammel Wadsworth . " Wadsworth " s geared steam turbine power plant was a successful prototype that greatly influenced U . S . destroyer designs after 1915 . After her July 1915 commissioning , " Wadsworth " served on the neutrality patrol off the east coast and in the Caribbean . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Wadsworth " was the flagship of the first U . S . destroyer squadron sent overseas . Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland , " Wadsworth " reported several encounters with U - boats in the first months overseas . She was transferred to Brest , France , in March 1918 , and spent the remainder of the war there . Upon returning to the United State at the end of 1918 , " Wadsworth " underwent a five - month overhaul . She served as a plane guard for the Navy ' s transatlantic flight attempt by four Navy - Curtiss flying boats in May . After two years in reduced commission in August , " Wadsworth " was reactivated in May 1921 . She was decommissioned in June 1922 , and spent nearly 14 years in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1936 , sold in June , and scrapped in August . USS " Jacob Jones " ( DD - 61 ) . USS " Jacob Jones " ( DD - 61 ) was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding of Camden , New Jersey , in August 1914 and launched in May of the following year . She was the first U . S . Navy vessel named in honor of Jacob Jones . After her February 1916 commissioning , " Jacob Jones " conducted patrols off the New England coast . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Jacob Jones " was sent overseas . Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland , " Jacob Jones " rescued the survivors of several ships , notably picking up over 300 from the sunken armed merchant cruiser . On 6 December , " Jacob Jones " was steaming independently from Brest , France , for Queenstown , when she was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine with the loss of 66 officers and men , becoming the first United States destroyer to ever be sunk by enemy action . " Jacob Jones " sank in eight minutes without issuing a distress call ; the German submarine commander , " Kapitänleutnant " Hans Rose , after rescuing two badly injured " Jacob Jones " crewmen , radioed the American base at Queenstown with the coordinates for the survivors before leaving the area . USS " Wainwright " ( DD - 62 ) . USS " Wainwright " ( DD - 62 ) was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding of Camden , New Jersey , in September 1914 and launched in June of the following year . She was the first U . S . Navy vessel named in honor of U . S . Navy officers Jonathan Wainwright and Jonathan Wainwright , Jr . ( father and son ) , and Commander Richard Wainwright ( cousin of the elder Jonathan ) . After her May 1916 commissioning , " Wainwright " sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Wainwright " was part of the first U . S . destroyer squadron sent overseas . Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland , " Wainwright " made several unsuccessful attacks on U - boats , and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft . Upon returning to the United State after the war , " Wainwright " resumed operations with the destroyers of the Atlantic Fleet until May 1922 , when she was decommissioned . In April 1926 , " Wainwright " 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 " Wainwright " ( CG - 24 ) until April 1934 , when she was returned to the Navy . She was sold for scrap in August 1934 .