USS Stewart ( DD - 13 ) The first USS " Stewart " ( DD - 13 ) was a in the United States Navy . She was named for Rear Admiral Charles Stewart . " Stewart " was laid down on 24 January 1900 at Morris Heights , New York , by the Gas Engine and Power Company ; launched on 10 May 1902 ; sponsored by Mrs . Paul Lee Cocke , granddaughter of Rear Admiral Stewart ; and commissioned on 1 December 1902 , Lieutenant Frederick A . Traut in command . Pre - World War I . After commissioning , " Stewart " served for a short time at the Naval Academy and then joined the Coast Squadron of the North Atlantic Fleet . In 1906 , she was placed in reserve at Norfolk , Virginia but was recommissioned in 1907 in the Atlantic Fleet and transferred in 1908 to the Pacific Fleet . As one of the first group of destroyers built in the United States , " Stewart " quickly became obsolete ; and , on 24 February 1916 , the Navy Department decided that destroyers numbered 1 through 16 were " no longer serviceable for duty with the fleet . " These ships were henceforth classed as " coast torpedo vessels " , but this did not prevent " Stewart " from having an active career in World War I . World War I . After the United States declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917 , " Stewart " patrolled first off the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal and along the Colombian coast ; and then , after 11 May , off the Pacific entrance to the canal . On 5 July , she returned to the Atlantic , and was fitted out at the Philadelphia Navy Yard from 22 July - 11 August for distant service . On 13 August , she sailed for Bermuda with a destroyer flotilla ; but , on arrival on 16 August , she grounded in the harbor and required repairs there and at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania which lasted through 10 October . On 11 October , " Stewart " began dispatch and escort duty from a base in the York River . Except for one interruption for training , this duty continued until 31 December 1917 , when she entered the Philadelphia yard to fit out again for distant service . Departing the yard on 15 January 1918 , " Stewart " sailed the next day for Europe in company with , , , and . Stopping in the Azores from 29 January - 4 February , " Stewart " and " Worden " arrived at Brest , France , on the 9th and began convoy escort duty off that port on the 17th . On 17 April , as " Stewart " entered Quiberon Bay , an American steamer , " Florence H " , with a cargo of powder and steel , exploded in the anchorage . " Stewart " saved nine survivors , and her crew was cited by the Secretary of the Navy for gallantry during the rescue . On 23 April , " Stewart " sighted two seaplane s dropping bombs , apparently on a submarine ; and she raced to the spot . One aircraft flew over the destroyer , and the observer pointed to the location of the sub . " Stewart " saw first the sub ' s wake , then its periscope , and finally the dark form of her hull underwater . She was forced to turn away at the last moment due to the effort of a French escort to ram the sub , but dropped two depth charges which brought up large amounts of oil . The action was evaluated at the time as a kill ; but the submarine , " U - 108 " , survived to be damaged by several days later and finally to surrender at Harwich at the end of the war . During a dense fog three days later , " Stewart " was damaged when she collided with an unidentified merchantman , and she remained under repair until 28 May . On 4 August , the destroyer made another attack on an apparent submarine wake , but obtained no evidence of success . Inter - war period . After the armistice ending World War I was signed on 11 November , " Stewart " ceased convoy duty ; and she entered drydock at Brest on 26 November for repairs . On 9 December , she departed Brest with four other destroyers ; and , after passing the convoy carrying President Woodrow Wilson to Europe two days later and subsequently making stops at the Azores and Bermuda , the destroyers arrived at Philadelphia on 3 January 1919 . Decommissioned on 9 July , " Stewart " was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 September , and sold on 3 January 1920 to Joseph G . Hitner Company , Philadelphia , for scrap .