USS Ericsson ( DD - 56 ) USS " Ericsson " ( Destroyer No . 56 / DD - 56 ) was an 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 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 in length , just over abeam , and had a standard displacement of . She was armed with four guns and had eight torpedo tube s . " Ericsson " was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to . 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 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 State 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 decommission ed 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 . Design and construction . " Ericsson " was authorized in March 1913 as the sixth and final ship of the which was an improved version of the s authorized in 1911 . Construction of the vessel was awarded to New York Shipbuilding of Camden , New Jersey , which laid down her keel on 10 November 1913 . Just over nine months later , on 22 August 1914 , " Ericsson " was launched by sponsor Mrs . J . Washington Logue , wife of the Pennsylvania Congressman . The ship was named in honor of John Ericsson , the builder of the ironclad warship during the American Civil War , and was the second U . S . Navy ship named for the Swedish native . As built , the destroyer was in length , abeam , and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded . " Ericsson " had two Zoelly steam turbines that drove her two screw propellers , and an additional triple - expansion steam engine connected to one of the propeller shafts for cruising purposes . Four oil - burning White - Forster boiler s powered the engines , which could generate , moving the ship at up to . " Ericsson " s main battery 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 . " Ericsson " was also equipped with eight torpedo tube s . The General Board of the United States Navy had called for two anti - aircraft gun s for the " O ' Brien " - class ships , as well as provisions for laying up to 36 floating mine s . From sources , it is unclear if these recommendations were followed for " Ericsson " or any of the other ships of the class . Early career . USS " Ericsson " was commissioned into the United States Navy on 14 August 1915 under the command of Lieutenant Commander W . L . Pryor . From October through December 1915 , " Ericsson " operated out of New York and Newport , Rhode Island , on drills , in training , and on the Neutrality Patrol . With the Torpedo Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet she sailed on 7 January 1916 for maneuvers in the Caribbean , using Key West and Guantanamo Bay as bases . She returned to Newport on 23 May . At 05 : 30 on Sunday , 8 October 1916 , wireless reports came in of a German submarine stopping ships near the Lightship Nantucket , off the eastern end of Long Island . After an SOS from the British steamer " West Point " was received at about 12 : 30 , Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves ordered " Ericsson " and other destroyers at Newport to attend to survivors ; " Ericsson " was the fourth of seventeen destroyers to get underway . The destroyers arrived on the scene at about 17 : 00 when the U - boat , under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Hans Rose , fired shots across the bow of the Holland - America Line cargo ship , signaling her to stop . Shortly after , " U - 53 " stopped the British passenger ship . As Rose had done with three other ships " U - 53 " had sunk earlier in the day , he gave passengers and crew aboard " Blommersdijk " and " Stephano " adequate time to abandon the ships . " Ericsson " was one of six destroyers taking on passengers from " Stephano " that witnessed her sinking . In total , 226 survivors from " U - 53 " s five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla . " Ericsson " transported 81 — including 35 women and children — back to Newport , where she arrived at 01 : 30 on 9 October . After finishing out the rest of 1916 at Newport , " Ericsson " again joined in exercises in the Caribbean for the first three months of 1917 , and then returned to New York City and Newport to prepare for distant service . World War I . After the United States declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917 entering World War I , " Ericsson " was prepared for overseas duty . On 7 May , " Ericsson " sailed from Boston with , , , and for Queenstown , Ireland , where they arrived on 17 May . " Ericsson " began patrol duty in the war zone , and almost at once came upon a surfaced U - boat shelling two sailing ships . She opened fire , forcing the submarine down and preventing further attack , then picked up 37 survivors of the sailing ships . She continued on patrol and escort duty , and on 28 September , at night , sighted a surfaced submarine , at which she fired . " Ericsson " dropped depth charges , but before she could carry out her plan to ram the German U - boat , she lost contact in the darkness . " Ericsson " continued to sail out of Queenstown on patrol and escorting convoys , many times attacking submarines , standing by damaged ships , and rescuing survivors . After June 1918 , she was based at Brest , France ; and during that summer , usually sailed about ahead of convoys , towing aloft a kite balloon used for observation . At the close of the war , " Ericsson " was overhauled at Liverpool , but returned to Brest in time to take part on 13 December in the welcoming honors rendered for President Woodrow Wilson , arriving in France on the transport . On 21 December , " Ericsson " departed for the United States , arriving at New York on 8 January 1919 . Postwar . In May 1919 , " Ericsson " sailed to the Azores to observe and support the historic first aerial crossing of the Atlantic , made by Navy seaplane s . After exercises along the east coast and in the Caribbean , she entered New York Navy Yard for repairs , and there was placed in reserve , still in commission , on 7 August . She was laid up in reduced commission at Philadelphia and Charleston , South Carolina , in the years that followed , and put to sea only during the summer of 1921 , when drills and exercises took her to Newport . She was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 16 June 1922 . United States Coast Guard career . On 17 January 1920 , Prohibition was instituted by law in the United States . Soon , the smuggling of alcoholic beverages along the coastlines of the United States became widespread and blatant . The Treasury Department eventually determined that the United States Coast Guard simply did not have the ships to constitute a successful patrol . To cope with the problem , President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 authorized the transfer from the Navy to the Coast Guard of twenty old destroyers that were in reserve and out of commission . " Ericsson " was activated and acquired by the Coast Guard on 7 June 1924 . Designated " CG - 5 " , " Ericsson " was commissioned on 28 May 1925 , and joined the " Rum Patrol " to aid in the attempt to enforce prohibition laws . On 11 April 1926 , she captured the rum - runner " Atalanta " . During her time in the Coast Guard , " Ericsson " s gunners were awarded the USCG Gunnery Trophy for Destroyers for 1925 – 26 and 1926 – 27 . " Ericsson " was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 30 April 1930 , and returned to the U . S . Navy on 23 May 1932 . She was scrapped and her salvaged material sold on 22 August 1934 in accordance with the London Naval Treaty .