USS Woolsey ( DD - 77 ) The first USS " Woolsey " ( DD - 77 ) was a " Wickes " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during the World War I . She was named for Melancthon Taylor Woolsey . History . " Woolsey " was laid down on 1 November 1917 at Bath , Maine , by the Bath Iron Works ; launched on 17 September 1918 ; sponsored by Mrs . Elise Campau Wells ; and commissioned on 30 September 1918 , Lieutenant Commander Frederick V . McNair , Jr . in command . After trials out of Bath and outfitting at the Boston Navy Yard and the Newport Torpedo Station , " Woolsey " headed for New York on 9 October to join battleship before sailing for Europe . On 13 October , she and " Virginia " departed New York harbor in the screen of Convoy HX - 52 . After a relatively uneventful voyage , the convoy was turned over to a British escort force on the 22nd . " Woolsey " then set course for Buncrana , located in the far northern portion of Ireland , and arrived there on 23 October . Two days later , she departed Buncrana and stood down the Irish Sea en route to Ponta Delgada in the Azores . After fueling at Ponta Delgada on the 30th , the destroyer continued her voyage home and reentered New York on 5 November . After about a month at New York , during which time hostilities ended under the armistice of 11 November , " Woolsey " left New York on her way back to Europe to join the American naval contingent assigned there for postwar duty . She arrived in Brest , France , on 20 December and reported for duty to the Commander , Naval Forces Europe . For the next seven months , she performed various missions for America ' s naval establishment in Europe . Her primary mission consisted of runs between Brest and ports in southern England — notably Plymouth and Southampton — transporting passengers and mail . On 11 March 1919 , she was one of the four American destroyers to escort into Brest when that ship arrived with President Woodrow Wilson embarked . After a four - month return to cross - channel runs between England and France , " Woolsey " was honored a second time when she was assigned duty as one of " George Washington " s escorts for President Wilson ' s return voyage to the U . S . from the Versailles peace conference . She departed Brest late in June 1919 in company with " George Washington " and arrived in Hampton Roads on 8 July . Ten days later , " Woolsey " put to sea again bound for a new assignment — the Pacific Fleet . She reached Panama on the 24th , transited the canal , and headed for maneuvers in the Hawaiian Islands . At the completion of those maneuvers , she returned to the continental United States at San Diego . On 31 May 1920 , the destroyer was placed out of commission at the Mare Island Navy Yard — probably for an extensive overhaul because she was recommissioned again on 20 October . For the remainder of her relatively brief career , " Woolsey " operated with the Pacific Fleet along the western coast of North America . While operating off the Pacific coast of Panama near Coiba Island early on the morning of 26 February 1921 , " Woolsey " was cut in half during a collision with the merchant vessel , SS " Steel Inventor " , and sank . Survivors were rescued by her sister ship , .