USS Parker ( DD - 48 ) USS " Parker " ( Destroyer No . 48 / DD - 48 ) was an built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I . The ship was the first U . S . Navy vessel named in honor of Foxhall A . Parker , a U . S . Navy officer who served in the American Civil War , and as Superintendent of United States Naval Academy . " Parker " was laid down by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia in March 1912 and launched in February 1913 . 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 . " Parker " was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to . After her January 1914 commissioning , she assisted her sister ship when that ship suffered an explosion in one of her fire rooms in April . After the U . S . entered World War I in April 1917 , " Parker " served as an escort for the fourth group of the first American troop convoy of the war . Afterwards , she patrolled the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland . " Parker " rescued nine survivors of a torpedoed British hospital ship in February 1918 , and her crew received accolades from the British Parliament , the Admiralty , and U . S . Navy officials . Upon returning to the U . S . after the war in July 1919 , " Parker " rejoined the Atlantic Fleet . " Parker " was decommission ed in June 1922 . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in March 1935 , and ordered scrapped in April . Design and construction . " Parker " was authorized in March 1911 as the third of four ships of the , which was almost identical to the s authorized at the same time . Construction of the vessel — like her three sister ships — was awarded to William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia which laid down her keel on 11 March 1912 . On 8 February 1913 , " Parker " was launched by sponsor Mrs . Henry W . Hand , wife of the vice president of the Cramp shipyard . The ship was the first U . S . Navy vessel to be named for Foxhall A . Parker , a U . S . Navy officer who served in the American Civil War , and as Superintendent of United States Naval Academy ; he was also a co - founder of the United States Naval Institute . As built , the destroyer was in length , abeam , and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded . " Parker " had two steam turbines that drove her two screw propellers , and an additional pair triple - expansion steam engines , each connected to one of the propeller shafts , for cruising purposes . Four oil - burning boilers powered the engines , which could generate , moving the ship at the design speed of ; After sister ship failed to meet the design speed in her July 1913 builder ' s trials , " Parker " was outfitted with redesigned propellers , and exceeded the contracted speed in her trials in November , when she topped out at during runs off the Delaware Breakwater . " Parker " s main battery consisted of four / 50 cal 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 . " Parker " was also equipped with eight torpedo tube s . Pre - World War I . " Parker " was commissioned into the United States Navy on 30 December 1913 under the command of Lieutenant Commander C . P . Nelson . " Parker " was attached to the Torpedo Flotilla , Atlantic Fleet , operating off the Atlantic coast during the years of American neutrality in World War I . On 6 April 1914 , " Parker " and sister ships and were exercising off the North Carolina coast , about off the Diamond Shoals lightship . An explosion ripped through the forward fire room on " Aylwin " , injuring three men . " Benham " loaded the three wounded sailors and sped to the naval hospital at Norfolk , Virginia , while " Parker " took on the remainder of " Aylwin " s crew . One of the injured men died on " Benham " before landfall was made in Virginia ; another died a short time later . " Aylwin " remained afloat but , unmanned , was towed into Norfolk by " Parker " and U . S . Navy tug . The crews of all three destroyers raised $ 250 to help defray funeral expenses for the widow of one of the men . In early April 1915 , " Parker " and destroyer were temporarily assigned to patrol near the New York Quarantine Station . There were concerns by Dudley Field Malone , the local port collector , that some of the interned German steamships at New York might try to slip out during a heavy snowstorm . As a part of these patrols , Malone discovered what " The New York Times " termed a " widespread conspiracy " intended to supply British warships outside of U . S . territorial waters , in violation of the American neutrality in World War I . After participating in winter maneuvers in Cuban waters in early 1917 , " Parker " joined the fleet at Yorktown , Virginia , in March , immediately prior to the American entry into World War I . World War I . After the U . S . entered World War I on 6 April 1917 , " Parker " was selected for overseas duty . She sailed on 17 June as an escort for the fourth group of the first American convoy , which carried units of the American Expeditionary Force . The convoy consisted of United States Army transports , , , and ; U . S . Navy transport ; and oiler . The escorts — in addition to " Parker " — were the cruiser s , and destroyers , , and . The group departed from New York for Brest , France , steaming at an pace . A thwarted submarine attack on the first convoy group , and reports of heavy submarine activity off of Brest , resulted in a change in the convoy ' s destination to Saint - Nazaire where the convoy arrived 2 July . From St . Nazaire , " Parker " steamed to Queenstown , Ireland , joining the U . S . Naval Forces patrolling the Irish Coast . There she escorted convoys safely through the war zone , and assisted vessels in distress . From July – November 1918 , " Parker " was attached to the base at Plymouth , England , and operated with U . S . submarine chaser s . " Parker " made contact with German submarines on several occasions during the war . She was credited with probably seriously damaging an enemy submarine on 3 August 1917 . On 26 February 1918 , " Parker " assisted in rescuing nine survivors of British hospital ship , which had been torpedoed by German submarine . The men of " Parker " were commended by the British Parliament , the Admiralty , and the U . S . naval authorities . On 1 November , " Parker " sailed from Plymouth for Gibraltar but returned to Plymouth at the end of the war . Postwar . After returning to Plymouth after the Armistice was signed , " Parker " carried mail and passengers between Plymouth and Brest . She made a cruise to German ports in early 1919 to implement the terms of the armistice , before steaming to the Baltic Sea to assist members and vessels of the American Relief Administration . Parker sailed for New York on 20 July 1919 and , upon arrival , was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 1 , Atlantic Fleet . The destroyer was based out of Norfolk , Virginia from 1919 - mid - 1921 . In July 1920 , " Parker " was operating in the Mediterranean when she played a role in the search for an American missionary couple , Paul Nilson and Harriet Fisher Nilson , thought abducted by Turkish Nationalists . " Parker " was sent to Mersina to demand the release of the pair , and dispatched messages by airplane to Tarsus and Adana to that effect . After making a final cruise to Newport , Rhode Island , in mid 1921 , " Parker " was decommission ed on 6 June 1922 . After 13 years in reserve , the ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 March 1935 , and , on 23 April , was ordered scrapped .