USS Kalk ( DD - 170 ) The first USS " Kalk " ( DD – 170 ) was a " Wickes " class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I , later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS " Hamilton " ( I - 24 ) and then into the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS " Hamilton " ( I - 24 ) . As USS " Kalk " . Named for Stanton Frederick Kalk , " Kalk " , laid down as " Rodgers " 4 March 1917 , was launched 21 December 1918 , by the Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation , Quincy , Massachusetts ; sponsored by Mrs . Flora Stanton Kalk , mother of Lieutenant Kalk ; renamed " Kalk " 23 December 1918 ; and commissioned at Boston 29 March 1919 , Lieutenant Commander N . R . Van der Veer in command . After shakedown off Newport , " Kalk " departed Boston 3 May for Newfoundland . Arriving Trespassey 5 May , she sailed 3 days later for the mid - Atlantic to provide rescue cover during the pioneer flight of Navy seaplane NC - 4 from Newfoundland to the Azores 16 to 17 May . After returning to Boston 20 May , she sailed for Europe 10 July , arriving Brest , France , 21 July . Proceeding via England to Hamburg , Germany , she arrived 27 July to begin a 3 - week cruise through the Baltic Sea , visiting Baltic and Scandinavian countries on American Relief Administration operations . She returned to Brest 23 August to serve as a dispatch and escort ship until departing for the United States 25 January 1920 . Arriving Boston 12 February , she trained reserves of the 1st Naval District and operated with DesRon 3 along the Atlantic Coast from Cape Cod to Charleston . As a result of the Five Power Naval Treaty , which was signed at the Washington Conference 6 February 1922 , " Kalk " departed Boston 10 May for Philadelphia , where she decommissioned 10 July and was placed in reserve . When war in Europe threatened the security of the entire world , " Kalk " recommissioned 17 June 1940 , Lt . T . P . Elliott in command ; departing Philadelphia 26 July , she arrived Charleston the 31st for duty with the Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic . " Kalk " was one of 50 overage 4 - pipers turned over to Britain in exchange for strategic bases in the Atlantic under terms of the " Destroyers for Bases Agreement " of 2 September . She cleared Charleston 7 September and steamed via Hampton Roads and Newport to Halifax , Nova Scotia , arriving 18 September . " Kalk " decommissioned 23 September and was turned over to the British the same day . As HMS " Hamilton " . Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS " Hamilton " , which was a placename common to both the UK and US , she collided with HMS " Georgetown " ( formerly " Maddox " , DD - 168 ) at St . John ' s , Newfoundland , 1 October while en route to England . Proceeding to Saint John , New Brunswick , for repairs , she went aground and suffered extensive damage . Because of a British manpower shortage , she was manned by Canadians during and after repair operations . " Hamilton " was modified for trade convoy escort service by removal of three of the original 4 " / 50 caliber gun s and one of the triple torpedo tube mounts to reduce topside weight for additional depth charge stowage and installation of hedgehog anti - submarine weapon . As HMCS " Hamilton " . Late in June 1941 she commissioned in the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS " Hamilton " fitting within the Canadian practice of naming destroyers after Canadian rivers — the Hamilton River of Labrador . Throughout her active service , she remained in North American waters , protecting convoys from St . John ' s to New York . On 2 August 1942 , she sighted and attacked a German U - boat and , by forcing it to submerge , prevented an attack on the convoy . Declared unfit for operations 11 August 1943 , she became a tender to HMCS " Cornwallis " at Annapolis , Nova Scotia . Declared surplus 1 April 1945 , she decommissioned 8 June at Sydney , Nova Scotia . HMCS " Hamilton " departed Sydney 6 July under tow for Baltimore , Maryland , where she was sold for scrapping by the Boston Iron & Metal Company , but was lost while being towed to Boston .