USS Wood ( DD - 317 ) USS " Wood " ( DD - 317 ) was a " Clemson " - class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I . She was the first Navy ship named for Navy Surgeon - General William M . Wood ( 1809 – 1880 ) . History . " Wood " was laid down on 23 January 1919 at San Francisco , California , by the Union Iron Works plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation ; launched on 28 May 1919 ; sponsored by Mrs . George Kirkland Smith , the granddaughter of William Maxwell Wood ; reclassified DD - 317 on 17 July 1920 ; and commissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard , Vallejo , California , on 28 January 1921 , Lieutenant Commander Paul M . Bates in command . Following commissioning , " Wood " underwent her trials before mooring at the Santa Fe docks , San Diego , California , where she remained as part of the " rotating reserve " into the summer of 1921 . The new destroyer then spent the ensuing months , into the late spring of 1922 , operating off the coast of southern California on drills and exercises , off the port of San Pedro , and the Coronado Islands . At the end of that period of activity in June 1922 , " Wood " shifted northward and reached Seattle , Washington , on 1 July 1922 . She spent 4 July there before visiting Port Angeles , Washington , with the fleet , for exercises and maneuvers . She then conducted tactical drills and exercises in the Pacific Northwest , touching at Tacoma , Port Angeles , Bellingham , and Seattle before departing Port Angeles on 2 September , bound for Mare Island . After taking on board ammunition at Mare Island on 5 September and 6 September , " Wood " put to sea , bound for San Diego , California , for a machinery overhaul . Upon completion of those repairs , the destroyer rejoined the fleet for rehearsals for short range battle practices . She then operated on various trials into November . Over the next nine and a half years , " Wood " operated with the Battle Fleet in an active role , while many of her sisters lay in " Red Lead Row " awaiting the call to active service . Breaking her local operations off the west coast , " Wood " participated in Fleet Problem s I through IX — the large scale fleet exercises that were held once a year ( except in 1924 , when three were held ) involving most of the Fleet ' s active units . During the course of those maneuvers , she ranged from the Caribbean to the Panama Canal and from Hawaii to the coast of Central America . She also ventured as far north as the coast of Alaska . A highlight of " Wood " ' s service in the autumn of 1925 was the cruise with the fleet to Australia as part of Destroyer Division 34 . The destroyer subsequently took part in the search for the downed PN - 9 flying boat . In March 1927 , during one of the phases of Fleet Problem VII , " Wood " participated in the search for survivors from the lost German steamship " Albatros " and later that same year , from 27 June to 16 July , " Wood " supported American peace - keeping forces ashore on Nicaragua . Decommissioned at San Diego on 31 March 1930 , " Wood " was struck from the Navy list on 22 July . Her hulk was then sold for scrap on 14 November 1930 . As of 2005 , no other ship in the United States Navy has been named " Wood " . " Exchequer " was laid down in 1942 ; renamed " Wood " in October 1942 , but renamed prior to commissioning .