USS Wadsworth ( DD - 60 ) USS " Wadsworth " ( Destroyer No . 60 / DD - 60 ) was a 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 for Alexander Scammel Wadsworth . " Wadsworth " was laid down by the Bath Iron Works of Bath , Maine , in February 1914 and launched in April 1915 . The ship was a little more than in length , nearly abeam , and displaced . She was armed with four guns and had eight torpedo tube s . " Wadsworth " s geared steam turbine power plant was a successful prototype that greatly influenced U . S . destroyer designs after 1915 . After her July 1915 commissioning , " Wadsworth " served on the neutrality patrol off the east coast and in the Caribbean . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Wadsworth " was the flagship of the first U . S . destroyer squadron sent overseas . Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland , " Wadsworth " reported several encounters with U - boats in the first months overseas . She was transferred to Brest , France , in March 1918 , and spent the remainder of the war there . Upon returning to the United State at the end of 1918 , " Wadsworth " underwent a five - month overhaul . She served as a plane guard for the Navy ' s transatlantic flight attempt by four Navy - Curtiss flying boats in May . After two years in reduced commission in August , " Wadsworth " was reactivated in May 1921 . She was decommission ed in June 1922 , and spent nearly 14 years in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1936 , sold in June , and scrapped in August . Design and construction . " Wadsworth " was authorized in 1913 as a part of the which , like the related , was an improved version of the s authorized in 1911 . Construction of the vessel was awarded to Bath Iron Works of Bath , Maine , which laid down her keel on 23 February 1914 . Fourteen months later , on 29 April 1915 , " Wadsworth " was launched by sponsor Juanita Doane Wells . The ship was named after Commodore Alexander Scammel Wadsworth ( 1790 – 1851 ) , a U . S . Navy officer during the War of 1812 and later the Navy ' s Inspector of Ordnance . As built , " Wadsworth " was in length and abeam and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded . Unlike the rest of the " Tucker " class ships — which had differing arrangements of steam turbines and reciprocating engines for cruising — " Wadsworth " was designed with what became the main United States prototype installation of her two Curtis geared steam turbine s . According to " Conway ' s All the World ' s Fighting Ships , 1906 – 1921 " , the mechanical design for " Wadsworth " had a " considerable effect " on post - 1915 U . S . destroyer designs . As installed , the steam turbines could generate and move the ship at speeds up to , though " Wadsworth " reached a top speed of during her trials . " Wadsworth " 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 . " Wadsworth " 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 " Tucker " - 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 " Wadsworth " or any of the " Tucker " ships . Early career . USS " Wadsworth " was commissioned into the United States Navy at the Boston Navy Yard on 23 July 1915 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Joseph K . Taussig . After trials and torpedo firing drills out of Newport , Rhode Island , the destroyer took up duty off the New England coast line in October . Her duty included patrols to insure America ' s neutrality vis - a - vis the year - old European war . On 7 January 1916 , she departed Provincetown , Massachusetts , to join in the annual Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean . After a stop at Norfolk , Virginia , she reached the West Indies at Culebra Island on 15 January and began a three - month round of war games , drills , and exercises . During her stay in the Caribbean , she visited Guantanamo Bay , Guacanayabo Bay , Manzanillo , and Santiago — all in Cuba . On 10 April , she left Guantanamo Bay to steam north , stopped at New York for a five - week stay , and returned to Newport on 21 May . " Wadsworth " resumed operations along the New England coast , and the succeeding year passed in much the same way as had its predecessor — summer operations along the northeastern coast followed by Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean . At the completion of her second round of winter Fleet maneuvers in the spring of 1917 , " Wadsworth " returned north as far as Hampton Roads . As America ' s entry into World War I approached , she and her sister destroyers began patrolling the Norfolk – Yorktown area to protect the naval bases and ships there against potential incursions by German submarines . World War I . On 6 April 1917 , while " Wadsworth " was at anchor with the rest of the Fleet at Yorktown , the United States entered World War I . " Wadsworth " moved to New York almost immediately to prepare for the voyage to Europe and war service . On 24 April , she departed New York for Europe , as the flagship of Commander Joseph K . Taussig , commanding Division 8 , Destroyer Force , the first six - ship destroyer division dispatched to United Kingdom . She led , , , , and into Queenstown , Ireland , on 4 May and began patrolling the southern approaches to the Irish Sea the next day . " Wadsworth " s first summer overseas proved to be the most eventful period of her wartime service . She sighted her first U - boat on 18 May , less than two weeks after she began patrols out of Queenstown . Though the destroyer sped to the attack , the submarine dove and escaped . Three days later , " Wadsworth " picked up some survivors from which had been torpedoed and sunk the preceding day . On 7 June , the destroyer caught a glimpse of another enemy submarine just before it submerged and escaped . Between 24 and 27 June , " Wadsworth " served as part of the escort for the first American troop convoy to reach Europe . Though she scored no definitely provable successes against German submarines , the destroyer made depth charge attacks on four separate occasions in July and a gunfire attack in one other instance . The first two depth - charge attacks , on 10 and 11 July , returned no results whatsoever , and the gun attack on 20 July was similarly unrewarding . However , after sighting a double periscope the following day , " Wadsworth " made another depth - charge attack . During that attack , one of the explosions seemed much stronger than those from the other charges she dropped . Moreover , a patch of reddish - brown material rose to the surface . Although it seemed certain that the destroyer had damaged a submarine , no conclusive evidence was found to prove this possibility . " Wadsworth " made her fourth depth charge attack on a U - boat on 29 July . At about 17 : 25 , she dropped several charges in what appeared to be the wake of a submarine proceeding submerged . The conjecture that a U - boat was damaged was supported by the appearance of a large amount of heavy oil on the surface following the attack . Just before 23 : 00 , the warship attacked another supposed submarine wake . It was too dark to evaluate the results ; but , not long thereafter , struck a submerged metallic object which caused her to list 10° temporarily . Later , " Wadsworth " s wireless operator intercepted messages sent by a German submarine over a period of about half an hour which suggested that " Wadsworth " may have damaged a submarine , although as with the depth - charge attack of 21 June , no definite proof was forthcoming . Early in August , the destroyer concluded her summer of peak activity by escorting the first United States merchant convoy on the last leg of its voyage to Europe . During the mission , on the 16th , the destroyer dropped a barrage on what was thought to be a submarine . For the remainder of the war , her encounters with the enemy were infrequent . In fact , her next submarine contact did not occur until 17 December and , like those before , resulted in no definite damage to the enemy . Although the opening months of 1918 brought no new U - boat contacts , " Wadsworth " worked hard escorting convoys and patrolling British waters . Early in March 1918 , she received a change in assignment . On the 4th , she arrived in Brest , France , whence she operated for the remainder of the war . During that assignment , she recorded only two scrapes with German submarines : the first on 1 June and the second on 25 October . In each case , she dropped depth charges , but could produce no solid proof of damage to the enemy . The war ended on 11 November 1918 when Germany accepted Allied armistice terms . Later career . On 31 December 1918 , " Wadsworth " stood out of Brest to return to the United States and reached Boston , Massachusetts , on 9 January 1919 . Following an extended overhaul , she put to sea on 1 May to serve as one of the picket ships stationed at intervals across the ocean for the transatlantic flight of four Curtiss NC flying boats , one of which , " NC - 4 " , successfully completed the feat . The destroyer returned home and operated on the east coast through the summer of 1919 . On 29 August , " Wadsworth " was placed in reduced commission at Philadelphia where she remained almost two years . On 9 May 1921 , the destroyer returned to active service along the east coast . Just over a year later , on 3 June 1922 , " Wadsworth " was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . The ship remained in reserve there until 7 January 1936 when her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register . She was sold for scrapping on 30 June 1936 and was broken up the following August .