USS Tillman ( DD - 135 ) The first USS " Tillman " ( DD – 135 ) was a " Wickes " class destroyer in the United States Navy . She was named for Senator Benjamin Tillman . United States Navy . " Tillman " was laid down on 29 July 1918 by the Charleston Navy Yard ; launched on 7 July 1919 ; sponsored by Miss Mary Y . Tillman the granddaughter of Senator Tillman ; re - classified DD - 135 on 17 July 1920 , during the Navy - wide assignment of alphanumeric hull numbers ; and commissioned on 10 April 1921 , Lieutenant Louis R . Vail in command . Following shakedown , " Tillman " operated out of Charleston Navy Yard with Division 20 , Squadron 9 , Destroyer Flotilla 1 , Atlantic Fleet , until the summer of 1921 . Operating with half of her normal complement by the following winter , the destroyer trained and cruised with Division 33 , Squadron 8 , Atlantic Fleet Destroyer Squadrons into the spring of 1922 . Soon thereafter , " Tillman " was decommissioned on 3 July 1922 and laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . After almost eight years of inactivity , " Tillman " was placed back in commission at Philadelphia on 1 May 1930 , Lieutenant Commander Alfred Y . Lanphier in command . Returning to Charleston , the destroyer operated with Division 23 , Squadron 7 , of the Scouting Fleet Destroyer Squadrons . Transferred to Division 48 by 1 January 1931 , " Tillman " conducted training cruises for naval reserve trainees and NROTC midshipmen until late in the spring of 1933 , when she shifted to Boston to train reservists and NROTC midshipmen of the 1st Naval District . As part of the Scouting Fleet Training Squadron , " Tillman " eventually returned to The Charleston Navy Yard and alternated tours of active training duty with periods moored in " rotating reserve . " On 1 January 1934 , she returned to full - time active duty with the Training Squadron and resumed training cruises . The destroyer continued to alternate periods in the rotating reserve with assignments to training duty into the late 1930s . Later assigned to Destroyer Division ( DesDiv ) 29 of Destroyer Squadron ( DesRon ) 10 , she worked out of Charleston and Boston , training reservists and NROTC midshipmen , participating in Fleet landing exercises in the Caribbean ; conducting battle practices and drills ; and showing the flag at ports along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean . She continued this schedule until she was again decommissioned on 15 June 1939 . Two and one - half months later , German forces attacked Poland , triggering World War II in Europe . Early in the spring of 1940 , the tide turned against the Allies , as Germany launched a devastatingly successful blitzkrieg . In addition , German U - boats terrorized transatlantic convoys and took heavy tolls of merchantmen and escorts alike . By summer , Britain was the last country in Europe still at war with Hitler , with only the English Channel between her and the Germans . The Royal Navy ' s destroyer forces had taken a bad beating in the Atlantic , as well as in the Norwegian debacle and the evacuation of Dunkirk . At this point , the newly installed prime minister , Winston Churchill , appealed to President Franklin D . Roosevelt for help . Accordingly , on 23 July 1940 , the two leaders agreed on a " destroyers for bases " exchange , whereby the United States would transfer 50 overaged flush - decked destroyers to the British in return for 99 - year leases on sites for strategic bases in the Western Hemisphere . As one of the 50 ships , " Tillman " recommissioned at Philadelphia on 24 August 1940 . About three months later , she moved up the coast to Halifax ( former city ) , Nova Scotia , the transfer point for the " 50 ships that saved the world . " On 21 November 1940 , she arrived at that port with the remainder of her division , DesDiv 72 , the last group of ships to be turned over to the Royal and Royal Canadian Navies . Royal Navy . Decommissioned on 26 November 1940 , " Tillman ' s " name was struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941 . Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS " Wells " ( I 95 ) on 5 December 1940 , the destroyer suffered damage on the 9th in a collision with sister ship HMS " Newmarket " ( G . 47 ) , the former USS " Robinson " ( DD - 88 ) . She was thus unable to sail for the British Isles until 4 February 1941 . Getting underway on that date in company with HMS " Newark " ( G . 08 ) , the former USS " Ringgold " ( DD - 89 ) , " Wells " encountered a heavy gale in which she lost her topmast . " Newark " soon suffered engine failure and had to be towed back to Halifax . " Wells " eventually arrived in the United Kingdom and was soon assigned to the 17th Destroyer Division , which provided escorts for the 1st Minelaying Squadron . During this time , she carried out a number of mining operations off the western coast of Scotland . Between these operations , " Wells " escorted convoys to and from Iceland . On 10 June 1941 , while operating south of this strategic isle , she attacked a U - boat but without success . Two days later , she encountered another U - boat and went to the attack , but the explosion of her own depth charges damaged her and forced her to give up the search . Following refitting at Hull , England , in the autumn of 1941 , " Wells " returned to convoy escort duty . " Wells " 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 . On 16 January 1942 , she intercepted an SOS from SS " R . J . Cullen " — an American merchantman which had run aground on the southeast side of Barra Island , in the outer Hebrides , west of Scotland . Heavy seas initially made launching a boat a virtual impossibility , but " Wells " stood by until lifeboats and tugs arrived and transported the steamer ' s crew safely ashore . While escorting two transports later that spring , " Wells " and " Brighton " ( 1 . 08 ) ( ex - USS " Cowell " ( DD - 167 ) ) were bombed by German aircraft west of the Faroes , but escaped damage . During November , " Wells " conducted convoy escort operations with Convoy KX - 6 , supporting Operation " Torch , " the invasion of North Africa , and returned to the United Kingdom in December with Convoy MKF - 3 to soon resume escort duties with Iceland - bound convoys . After serving another tour of convoy escort and minelaying escort duties , " Wells " was transferred to Rosyth in August 1943 and operated with the Rosyth Escort Force , screening coastwise convoys between the Firth of Forth and the Thames estuary . Early in 1945 , after refitting at the Clyde in late 1944 , she became a target ship for aircraft training with the Western Approaches Command , a role in which she served until reduced to reserve status at Greenock after World War II , in mid - 1945 . Decommissioned in July 1945 , Wells was subsequently scrapped at Troon , Scotland , on 24 July 1945 .