USS Welborn C . Wood ( DD - 195 ) USS " Welborn C . Wood " ( DD - 195 ) was a " Clemson " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II . She served with the United States Coast Guard as USCGD " Wood . She was later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS " Chesterfield . As USS " Welborn C . Wood " . Named for Welborn C . Wood , she was laid down on 24 September 1918 at Newport News , Virginia , by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company ; launched on 6 March 1920 ; sponsored by Miss Virginia Mary Tate ; designated DD - 195 during the assignment of alphanumeric hull number designations on 17 July 1920 ; and commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 14 January 1921 , Lieutenant ( Junior Grade ) Leon W . Mills in temporary command pending the arrival of Lt . ( jg . ) Brady J . Dayton 11 days later . " Welborn C . Wood " operated off the eastern seaboard with the Atlantic Fleet , on a routine schedule of exercises and maneuvers until decommissioned at Philadelphia on 8 August 1922 . As USCGD " Wood " . During the 1920s Prohibition gave rise to smuggling of illicit liquor into the United States . In an attempt to deal with this problem , 25 older destroyers were transferred by the Navy to the Treasury Department for service with the Coast Guard to try to enforce a complete Prohibition . Some began to show signs of wear and tear after the often arduous pace of operations on the Rum Patrol and required replacement . Accordingly , five of the newer " flush deck " destroyers were transferred to the Treasury Department in 1930 and 1931 . " Welborn C . Wood " was transferred to the Coast Guard on 1 October 1930 and was simultaneously struck from the Navy list . Reconditioned and commissioned , on 15 April 1931 , at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , the destroyer was renumbered CG - 19 . She arrived at her permanent station , New London , Connecticut , a week later to operate on the Rum Patrol . Shifting south to Florida waters for target practice soon thereafter , she returned to New London upon the conclusion of her exercises and operated out of that port into the autumn of 1932 . After another period of routine patrols off the eastern seaboard , she operated with the Navy in Cuban waters , off Nueva Gerona , in September and October 1933 , interrupting her scheduled target practices . Released from this duty on 6 November , she sailed north for New York that day , followed by a brief period in New London . The repeal of Prohibition in late 1933 obviated the need for the destroyer ' s law enforcement duty , and " Welborn C . Wood " was decommissioned once more at Philadelphia on 21 May 1934 . Back in the Navy . While the warship lay in reserve , she was reinstated on the Navy list with many of her sisters in Philadelphia ' s reserve basin as the world situation slowly worsened . On 1 September 1939 , German forces invaded Poland , triggering treaty obligations for France and the UK and hence a casus belli for the Second World War . President Franklin D . Roosevelt swiftly ordered a Neutrality Patrol to sea , ostensibly to safeguard American coastlines . The Atlantic Squadron found itself hard pressed to meet the initial demands of the patrol and required additional ships . Accordingly , 77 light minelayers and destroyers on both coasts ( San Diego and Philadelphia ) were recommissioned for duty on the Neutrality Patrol to augment the units already at sea . On 4 September 1939 , " Welborn C . Wood " was recommissioned at Philadelphia , Lieutenant Commander Robert E . Cronin in command . She was fitted out for sea and soon sailed to join the Neutrality Patrol . The destroyer conducted these operations interspersed with accelerated training evolutions off the eastern seaboard and into the Caribbean and gulf regions . British destroyer forces had suffered heavily since the outbreak of war and urgently needed reinforcement . Accordingly , British Prime Minister Winston Churchill approached President Roosevelt and the Destroyers for Bases Agreement was established . As of 2005 , no other U . S . Navy ship has been named USS " Welborn C . Wood " . As HMS " Chesterfield " . " Welborn C . Wood " became one of the first of the 50 over - age destroyers to be transferred to the British government in return for 99 - year leases on base sites in the Western Hemisphere as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement . She and the rest of her division , Destroyer Division 67 , arrived at Halifax , Nova Scotia , on 6 September 1940 . The outgoing US crew familiarised the incoming British crew over the few days prior to the turnover ceremony . On 9 September 1940 " Welborn C . Wood " unfurled the Union Flag ; she was subsequently struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941 . The destroyer was renamed HMS " Chesterfield " ( I28 ) . During fitting out , she twice rammed HMS " Churchill " ( formerly " Haraden " DD - 138 ) which was lying alongside , before she sailed for the British Isles . As part of the first " Town " flotilla , " Chesterfield " sailed for Belfast , Northern Ireland , and arrived at her destination on 18 November . Shifting to Plymouth on 22 November , the destroyer underwent a refit at Chatham before joining the 11th Escort Group , Western Approaches Command , based at Greenock . " Chesterfield " was modified for trade convoy escort service by removal of three of the original 4 " / 50 caliber gun s and three of the triple torpedo tube mounts to reduce topside weight for additional depth charge stowage and installation of hedgehog . From 1941 to 1943 , " Chesterfield " escorted convoys in the North Atlantic . " Chesterfield " was assigned to Escort Group B - 7 of the Mid - Ocean Escort Force during the winter of 1942 - 43 . Screening Convoy HX - 222 with Escort Group C - 1 on 17 January 1943 , the destroyer attacked U - 268 with a depth charge barrage , only to suffer damage from her own charges . Limping to Plymouth for repairs soon thereafter , the ship remained there until November 1943 . Allocated to the 5th Western Approaches Command for duty as a target vessel for aircraft , she remained engaged in this significant , but unglamorous , duty through 1944 . Subsequently placed in reserve at Grangemouth , Firth of Forth , on 17 January 1945 " Chesterfield " was eventually broken up for scrap in 1947 .