USS Ramsay ( DD - 124 ) USS " Ramsay " ( DD – 124 ) was a " Wickes " class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I , reclassified as DM - 16 during World War II and again reclassified as AG - 98 . She was the first ship named for Rear Admiral Francis Ramsay . " Ramsay " was laid down 21 December 1917 by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company , Newport News , Virginia ; launched 8 June 1918 ; sponsored by Miss Mary Virginia Ramsay , granddaughter of Rear Admiral Ramsay ; and commissioned 15 February 1919 , Commander H . H . Norton in command . Service history . Assigned to Division 12 , Destroyer Force , Atlantic Fleet , " Ramsay " completed shakedown off Cuba in March , participated in fleet maneuvers in early April , and then sailed for New York . She got underway in May for the Azores to act as a guide and weather observer for the NC transatlantic flights . Steaming between the Azores and Portugal from 16 May to 25 May , she returned to the United States 6 June . For the next month she conducted tactical exercises along the East Coast and , on 6 July , put into Norfolk to prepare for transfer to the Pacific . " Ramsay " arrived at San Diego 7 August and , after overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard , commenced 2 years of operations with Destroyer Force , Pacific . On 17 July 1920 she was designated DD - 124 . In the spring of 1922 , she prepared for inactivation and , on 30 June 1922 , she was decommissioned and berthed at San Diego as a unit of the Reserve Fleet . Recommissioned 8 years later , 2 June 1930 , she was reclassified as a light minelayer , redesignated DM - 16 on 13 June , and homeported at Pearl Harbor . Converted at the Navy Yard there , she operated with Minecraft , Battle Force , primarily in the Hawaiian area until 1937 when she returned to San Diego for her second inactivation and was decommissioned 14 December 1937 . Recommissioned 25 September 1939 , she joined MinDiv 5 , Minecraft , Battle Force , and for the next year conducted patrols engaged in gunnery drills and landing exercises , and trained naval reservists along the Pacific coast . World War II . On 10 December 1940 , " Ramsay " returned to Pearl Harbor and , throughout the next year , operated with Mine Divisions 5 and 2 . Moored at Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941 , she fired her guns in combat for the first time at carrier - based planes delivering Japan ' s declaration of war on the United States . Underway from the harbor before 0900 , for offshore patrol , " Ramsay " made sound contact with a submarine at 1120 . She released 10 depth charges , and then watched an oil slick spread over the attack area . She had damaged , and possibly had sunk one of the midget submarine s used by the Japanese in the attack . Eight days later , while escorting a merchant ship off Kauai , she made her second contact . During two runs over the enemy , she dropped her depth charges and again was rewarded by the appearance of an oil slick on the surface indicating damage to her quarry . Into February 1942 , " Ramsay " continued patrol escort services in the Hawaiian area . On the 22nd , she got underway with TF 19 for Samoa . Arriving Pago Pago 4 March , she planted defensive minefields off Tutuila and Apia , then shifted to Suva for mining activities among the Fiji Islands . On 3 May she steamed out of Suva for the New Hebrides and by 11 June had completed , with , the Efate defensive minefields . The next day , she cleared Vila harbor , and returned to Pearl Harbor on 3 July . For the next 2 months , she again performed escort and patrol assignments in the Hawaiian Islands . Then , on 14 September , she sailed for the Aleutians . Still with " Montgomery " , she arrived at Adak 22 September and 3 days later resumed mineplanting activities . In November she returned to California ; underwent overhaul at Hunters Point ; and on 13 January 1943 arrived back in the Aleutians for 9 months of escort and patrol duty from Unalaska in the east to Attu in the west . On 17 September , " Ramsay " sailed south . Steaming via Pearl Harbor , she put into San Francisco 4 October for another overhaul . Out of the shipyard by 20 December , she sailed west on the 24th . She joined ServRon 6 at Pearl Harbor on 2 January 1944 , and on the 21st headed for the Gilberts . After a brief stop at Tarawa , she rendezvoused with TG 50 . 15 on the 30th and screened during the bombardment of Wotje that afternoon . The next day , she guarded during shelling , and , on 2 February , she arrived at Majuro , where she conducted antisubmarine patrols until 14 March . An escort run to the Gilberts followed , and on the 19th she got underway to return to Pearl Harbor . Arriving on the 27th , she was assigned convoy escort duty . Between then and mid - September , she shepherded ships to Majuro , San Francisco and Eniwetok . In October , she served with the Submarine Training Force and , in November , returned to the Marshalls for escort and training duty off Majuro . With the new year , 1945 , " Ramsay " headed east and during February again worked with the Submarine Training Force . At the end of the month , she sailed for San Pedro , where , after overhaul , she was designated a miscellaneous auxiliary and was reclassified AG - 98 , effective 5 June . On the 15th , she once more got underway for Pearl Harbor , and for the next 3 months , she served as plane guard for carriers training in Hawaiian waters . On 24 September , she arrived back at San Pedro to await her third , and final , inactivation . She was decommissioned 19 October 1945 , struck from the Navy list 13 November 1945 ; and sold for scrapping 21 November 1946 . Awards . " Ramsay " earned three battle star s during World War II .