USS Sharkey ( DD - 281 ) USS " Sharkey " ( DD - 281 ) was a " Clemson " - class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I . She was named for William J . Sharkey . History . " Sharkey " was laid down on 14 April 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation , Squantum , Massachusetts ; launched on 12 August 1919 ; sponsored by Mrs . Mary E . Sharkey ; and commissioned on 28 November 1919 , Commander E . D . Washburn , Jr . , in command . Immediately after commissioning , " Sharkey " was sent to the rescue of SS " Powhatan " and was one of four ships standing by as the stricken vessel was taken under tow . She then completed shakedown out of Newport , Rhode Island , and departed that port on 28 January 1920 for Guantanamo Bay . Late in April , she steamed to Boston for repairs . When the work was completed , she joined the Reserve Destroyers , Atlantic Fleet , at Charleston , South Carolina , on 5 October . " Sharkey " got underway on 10 May 1921 for summer operations out of Newport and returned to Charleston on 24 October . She departed again on 29 May 1922 for exercises off Norfolk , Virginia , which lasted until she entered the Boston Navy Yard for repairs on 2 December . " Sharkey " sailed on 11 January 1923 for the Caribbean , and participated in Fleet Problem I off Panama and in combined fleet exercises until sailing from the Caribbean on 2 April for the Philadelphia Navy Yard . Departing the yard on 11 August , she participated in maneuvers off Newport and , between 31 August and 4 September , the Fisherman ' s Races at Gloucester , Massachusetts before departing Newport on 1 October 1923 for exercise areas off Norfolk . She spent the period from 18 November 1923 to 3 January 1924 in the Philadelphia Navy Yard . On 4 January 1924 , " Sharkey " sailed from Lynnhaven Roads , Virginia , with the Scouting Fleet for the annual fleet concentration in the Caribbean . The exercises lasted from 11 January to 28 February , after which " Sharkey " underwent overhaul at Boston from 3 March to 14 June . Between 10 July and 28 July , she operated with off Bermuda testing a range finder for destroyers and , after repairs to a bent propeller , completed the trials between 5 September and 24 September with . Following more exercises , she arrived at Philadelphia on 1 November 1924 . On 10 January 1925 , " Sharkey " departed Philadelphia for the Caribbean . On 26 January , she embarked the President and Cabinet of Haiti for a short cruise , and then trained with the fleet in the Caribbean until 28 March . She made reserve training cruises from Philadelphia between 14 April and 6 May ; but , on the latter date , damaged a turbine and entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for repairs . She resumed reserve training cruises between 23 July and 5 September 1925 and cruised to Guantanamo and back between 19 September and 20 November . " Sharkey " returned to Guantanamo on 13 January 1926 , and transited the Panama Canal on 4 February to participate in Fleet Problem VI off the west coast of Central America . She returned to Norfolk on 21 February and remained there undergoing overhaul until 23 April . On 17 June , she departed Newport with her division for Europe . She visited northern European ports between 29 June and 20 November 1926 ; then spent three months in the western Mediterranean and visited the eastern Mediterranean from 20 February to 7 May 1927 . She next made a one - week cruise in the Black Sea , visiting Romania and Bulgaria before returning to Newport on 11 July 1927 . She spent the remainder of the year in making naval reserve cruises and twice undergoing repairs at Norfolk . " Sharkey " arrived at Guantanamo on 11 January 1928 and operated with the fleet in the Caribbean until 31 March . After training reserves off Norfolk and Newport , she underwent overhaul at Norfolk from 29 July to 2 October . She exercised off Charleston for two months and returned to Norfolk for the Christmas holidays . Underway on 4 January 1929 , " Sharkey " transited the Panama Canal on the 20th and participated in Fleet Problem IX and combined fleet exercises off Panama . Again transiting the canal on 7 March , she continued exercises with the fleet in the Caribbean until 27 April . After exercises and reserve training cruises on the east coast , she entered the Norfolk Navy Yard on 22 July for overhaul . Fate . She was ordered decommissioned instead , and was towed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard by on 2 October 1929 and decommissioned there on 1 May 1930 . " Sharkey " was struck from the Navy list on 22 October 1930 and sold for scrapping on 17 January 1931 to Boston Iron and Metal Company , Baltimore , Maryland . As of 2005 , no other ship has been named " Sharkey " .