USS Des Moines ( CL - 17 ) USS " Des Moines " ( C - 15 / PG - 29 / CL - 17 ) was a " Denver " - class protected cruiser in the United States Navy during World War I . She was the first Navy ship named for the city of Des Moines , Iowa . " Des Moines " was launched on 20 September 1902 at the Fore River Ship and Engine Company , Quincy , Massachusetts , sponsored by Miss E . Macomber ; and commissioned on 5 March 1904 , with Commander Alexander McCrackin in command . She was designated PG - 29 on 7 July 1920 , and redesignated CL - 17 on 8 August 1921 . Service history . In June and July 1904 " Des Moines " cruised in the West Indies , and on 29 August cleared Boston for duty with the European Squadron , visiting ports in France , England , Ireland , Norway , the Netherlands , Belgium , Spain and Italy before her arrival at Barbados on 11 December to join the North Atlantic Fleet . With this force she cruised in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in target practice and other exercises , making surveys , and protecting American interests . " Des Moines " returned to Boston on 16 February 1906 , and for the next 5 years cruised widely in the Atlantic , the Caribbean , and the Gulf of Mexico . She joined in exercises , gave passage to officials and Marines , and took part in ceremonial observances , chief among which were the interment of John Paul Jones at Annapolis in April 1906 , and the Naval Review for President Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay in September 1906 . In 1908 , Templin Potts took command of the ship . Between 15 April 1910 and 23 January 1911 , " Des Moines " cruised the coast of Africa , gathering information about commercial and political conditions , and called at the Canaries , Lisbon , Cadiz , and Gibraltar . Between March and November 1911 she returned to her Atlantic and West Indian duty , and on 6 December 1911 was placed in reserve for repair s at Boston . Returned to full commission on 3 September 1912 , she sailed to the Caribbean to observe and report conditions in the island countries and Central America , and to protect American citizens from political turmoil . She sailed north periodically for overhaul at Portsmouth Navy Yard , and on 24 April 1915 sailed from Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , for Alexandria , Egypt . Between 26 May 1915 and 25 April 1917 , " Des Moines " protected American citizens and interests threatened in the Middle Eastern theater of war , carrying missionaries and other refugees out of Turkey and Syria , delivering relief funds , carrying United States officials , and serving on exercises which took her to ports in Italy , France , Spain , and Algeria . After overhaul at the New York Navy Yard , she joined the Cruiser Force of the Atlantic Fleet for duty escorting merchant convoys from New York and Norfolk , Virginia , to their rendezvous in the Atlantic with destroyer s which took up the escort job . In addition to eight such voyages , " Des Moines " voyaged to Sydney , Nova Scotia , on escort duty , and trained armed guard crews . While undergoing repairs at New York in January 1919 , " Des Moines " was sent to sea to aid in rescue operations at the scene of the grounded " Northern Pacific " . All of the fast transport ' s 2 , 200 passenger s were rescued , 50 of them by " Des Moines " . She sailed from New York on 11 April 1919 for Archangel , Russia , and duty with the Naval Forces in Northern Russia . Here " Des Moines " protected American interests from the disturbances of the Bolshevik Revolution , and carried home American troops who had served around Archangel , returning to Portsmouth , New Hampshire , on 27 October . " Des Moines " cruised off Mexico between May and September 1920 , reporting on political conditions , and joining in relief efforts during an epidemic of the plague . She joined the Special Service Squadron based at the Panama Canal Zone to cruise Central American waters , and the west coast of South America promoting friendly relations between the United States and its sister American republics until 5 March 1921 , when she returned to the Portsmouth Navy Yard . There she was decommissioned 9 April 1921 , and sold for scrapping on 11 March 1930 .