USS Melville ( AD - 2 ) USS " Melville " ( AD - 2 ) was a United States Navy destroyer tender that saw service in both World Wars . Laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden , New Jersey , on 11 November 1913 , she was launched on 2 March 1913 , sponsored by Miss Helen W . Neel , granddaughter of Rear Admiral Melville ; and was first commissioned on 3 December 1915 , Comdr . Henry Bertram Price in command . Service history . World War I . Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet , " Melville " reported to Newport , in January 1916 . On 11 May 1917 , a month after the United States entered World War I , the destroyer tender got underway for Queenstown , Ireland , arriving on the 22nd . She carried out repair and support operations and served as flagship for Vice Admiral William Sims , Commander of U . S . Naval Forces in European waters , from 10 September until 4 January 1919 . " Melville " departed Southampton , England , on 7 January 1919 with troops embarked for the east coast , arriving at New York on the 26th . She then operated at Newport and Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , until 30 April when she departed Tompkinsville , N . Y . , for the Azores . There she prepared flying boat " NC - 4 " for the final leg of her long transatlantic journey from New York to Europe and embarked crippled " NC - 3 " for return to the east coast , reaching New York on 10 June . Inter - war years . Reassigned to the Pacific Fleet , the destroyer tender stood out from Hampton Roads , Virginia , on 19 July for the west coast . En route one of her boilers exploded injuring six men , five of them fatally . took her in tow for repairs at Balboa , Panama Canal Zone . On 31 October she arrived at her new home port , San Diego , California , for service along the west coast , alternating with training and fleet exercises in the Caribbean and off Hawaii for the next 21 years . World War II . With the threat of American involvement in World War II , " Melville " steamed from the Caribbean for the east coast in November 1940 . She arrived at Norfolk on 9 December for operations with the Patrol Force , U . S . Fleet , and was transferred back to the Atlantic Fleet on 1 February 1941 . Following intensive training at Guantanamo Bay and Culebra , Puerto Rico , and three weeks of supply duties at Casco Bay , Maine , " Melville " continued on to Bermuda by 16 September to service neutrality patrol ships until returning to Norfolk on 28 November . " Melville " got underway on 12 January 1942 for Europe , reaching Derry , Northern Ireland , on 31 January to begin tending escort ships of Allied convoys crossing the submarine infested Atlantic . In the next two years she also based at Hvalfjörður , Iceland ; Recife , Brazil ; and Rosneath , Scotland , as well as Newport and Casco Bay , while continuing support services for warships ranging from battleship s to landing craft and minesweepers . On 1 May 1944 " Melville " sailed from Rosneath for Portland , England , to begin the massive task of preparing the Allied minesweepers and landing craft for the Normandy Landings of 6 June . For the next year she was busy maintaining and repairing landing craft for the Allied push toward Germany . The destroyer tender was at Portland when Germany surrendered on 7 May 1945 . " Melville " continued her support duties , now servicing the amphibious craft for final operations in the Pacific theater . On 7 July " Melville " steamed for New York arriving the 20th to ready for assignment to the central Pacific . After Japan capitulated on 15 August 1945 , she sailed on 1 October for Jacksonville , Florida , where she assisted in the inactivation of escort ships . She got underway from Jacksonville on 13 July 1946 for Norfolk . " Melville " decommissioned there on 9 August , was struck from the Navy List on 23 April 1947 , and was turned over to the Maritime Commission on 30 March 1948 . On 19 August 1948 she was sold to Patapsco Scrap Corp . , of Baltimore , Maryland , for scrapping .