USS Aylwin (DD-47)
USS "Aylwin" (Destroyer No. 47/DD-47) was the lead ship of s built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of John Cushing Aylwin, a U.S. Navy officer killed in action aboard during the War of 1812. "Aylwin" was laid down by She was sponsored by Mrs. Joseph Wright Powell. The ship was a little more than in length, just over abeam, and had a standard displacement of . She was armed with four guns and had eight 18-inch  (450 mm) torpedo tubes. "Aylwin" was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to "Aylwin" failed to make her contracted speed of in builder's trials in August 1913, but was eventually accepted by the U.S. Navy and commissioned in January 1914. Lt. Comdr. Leigh C. Palmer in command. On 6 April, two sailors on board "Aylwin" died when she suffered an explosion in her No. 1 fire room. Out of commission while repairs were made, "Aylwin" was recommissioned in May 1915 and joined the Atlantic Fleet. In October 1916, she was one of several  U.S. destroyers sent to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, "Aylwin" conducted experiments with Reginald Fessenden until January 1918. She was then sent overseas to conduct anti-submarine patrols from Queenstown, Ireland, and Plymouth. In December, she accompanied light cruiser on an inspection tour of German Baltic ports. Upon returning to the United States at the end of June 1919, "Aylwin" was placed in reserve. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia in February 1921. In July 1933 she dropped her name, becoming known only  as DD-47. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in March 1935 and ordered scrapped in April. Design and construction. "Aylwin" was authorized in March 1911 as the lead ship of the four-ship , which was almost identical to the s authorized at the same time. Construction of the vessel—like her three sister ships—was awarded to William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia which laid down her keel on 7 May 1912. On 23 November, "Aylwin" was launched by sponsor Mrs. Joseph Wright Powell, wife of the assistant to the president of the Cramp shipyard. The ship was the  second U.S. Navy ship named for John Cushing Aylwin, a U.S. Navy officer killed in action aboard during the War of 1812. As built, the destroyer was in length, abeam, and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded. "Aylwin" had two steam turbines that drove her two screw propellers, and an additional pair triple-expansion steam engines, each connected to one of the propeller shafts, for cruising purposes. Four oil-burning boilers powered the engines, which could generate , and it was hoped, move the ship at the design speed of . However, during builder's  trials conducted in July 1913, "Aylwin" failed to reach this speed, and was withdrawn from testing. After sister ship "Parker" exceeded the design speed in August with a different propeller design, "The Washington Post" reported that "Aylwin"s propellers would be changed to the new design. "Aylwin"s main battery consisted of four /50 caliber Mark 9 guns, with each gun weighing in excess of . The guns fired armor-piercing projectiles at . At an elevation of 20°, the guns had a range of . "Aylwin" was also equipped with four twin torpedo tubes. Pre-World War I. "Aylwin" was commissioned into the  U.S. Navy on 17 January 1914, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Leigh C. Palmer, the former naval aide of U.S. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels. Following a short cruise to Cuba, "Aylwin" conducted operations off the North Carolina coast in April. On 6 April, she and sister ships and were exercising off the North Carolina coast, about off the Diamond Shoals lightship. An explosion ripped through the forward fire room on "Aylwin", injuring three men. "Benham" loaded the three wounded sailors and sped to the naval hospital at Norfolk, Virginia, while "Parker" took on the remainder of "Aylwin"s  crew. One of the injured men died on "Benham" before landfall was made in Virginia; another died a short time later. The crews of all three destroyers raised $250 to help defray funeral expenses for the widow of one of the men. "Aylwin" remained afloat but, unmanned, was towed into Norfolk by "Parker" and U.S. Navy tug , arriving on 7 April. According to a report in "The Washington Post", "Aylwin" made it to port with only five hours of buoyancy to spare. The report described the fore deck of the ship as "badly rent and torn up" and noted  that two of the destroyer's four stacks were knocked out of alignment by the blast, with one askew at a 25° angle from its normal position. The newspaper speculated that faulty metal in the No. 1 boiler's mud drum was the cause of the explosion. Although repairs were estimated to take roughly three months, "Aylwin" was placed out of commission and remained inactive for more than a year at the Norfolk Navy Yard. She was recommissioned on 25 May 1915 and assigned to the 6th Division, Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet. The ship then cruised along the east  coast carrying out routine patrols. Prior to the entrance of the United States into World War I, she served on Neutrality Patrols, trying to protect American and neutral-flagged merchant ships from interference by British or German warships and U-boats. In the course of performing those duties, "Aylwin" was at Newport, Rhode Island in early October 1916. At 05:30 on 8 October, wireless reports came in of a German submarine stopping ships near the Lightship Nantucket, off the eastern end of Long Island. After an SOS from the British steamer was received at about 12:30, Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves  ordered "Aylwin" and other destroyers at Newport to attend to survivors. The American destroyers arrived on the scene about 17:00 when the U-boat, under the command of "Kapitänleutnant" Hans Rose, was in the process of stopping the Holland-America Line cargo ship . Shortly after, "U-53" stopped the British passenger ship . As Rose had done with three other ships, "U-53" had sunk earlier in the day, he gave passengers and crew aboard "Blommersdijk" and "Stephano" adequate time to abandon the ships before sinking the pair. At one point, Rose signaled "Aylwin" requesting that she move out of the way to  allow "Stephano" to be torpedoed, much to the later chagrin of Lord Beresford, who denounced "Aylwin"s compliance as "aiding and abetting" the Germans in a speech in the House of Lords. In total, 226 survivors from "U-53"s five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla. "Aylwin" picked up the crew of "Stephano" and a number of passengers, later transferring them to destroyer for return to Newport. During the early months of 1917, "Aylwin" sailed to Cuban waters for winter maneuvers and returned to the Virginia capes area upon America's entry into World War I. World War I. From June  1917-January 1918, the destroyer participated in special experimental work with Reginald Fessenden while operating out of Boston, Massachusetts, and Newport, Rhode Island. On 4 January 1918, "Aylwin" sailed for Queenstown, Ireland; and, shortly after her arrival there, began patrolling out of that port. However, shortly thereafter, she was detached to join British forces operating from Portsmouth and Devonport in conducting antisubmarine patrols. "Aylwin" remained in European waters following the end of the war. On 26 December 1918, she sailed in company with light cruiser for an inspection tour of the Baltic ports of Germany. The ships, which, were operating  under the auspices of the Inter-Allied Naval Armistice Commission, were to remove any American prisoners of war or citizens discovered in the German ports. Postwar. In May 1919, the base of operations for U.S. destroyers in European waters was shifted from Brest, France, to Antwerp, and "Aylwin", arriving there on 22 May, was the first ship to relocated to the Belgian port. The following month, "Aylwin" returned to Brest, and departed from there for the United States, arriving at New York on 26 June. She then proceeded to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where she was placed in reserve. "Aylwin  was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 23 February 1921. On 1 July 1933, she dropped the name Aylwin" to free it for a new destroyer of the same name, becoming known only as "DD-47". The ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 March 1935, and on 23 April was ordered scrapped in accordance with the terms of the London Naval Treaty.