U.S.S. Davis (1916)

U.S.S. Davis (1916)
Hull Number:	DD-65
Builder:	Bath Iron Works
Laid down:	7 May, 1915
Launched:	15 Aug, 1916
Commissioned:	5 Oct, 1916
Decommissioned:	20 Jun, 1922
Stricken:	5 Jul, 1934
Sold:

U.S.S. Davis was one of six Sampson class destroyers completed for the U.S. Navy.

Service

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Davis was commissioned on 5 October, 1916 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum, Jr..

Assigned to Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, Davis operated on the east coast and in the Caribbean until the United States entered World War I. She sailed from Boston on 24 April 1917 as one of six destroyers in the first American destroyer detachment to reach European waters, arriving at Queenstown, Ireland on 4 May.

Davis performed patrol duty off the coast of Ireland and escorted merchant convoys through the zone of greatest danger from submarines. Between 25 and 28 June, she met and escorted troop transports carrying the first American Expeditionary Force to France. She also rescued many survivors of torpedoed vessels, and on 12 May 1918 picked up 35 members of the crew of U 103, which had been sunk by R.M.S. Olympic, turning her prisoners over to British military authorities at Milford Haven. On 13 December, 1918 Davis formed part of the escort force to take the George Washington, with President Woodrow Wilson embarked, into the harbor at Brest, France, then passed in review before the President.

Davis returned to New York 7 January 1919 and after an overhaul there joined Division 4, Flotilla 8, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, to cruise on the east coast.

From September 1919 to November 1920 she was in reserve at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Arriving at Charleston, S.C., 3 December 1920, she operated from that port and Newport in reduced commission until arriving at Philadelphia Navy Yard 29 March, 1922.

Davis was decommissioned in Philadelphia 20 June 1922 and transferred to the United States Coast Guard on 25 March, 1926. She would serve as part of the Rum Patrol out of New London, Connecticut until mid-1933, when she was returned to the Navy on 30 June.

Davis was retained in a decommissioned status until sold on 22 August 1934.

Captains

• Lieutenant Commander Rufus F. Zogbaum, Jr., 5 October, 1916 – before December, 1917
• Lieutenant Commander Benjamin V. McCandlish, 12 December, 1917 – after 1 January, 1919

See Also

• Wikipedia