USS Preble (DD-12)

USS Preble (DD-12)
History
United States
Name	Preble
Namesake	Commodore Edward Preble awarded Congressional Gold Medal
Builder	Union Iron Works, San Francisco
Laid down	21 April 1899
Launched	2 March 1901
Sponsored by	Miss Ethel Preble
Commissioned	14 December 1903
Decommissioned	11 July 1919
Stricken	15 September 1919
Identification	Hull symbol: DD-12 Code letters: NQN
Fate	Sold, January 3 1920 for scraping
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Bainbridge-class destroyer
Displacement	420 long tons (430 t) (standard) 592 long tons (601 t) (full load)
Length	245 ft (74.7 m) (pp) 250 ft (76.2 m) (oa)
Beam	23 ft 7 in (7.2 m)
Draft	6 ft 6 in (2.0 m) (mean)
Installed power	4 × Thornycroft boilers 8,000 ihp (6,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Vertical triple expansion engines 2 × Propellers
Speed	29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph) (designed speed)
Complement	3 officers 72 enlisted men
Armament	2 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber guns 5 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) guns 2 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes

The third USS Preble (DD-12) was a Bainbridge-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Commodore Edward Preble.

Construction[]

Preble was laid down by the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, on 21 April 1899; launched on 2 March 1901; sponsored by Miss Ethel Preble; and commissioned on 14 December 1903.

Pre-World War I[]

Preble, assigned to the Pacific Fleet, operated with the 4th and 2nd Torpedo Flotillas off the western seaboard from Washington to the Panama Canal Zone until 1908, making a cruise to Hawaii and Samoa (24 August-November 1908). On returning she resumed west coast operations, continuing them until 4 February 1909, when she arrived at Mare Island for inactivation. In reserve from 23 February-17 September, she was then reassigned to the , and until 1913 operated with Torpedo Flotilla, Pacific Fleet. Placed in reserve again on 19 June 1913, she remained at Mare Island until resuming operations with the torpedo flotilla on 23 April 1914. Preble observed the Topolobampo naval campaign in the Gulf of California, she was present at the Fourth Battle of Topolobampo, the final naval action of the campaign.

World War I[]

Torpedo practice, gunnery exercises and minesweeping operations followed, and during the summer of 1915, Preble participated in a cruise to Alaskan waters to gather logistic information. After another period in reserve status (25 October 1916-3 April 1917), Preble departed San Diego, California on 30 April 1917, for the east coast. She arrived at Norfolk, Virginia on 13 July, and until the end of World War I was engaged in coastwise convoy duty along the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Remaining on the east coast after the war, she decommissioned at New York, on 11 July 1919. Her name was struck from the Navy List on 15 September 1919 and she was sold, on 3 January 1920, to Henry A. Hitner's Sons Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Noteworthy commanding officer[]

• Lieutenant Harry Adrian McClure (3 May 1916-November 1916) (Later Commodore)

Notes[]

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links[]

• Photos of USS Preble