USS Winslow (Destroyer No. 53/DD-53) was an built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the second US Navy vessel named in honor of John Ancrum Winslow, a US Navy officer notable for sinking the Confederate commerce raider during the American Civil War.
Winslow was laid down by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia in October 1913 and launched in February 1915. 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 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. Winslow was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to .
After her August 1915 commissioning, Winslow sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of seventeen destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket in October 1916. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Winslow was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. Winslow made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft.
Upon returning to the United States after the war, Winslow was placed in reduced commission in December 1919. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia in June 1922. In November she dropped her name to free it for a new destroyer of the same name, becoming known only as DD-53. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1936 and sold for scrapping in June.
Design and construction
Winslow was authorized in March 1913 as the third of six ships of the , which was an improved version of the s authorized in 1911. Construction of the vessel was awarded to William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia which laid down her keel on 1 October 1913. On 11 February 1915, Winslow was launched by sponsor Miss Natalie E. Winslow, grandniece of the ship's namesake, John Ancrum Winslow. The ship was the second ship named for Winslow, a US Navy officer notable for sinking the Confederate commerce raider during the American Civil War. As built, the destroyer was in length, abeam, and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded.
Winslow had two Zoelly 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 White-Forster boilers powered the engines, which could generate , moving the ship at up to .
Winslows 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 .
Winslow was also equipped with eight torpedo tubes. The General Board of the United States Navy had called for two anti-aircraft guns for the O'Brien-class ships, as well as provisions for laying up to 36 floating mines. From sources, it is unclear if these recommendations were followed for Winslow or any of the other ships of the class.
Winslow carried out Sea trials from 29 June to 1 July 1915, reaching a maximum speed of over the measured mile and an average speed of over a 4 hour full-power trial.
Pre-World War I
Winslow was commissioned into the United States Navy on 7 August 1915. After trials off the upper east coast, Winslow joined the 6th Division, Atlantic Fleet Torpedo Flotilla. The destroyer participated in maneuvers in Cuban waters during the winter of 1915 and 1916 and, in the spring, began operations along the eastern seaboard. By October 1916, she was serving in coastal waters near Newport, Rhode Island.
At 0530 on 8 October 1916, 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 1230, Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves ordered Winslow and other destroyers at Newport to attend to survivors. The American destroyers arrived on the scene about 1700 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. In total, 226 survivors from U-53s five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla.