USS Conyngham (Destroyer No. 58/DD-58) was a built for the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 prior to the American entry into World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel named for Gustavus Conyngham

Gustavus Conyngham

Gustavus Conyngham was born in County Donegal, Ireland, and was a merchant sea captain, officer in the Continental Navy and a privateer....

.

Conyngham was laid down by the William Cramp and Sons

William Cramp and Sons

thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...

 of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, in July 1914 and launched in July of the following year. The ship was a little more than 315 feet (96 m) in length, just over 30 feet (9.1 m) abeam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

, and had a standard displacement of 1090 long tons (1,107.5 MT). She was armed with four 4 inches (10.2 cm) guns and had eight 21 inches (533.4 mm) torpedo tube

Torpedo tube

A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...

s. Conyngham was powered by a pair of steam turbine

Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....

s that propelled her at up to 29.5 knots.

After her January 1916 commissioning, Conyngham sailed in the Atlantic and the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Conyngham was part of the first U.S. destroyer squadron sent overseas. Patrolling the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 out of Queenstown, Ireland, Conyngham made several rescues of passengers and crew from ships sunk by U-boats. Conynghams commander was commended for actions related to what was thought at the time to be a "probable" kill of a German submarine.

Upon returning to the United State in December 1918, Conyngham underwent repairs at the Boston Navy Yard

Boston Navy Yard

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...

. She remained there in reduced commission through 1921, with only brief episodes of activity. After returning to active service for about a year, she was decommissioned in June 1922. In June 1924, Conyngham was transferred to the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 to help enforce Prohibition

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

 as a part of the "Rum Patrol

Rum Patrol

The Rum Patrol was an operation of the United States Coast Guard to interdict liquor smuggling vessels, known as "rum runners" in order to enforce prohibition in American waters. On 18 December 1917, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was submitted to the states by Congress...

". She operated under the name USCGC Conyngham (CG-2) until 1933, when she was returned to the Navy. Later that year, the ship was renamed DD-58 to free the name Conyngham for another destroyer

USS Conyngham (DD-371)

The second USS Conyngham was a in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Gustavus Conyngham.-History:...

. She was sold for scrap in August 1934.

Design and construction

Conyngham was authorized in 1913 as the second ship of the which, like the related , was an improved version of the s authorized in 1911. Construction of the vessel was awarded to William Cramp and Sons

William Cramp and Sons

thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...

 of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, which laid down her keel on 27 July 1914. Twelve months later, on 8 July 1915, Conyngham was launched by sponsor Miss A. C. Stevens, a great-great-granddaughter of the ship's namesake, Gustavus Conyngham

Gustavus Conyngham

Gustavus Conyngham was born in County Donegal, Ireland, and was a merchant sea captain, officer in the Continental Navy and a privateer....

 (1744–1819), a Continental Navy

Continental Navy

The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...

 officer. As built, Conyngham was 315 in 3 in (96.09 m) in length and 30 in 6 in (9.3 m) abeam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 and drew 9 in 4 in (2.84 m). The ship had a standard displacement of 1090 long tons (1,107.5 MT) and displaced 1205 long tons (1,224.3 MT) when fully loaded.

Conyngham had two Curtis steam turbines that drove her two screw propellers, and an additional steam turbine geared to one of the propeller shafts for cruising purposes. The power plant could generate 18000 shp and move the ship at speeds up to 29.5 knots.

Conynghams main battery

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 consisted of four 4 inches (102 mm)/50 Mark 9 guns,The 50 denotes the length of the gun barrels; in this case, the gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as it is in diameter, 200 inches (5.1 m) in this case. The Mark number is the version of the gun; in this case, the ninth U.S. Navy design of the 4-inch/50 gun. with each gun weighing in excess of 6100 lbs. The guns fired 33 lbs armor-piercing

Armor-piercing shot and shell

An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...

 projectile

Projectile

A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....

s at 2900 feet per second (883.9 m/s). At an elevation

Elevation (ballistics)

In ballistics, the elevation is the angle between the horizontal plane and the direction of the barrel of a gun, mortar or heavy artillery. Originally, elevation was a linear measure of how high the gunners had to physically lift the muzzle of a gun up from the gun carriage to hit targets at a...

 of 20°, the guns had a range of 15920 yards.

Conyngham was also equipped with eight 21 inches (533 mm) torpedo tube

Torpedo tube

A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...

s. The General Board of the United States Navy

General Board of the United States Navy

The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, effectively a naval general staff. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by John Davis Long. The order was officially recognized by Congress in 1916...

 had called for two anti-aircraft guns for the Tucker-class ships, as well as provisions for laying up to 36 floating mines. From sources, it is unclear if these recommendations were followed for Conyngham or any of the other ships of the class.

Early career

USS Conyngham was commissioned into the United States Navy on 21 January 1916 under the command of Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant commander (United States)

Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...

 A. W. Johnson. Following her commissioning, Conyngham joined in tactics and war maneuvers off the east coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

 in 1916 and in the beginning of 1917 sailed to the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 for war games and fleet maneuvers. Returning to Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 on 23 March, she joined 5th Naval District Patrol Force and with and patrolled the approaches to Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

.

World War I

On 24 April 1917 Conyngham sailed from Boston, Massachusetts with her division for Queenstown, Ireland, the first destroyers to join English forces for duty after the entry of the United States into World War I earlier that month. This force patrolled off the Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 coast and escorted convoys through the danger zone where German submarine operated.

The destroyers also providing rescue services for stricken ships. When the British ship was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine on 17 August 1917, Conyngham sped to her assistance and rescued 39 survivors. A similar distress call from the British ship on 22 November—torpedoed by German submarine —resulted in the rescue of her 30-man crew by Conyngham.

The British Armed merchant cruiser  and ten destroyers, including Conyngham, were escorting an eastbound convoy of twenty steamers on 19 October, when German submarine surfaced in the midst of the group. The submarine launched its only remaining torpedo at Orama, sinking that vessel. Lookouts on Conyngham saw U-62s periscope and quickly launched a depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

 attack on the spot where the U-boat had submerged, bringing oil and debris to the surface. Conynghams commanding officer was commended for his prompt and effective action, and the British Admiralty awarded Conyngham a "probable" kill on the submarine. Unfortunately for Conynghams record, though, U-62 had survived the encounter.

Post-war

After the hostilities had ended on 11 November 1918 with Germany signing the Armistice, Conyngham sailed from Queenstown on 14 December 1918 for Boston to have an overhaul. From February to April 1919, the destroyer participated in fleet exercises and division maneuvers in the Caribbean. Returning to Boston, she was placed in reduced commission until 1921.

In June 1921, Conyngham accompanied a Cuban warship that was repatriating the remains of former Cuban President

President of Cuba

--209.174.31.28 18:43, 22 November 2011 The President of Cuba is the Head of state of Cuba. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, the President is the chief executive of the Council of State of Cuba...

 Jose Miguel Gómez

José Miguel Gómez

José Miguel Gómez y Gómez was a Cuban General in the Cuban War of Independence who went on to become President of Cuba.-Early career:...

 to Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

. She returned to Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

, for summer exercises with her squadron and, after wintering at Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, reported to Philadelphia Navy Yard in March 1922 for inactivation. She was decommissioned there on 23 June 1922.

United States Coast Guard career

On 17 January 1920, Prohibition

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

 was instituted by law in the United States. Soon, the smuggling of alcoholic beverages along the coastlines of the United States became widespread and blatant. The Treasury Department eventually determined that the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 simply did not have the ships to constitute a successful patrol. To cope with the problem, President Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...

 in 1924 authorized the transfer from the Navy to the Coast Guard of twenty old destroyers that were in reserve and out of commission. Conyngham was reactivated and transferred to the Treasury Department

United States Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...

 on 7 June 1924 for use by the Coast Guard. Designated CG-2, Conyngham was commissioned on 8 March 1925, and joined the "Rum Patrol

Rum Patrol

The Rum Patrol was an operation of the United States Coast Guard to interdict liquor smuggling vessels, known as "rum runners" in order to enforce prohibition in American waters. On 18 December 1917, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was submitted to the states by Congress...

" to aid in the attempt to enforce prohibition laws.

After the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 proposed the Twenty-first Amendment

Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had mandated nationwide Prohibition...

 to end prohibition in February 1933, plans were made for Conyngham to be returned to the Navy. On 27 May 1933, Conyngham arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and was decommissioned nine days later, on 5 June. Conyngham was transferred back to the Navy on 30 June. Later in 1933, the ship was renamed DD-58 in order to free the name Conyngham for a new destroyer of the same name

USS Conyngham (DD-371)

The second USS Conyngham was a in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Gustavus Conyngham.-History:...

. DD-58 remained in noncommissioned status until struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 5 July 1934. She was sold for scrap on 22 August in accordance with the London Naval Treaty

London Naval Treaty

The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. Ratifications were exchanged in London on October 27, 1930, and the treaty went...

.

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