The first Stockton was launched on 27 December 1899 by William R. Trigg Company

William R. Trigg Company

thumb | An 1899 advertisement for the company William R. Trigg Company, also the Trigg Shipbuilding Company, was an inland shipyard in Richmond, Virginia. The shipyard produced torpedo boats and destroyers for the United States Navy. It was founded by William R. Trigg, who also owned the Richmond...

, Richmond, Va.; sponsored by Miss Katherine Stockton; and commissioned on 14 March 1901, Lt. Archibald H. Davis in command.
Stockton remained at Norfolk Navy Yard until 14 November 1901 when she sailed for Port Royal, S.C. Decommissioned on 16 November, she remained there into the following year. Recommissioned on 7 June 1902, Stockton steamed, via New London, Conn., to Newport, R.I. On 25 August, the torpedo boat was ordered 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...

. Arriving at Key West

Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....

, Fla., on 3 October 1902, Stockton subsequently cruised off Hispaniola

Hispaniola

Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...

 and Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 before returning to Key West on 14 January 1903. She reached Norfolk a fortnight later and was decommissioned there on 16 February.

Stockton was recommissioned on 11 June 1906 and assigned to the 3d Torpedo Flotilla the following day. She remained on the United States east coast into 1909, attached to the 3d Torpedo Flotilla. Transferred to the 1st Torpedo Division on 9 September 1909, she participated in the Hudson-Fulton Celebration

Hudson-Fulton Celebration

The Hudson-Fulton Celebration from September 25 to October 9, 1909 in New York and New Jerseywas an elaborate commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s first successful commercial application of the paddle...

 during October 1909.

Stockton was placed in reserve on 9 November 1909 and, but for occasional cruises as far north as New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, remained at Charleston Navy Yard into 1913. Decommissioned at Charleston Navy Yard on 14 November 1913, Stockton was struck from the Navy list

Navy List

A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....

 on 15 November. On 25 May 1914, the torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

 was ordered prepared for use as a target and was sunk by battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s and destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s of the Atlantic Fleet

United States Fleet Forces Command

The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...

during September 1916.