USS Paulding (DD-22)


Paulding in 1918
Career (USN)
Name: USS Paulding (DD-22)
Namesake: Rear Admiral Hiram A. Paulding
Builder: Bath Iron Works
Laid down: 24 July 1909
Launched: 12 April 1910
Commissioned: 29 September 1910
Decommissioned: August 1919
Struck: 28 June 1934
Fate: Transferred to the United States Coast Guard
Career (USCG)
Name: USS Paulding (CG-17)
Commissioned: 23 January 1925
Decommissioned: 12 August 1930
Fate: Transferred back to the United States Navy and sold for scrap.
General characteristics
Class and type: Paulding-class destroyer
Displacement: 742 tons
Length: 293 ft 11 in (89.59 m)
Beam: 27 ft (8.2 m)
Draft: 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Speed: 29.7 kn (34.2 mph; 55.0 km/h)
Complement: 83 officers and enlisted
Armament: 4 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns, 6 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Paulding (DD-22) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers in the United States Navy. She served in the United States Coast Guard as CG-17. She was named for Rear Admiral Hiram A. Paulding USN (1797-1878).

Paulding was laid down by the Bath Iron Works Corporation at Bath in Maine on 24 July 1909, launched on 12 April 1910 by Miss Emma Paulding and commissioned on 29 September 1910, Lieutenant Commander Yates Stirling, Jr. in command.

United States Navy

Assigned to the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet, Paulding operated primarily off the east coast until after the United States entered World War I. During April 1917, she patrolled off the New England coast and in May, she prepared for distant service. On 21 May, she got underway for the United Kingdom, arriving at Queenstown, Ireland to escort convoys and protect them from German U-boats. On that duty throughout the war, she returned to the United States after the Armistice.

United States Coast Guard

Paulding was decommissioned in August 1919 and remained in the Reserve Fleet. From 28 April 1924-18 October 1930 she was loaned to the United States Coast Guard, where she served on the Rum Patrol. The vessel was stationed at Boston, Massachusetts.

Paulding was sent to find CG-238 during a gale in February 1927 off Cape Cod. The 75 ft (23 m) vessel had already foundered, and Paulding spent two days in the storm, losing much topside equipment, including one of her stacks. On 17 December, she accidentally rammed and sank S-4 while she was surfacing, killing all onboard. An inquiry absolved the Coast Guard of blame.

Returned to the Navy on 18 October 1930, she again joined the Reserve Fleet and was laid up at League Island. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 June 1934 and sold for scrap under the London Naval Treaty.

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