USS Champlin (DD-104) with
aft gun moved, 1920s
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USS Champlin (DD-104) was a Wickes class destroyer that spent almost all of her short career operating as a training ship in the reserve, before being sunk during experiments in 1936.
The Champlin was named after Stephen Champlin, a US naval officer who served on the Great Lakes during the War of 1812.
The Champlin was launched on 7 April 1918 at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco and commissioned on 11 November 1918, with Lt. Commander F.M. Knox in command. She moved to the East Coast, arriving at Newport, Rhode Island, on 12 December 1918, and joined the Atlantic Fleet. She took part in the winter training operations in the Caribbean in 1918-19.
On 19 November 1919 she left New York, heading for the west coast. Amongst her crew at this point was Lt William M. Callaghan, later captain of the USS Missouri and a rear admiral in the last months of the Second World War. He joined the ship on 28 July 1919, and left her after she arrived at San Diego on 24 December 1919.
The Champlin entered the reserve with a reduced complement on the same day she arrived at San Diego. She was used on training cruises for the next three years, but was finally decommissioned on 7 June 1922. During this period her rear 4/50 gun was moved to the top of her aft deckhouse.
The Champlin left the reserve on 19 May 1933, when she was assigned for experimental use. She was sunk on 12 August 1936, during tests in the Pacific.
Displacement (standard) |
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Displacement (loaded) |
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Top Speed |
35kts design |
Engine |
2 shaft Parsons turbines |
Range |
2,500nm at 20kts (design) |
Armour - belt |
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- deck |
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Length |
314ft 4.5in |
Width |
30ft 11.5in |
Armaments |
Four 4in/ 50 guns |
Crew complement |
100 |
U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, Norman Friedmann .
The standard history of the development of American destroyers, from the earliest torpedo boat destroyers to the post-war fleet, and covering the massive classes of destroyers built for both World Wars. Gives the reader a good understanding of the debates that surrounded each class of destroyer and led to their individual features.
