USS Hopkins (DD-6)

USS Hopkins (DD-6) was the name ship of the Hopkins class of destroyers and mainly served in US home waters before moving to the Panama Canal Zone after American entered the First World War.

USS Hopkins (DD-6), c.1904
USS Hopkins (DD-6),
c.1904

The Hopkins was launched on 24 April 1902 and commissioned on 23 September 1903. She was named after Esek Hopkins, Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American War of Independence.

The Hopkins joined the Coast Squadron in the North Atlantic Fleet, and spent the first three years of her career operating off the US East Coast. In the summer of 1904 she took part in midshipmen training. She also visited the Caribbean, and took part in a Presidential Review off Oyster Bay in September 1906.

In December 1907 the Hopkins was one of the destroyers that escorted the 'Great White Fleet' on the first stage of its circumnavigation of the world. The Hopkins and the other destroyers took part in the Central and South American part of the cruise, reaching San Francisco on 6 May 1908. She took part in a review of the combined Atlantic and Pacific fleets.

USS Hopkins (DD-6) and USS Paul Jones (DD-10), 1918
USS Hopkins (DD-6) and USS Paul Jones (DD-10), 1918

USS Hull, Lawrence, Hopkins, Whipple & Truxtun, 1907
USS Hull, Lawrence, Hopkins, Whipple & Truxtun, 1907

USS Hopkins (DD-6) at Norfolk Navy Yard, 1907
USS Hopkins (DD-6) at Norfolk Navy Yard, 1907

On 1 June 1908 the Hopkins joined the Pacific Torpedo Fleet. She spent the next nine years with the Pacific Fleet, operating along the coast from Alaska to Mexico.

After the US entry into the First World War the Hopkins moved from San Diego to the Panama Canal Zone. She carried out patrols off the entrance to the Canal, and was also used to support US submarines in the area. This lasted until August 1917, when she moved to Hampton Roads, Virginia, from where she carried out convoy escort (including one mission escorting the Battleship Force Atlantic) and anti-submarine patrols duties along the US East Coast and out to Bermuda.

After the end of the war the US Navy began to scrap her coal fired destroyers. The Hopkins was decommissioned on 20 June 1919 and sold for scrap on 7 September 1920.

Displacement (standard)

408t

Displacement (loaded)

 

Displacement

248ft 8in

Top Speed

29kts

Engine

4 Thornycroft boilers
2 Vertical Triple Expansion engines
Twin shaft

Range

 

Length

248ft 8in

Width

24ft 6in

Armaments

Two 3in/50 guns
Five 6 pounder guns
Two 18in torpedo tubes

Launched

24 April 1902

Completed

23 September 1903

Fate

Sold 1920

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.
cover cover cover

Books on the First World War | Subject Index: First World War

How to cite this article: Rickard, J (26 October 2016), USS Hopkins (DD-6), http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_USS_Hopkins_DD6.html

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