USS Ingraham (DD-111)
at Union Iron Works, 1918
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USS Ingraham (DD-111/ DM-9) was a Wickes class destroyer that carried out one cruise to Europe and then operated as a mine layer at Pearl Harbor in 1921-22.
The Ingraham was named after Captain Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham, a US naval officer who resigned to serve in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.
The Ingraham was launched at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, on 4 July 1918 and commissioned on 15 May 1919 with Commander D. L. LeBreton in command. Her shakedown cruiser began on 20 May, and she then passed through the Panama Canal and reached Newport, Rhode Island on 6 June 1919.
The Ingraham made one trip to Europe, in the second half of 1919. The highlight of the tour came on 22 Septembe when she carried the King and Queen of Belgium from Ostend to Calais. She returned to San Diego on 8 January 1920, and was selected for conversion into the fast minelayer, with the new designation DM-9.
One of her crewmembers in 1919 was Jesse W. Covington, a ship's cook who had earlier been awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing a survivor after the steamer Florence H. exploded in Quiberon Bay on 17 April 1918.
In February-March 1921 the Ingraham operated with her sister ships USS Anthony (DD-172/ DM-12), mainly around South Coronado Island, and still as part of the Destroyer Force, Pacific Fleet. They were finally officially assigned to the Mine Force on 3 June 1921 and on 7 June they departed for Pearl Harbor. For the first six days she was towed by one of the Penguin (AM-33) or Eider (AM-17), but she completed the voyage under her own steam, arriving on 18 June. She was finally converted into a minelayer at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, wher the torpedo tubes were removed and replaced by mine tracks that could carry between 64 and 80 mines.
The Ingraham operated as a mine layer from Pearl Harbor for the next year, before she was decommissioned on 29 June 1922. Amongst her crew during this period was Rupert M. Zimmerli, who joined her on 7 November 1921 and remained until Janiary 1922. He saw extensive service during the Second World War, and retired with the rank of Rear Admiral.
The Ingraham was never recommissioned, and was struck off the Navy List on 1 December 1936 and sold for scrap.
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.
