USS Lansdale (DD-101/ DM-6)

USS Lansdale (DD-101/ DM-6) was a Wickes class destroyer that entered service in the last days of the First World War, serving in the Mediterranean in 1919, then as a minelayer in the 1920s.

The Lansdale was named after Philip Van Horne Lansdale, a US naval officer who was killed during an Anglo-American intervention on Samoa in 1899.

The Lansdale was laid down on 20 April 1918 at Quincy, Mass, launched on 21 July 1918 and commissioned on 26 October 1918.

USS Lansdale (DD-101) in the Adriatic, 1919
USS Lansdale (DD-101)
in the Adriatic, 1919

The Lansdale left Boston on 4 November to join the Cruiser and Transport Force, arriving at Norfolk, Virginia on 7 November. Her wartime service was considered to have started on 4 November, and anyone who served on her between then and 11 November 1918 qualified for the First World War Victory Medal.

The Lansdale departed from Norfolk on 12 November as part of the escort of a convoy heading for Europe. She was detached at the Azores, and reached Gibraltar on 26 November. Between then and January 1919 she was based at Gibraltar, and made three trips to Tangier and one to Algiers.

On 4-13 January 1919 she headed east to her new base at Venice, where she joined the US naval forces in the Eastern Mediterranean.  Her main role in the Adriatic was to serve on dispatch duty between Venice and the ports on the former Austro-Hungarian coast. She performed this role until 10 June, when she departed from Spalato, on the Dalmatian coast, at the start of her voyage home.

The Lansdale reached New York on 22 June 1919. She spent the next year with the Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, before on 11 July 1920 she arrived at Philadelphia to be converted into a light minelayer, with the new classification DM-6.

USS Lansdale (DD-101) at Venice, 1919
USS Lansdale (DD-101) at Venice, 1919

The Lansdale moved to Newport, Rhode Island, on 2-3 June 1921. She joined the Mine Force, Atlantic Fleet at Gloucester, Mass, on 5 July 1921 and spent the next three months practicing in her new role off New England and Virginia. Early in 1922 she took part in exercises in the West Indies with Mine Squadron 1. She then moved to Philadelphia, where she was decommissioned on 25 June 1922.

The Lansdale was recommissioned on 1 May 1930 and joined Mine Squadron 1 at Yorktown. During the summer of 1930 she took part in mining exercises off the east coast. In October and early November she served as a target ship for submarines off New London, Conn. After a final visit to Boston she returned to Philadelphia, where she was decommissioned on 24 March 1931.

On 28 December 1936 the Lansdale was reduced to a hulk to satisfy the terms of the London Naval Treaty. She was struck off the Naval Register on 25 January 1937 and sold for scrap on 16 March 1939.

Displacement (standard)

 

Displacement (loaded)

 

Top Speed

35kts design
34.81kts at 27,350shp at 1,236t on trial (Kimberly)

Engine

2 shaft Parsons turbines
4 boilers
27,000shp design

Range

2,500nm at 20kts (design)

Armour - belt

 

 - deck

 

Length

314ft 4.5in

Width

30ft 11.5in

Armaments

Four 4in/ 50 guns
Twelve 21in torpedo tubes in four triple mountings
Two 1-pounder AA guns
Two depth charge tracks

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.
cover cover cover

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

How to cite this article: Rickard, J (15 May 2017), USS Lansdale (DD-101/ DM-6) , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_USS_Lansdale_DD101.html

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