USS Mahan (DD-102) and
USS Shawmut (CM-4)
serving as seaplane tenders
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USS Mahan (DD-102/ DM-7) was a Wickes class destroyer that entered service just before the end of the First World War, and served as a fast minelayer during the 1920s.
The Mahan was named after Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, the famous naval theorist.
The Mahan was laid down on 4 May 1918 at Quincy, Mass, launched on 4 August 1918 and commissioned on 24 October 1918, with Lt,. Commander F.P. Conger in command.
Anyone who served on her between 2-11 November 1918 qualified for the First World War Victory Medal, presumably for taking part in her shakedown cruise, which would have taken her into the Atlantic war zone.
In the immediate post-war period the Mahan operated off Cuba. In May 1919 she moved to the Azores to act as one of the guide ships for the first transatlantic flight. This involved a flight of Curtiss flying boats, of which NC-4 successfully completed the flight. After the flight the Mahan visited Brest, before returning to Boston on 21 June 1919.
After her return to Boston the Mahan was converted into a light minelayer, and on 17 July 1920 she was redesignated as DM-7. She spent most of the 1920s taking part in the usual round of US naval life, operating off the US East Coast in the summer and in the Caribbean and the Panama Canal Zone in the winter. She was also used as an experimental ship, testing out new equipment.
In 1922 she helped patrol the course of the Six Meter Sailing Race.
Early in 1925 the Mahan took part in manoeuvres in Pearl Harbor, during her only visit to the Pacific. One of her tasks in this period was to act as a seaplane tender.
In September 1925 she helped in salvage operations for the submarine USS S-51, which had been sunk in a collision with the merchant ship City of Rome on the night of 25 September 1925 off Block Island. The submarine wasn’t successfully salvaged until July 1926.
In 1927 she once again helped patrol the course of the Six Meter Sailing Race.
On 17 December 1927 the submarine USS S-4 was sunk in a collision with the coast guard destroyer USS Paulding (DD-22/ CG-17). The Mahan took part in the original rescue attempts, and then in salvage operations, which finally succeeded on 17 March 1928.
In 1928-1929 she carried out reserve training cruises in the Caribbean.
On 20 September 1929 the Mahan entered Philadelphia Navy Yard, and she was decommissioned on 1 May 1930. She was very quickly disposed off, being struck off the Navy Register on 22 October and sold for scrap on 17 January 1931.
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.
