USS Mugford (DD-105), 1920
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USS Mugford (DD-105) was a Wickes class destroyer that served as a seaplane tender in the period immediately after the First World War.
The Mugford was named after Captain John Mugford, an officer in the Continental Navy who was killed in battle in 1775.
The Mugford was laid down at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, on 20 December 1917, launched on 14 April 1918 and commissioned on 25 November 1918, with Lt. Commander John H. Everson in command.
The Mugford entered service in time to take part in the winter manoeuvres, joining the fleet off Guantanamo Bay in January 1919. Like the rest of the fleet she returned to the US East Coast for the summer of 1919. On 21 November she departed from Newport, Rhode Island, heading for San Diego, where she arrived on 22 December.
After her arrival in San Diego, the Mugford became the tender to a seaplane division. Between 10 December 1920 and December 1921 she was commanded by J. H. Towers, who later went on to command the first trans-Atlantic flight, carried out by a Curtiss NC flying boat in May 1919, became commander of the first American aircraft carrier, USS Langley, played a part in increasing the production levels of naval aircraft early in the Second World War, and became Commander Air Force, US Pacific Fleet.
The Mugford operated with her seaplanes along the California coast. She also paid two visits to the Panama Canal Zone, in December 1920 and January 1921. She was decommissioned on 7 June 1922 at San Diego, and remained in the reserve for the next decade and a half, before she was sold for scrap in 1936
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.
