Index

World War I
American Destroyers
Roe Class (two screws)
A Study in Blueprints

Ships of class: USS Perkins (TBD-26)(DD-26), USS Sterett (TBD-27)(DD-27), USS Warrington (TBD-30)(DD-30), USS Mayrant (TBD-31)(DD-31), USS Walke (TBD-34)(DD-34) and USS Henley (TBD-39)(DD-39).

Ammen,
CSS Arkansas,
Army's Western Flotilla,
Bainbridge, brig,
Barbary pirates,
batteries at Columbus, Kentucky,
batteries at Grand Gulf,
batteries at Hickman, Kentucky,
Battle of Mobile Bay,
Belmont, Missouri,
SS Bohemia,
Bon Homme Richard,
Boston, sloop-of-war,
Brest, France,
Carondelet, ironclad gunboat,
CG-12,
Chesapeake, frigate,
Congress, frigate,
Conondaga, revenue cutter,
Constellation, frigate,
Cumberland, frigate,
DD-26,
DD-27,
DD-30,
DD-31, .
DD-34,
DD-34,
DD-39,
Eagle, brig,
Enterprise, schooner,
Epervier, British brig,
Essex, frigate,
Faroe Islands,
Farragut, Admiral,
Fort Gaines,
Fort Jackson,
Fort Jackson, side wheel gunboat,
Fort Morgan,
Fort Pickens,
Fort Pillow,
Fort Powell,
Fort Saint Philip,
CSS Governor Moore,
Grand Banks,
Grant. USS, General,
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
Guerriere, frigate,
Gunboat No. 5,
Henley, Robert, Captain,
USS Henley (TBD-39)(DD-39)(CG-12),
Hispaniola,
Hornet,
Island No. 10,
CSS Jackson,
Java, frigate,
Jupiter, collier,
L'Amour de la Patrie, French privateer,
L'Insurgente, French frigate,
L'Orient, France,
La Vengeance, French frigate,
La Jeune Creole, French privateer,
Lafayette, ironclad ram,
Laguna, Mexico,
Liverpool, England,
Macedonian, frigate,
CSS Mary Sorley,
Mayrant, John Captain,
USS Mayrant (TBD-31)(DD-31),
Memphis, Tennessee,
Mexican War,
Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic,
Moscow, pirate schooner,
Natchez, sloop,
Nautilus, East India Company cruiser,
New Madrid, Missouri,
SS New York,
North Carolina, ship-of-the-line,
Ontario, .
Paulding,
Peacock, sloop-of-war,
Perkins, George Hamilton, Commodore, .
USS Perkins (TBD-26)(DD-26),
Plum Point Bend,
Ponce, Puerto Rico,
Port Hudson,
Porter, David Dixon, Admiral,
President, frigate,
President Grant, transport,
President Lincoln, transport,
President Washington, transport,
Princeton,
Queen of the West, side wheel gunboat,
Queenstown, Ireland,
Sacramento, sloop-of-war,
Santiago, Santo Domingo,
HMS Serapis,
Shetland Islands,
Siren,
Smith (TBD-17),
St. Mary's,
Sterett, Andrew, Lieutenant,
USS Sterett (TBD-27)(DD-27),
Supply,.
Tabasco, Mexico,
CSS Tennessee,
Tarquah,
TBD-17,
TBD-26,
TBD-27,
TBD-30,
TBD-31,
TBD-34,
TBD-39,
Tom Bowline,
Tuxpan, Mexico,
Tyler, gunboat,
U-90,.
U-151,
Vesuvius,
Vixen,
Walke, Henry A., Rear Admiral,
USS Walke (TBD-34)(DD-34),
Warrington, Lewis, Commodore,
USS Warrington (TBD-30)(DD-30),
Washington, Martha Dandridge Custis,
Whitehall's River, .
Yazoo River,

List of Blueprints

History

Roe class Torpedo Boat Destroyer (TBD-39)
USS Henley
Fiscal Year Acquisition - 1910
(700 - tonners or flivvers)

Length Overall:...293'-11"
Extreme Beam:...27'-0"
Normal Displacement:...787 tons
Mean Draft:...8'-4"
Designed Complement:...Officers, 4; Enlisted, 79
Armament:
Primary:...Five, 3-inch/50 caliber
Secondary:...None
Torpedo Tubes:...Six, 18"
Designed Shaft Horsepower:...12,000 shp
Drive:...Direct
Designed Speed:...29.5 knots
Engines, Manufacturer:...FR
Type:...Curtis
Boilers, Manufacturer:...FR
Type:...Yarrow
Screws:...Two
Fuel, Tons:...225

Lieutenant Andrew Sterett was born in 1760 in Baltimore, Maryland and was appointed Lieutenant in the United States Navy on March 25, 1798 and assigned to Constellation as Third Lieutenant. During the Quasi-War with France, he was still serving in Constellation when she captured L'Insurgente. By 1800, he had risen to First Lieutenant; and, he participated in Constellation's action against La Vengeance.

Given command of the schooner Enterprise, Lieutenant Sterett led her in the capture of the French privateer, L'Amour de la Patrie, on Christmas Eve of 1800. In June 1801, he sailed in Enterprise from Baltimore for service with the Mediterranean Squadron. While on that cruise, Enterprise engaged and captured a 14-gun Tripolitan cruiser and her 80-man crew. In gratitude, Congress awarded Sterett a sword and highly commended his crew. Lieutenant Sterett continued his Navy career until he resigned his commission in 1805. Lieutenant Sterett died on June 9, 1807, in Lima, Peru.

USS Sterett (TBD-27)(DD-27, July 17, 1920), was built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Massachusetts and commissioned on December 15, 1910.

Each year until 1913, she operated along the east coast out of Boston from April to December; and, from January to April, participated in training and battle exercises out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Although placed in reserve on November 5, 1913, she continued duty with the torpedo fleet. On January 20, 1914, she sailed from Charleston, South Carolina and reached New Orleans, Louisiana on March 2, after stops at Cape Canaveral, Miami and Key West, Florida and at Mobile, Alabama. The following day, she joined the newly created Reserve Torpedo Flotilla, operating in the Gulf of Mexico out of Galveston, Texas. In June, she returned to the Atlantic seaboard, this time based at Norfolk and resumed coastal patrols and Caribbean exercises.

Sterett's complement was reduced on January 5, 1916; and, throughout that spring, she operated almost exclusively in the Caribbean. On June 1, 1916, she was a part of the fleet which landed and supported the marines at Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic and marched to Santiago to restore order and to protect lives and property. Soon thereafter, Sterett returned to Norfolk and resumed operations along the east coast. On January 1, 1917 she entered the Mississippi, stopped at New Orleans and steamed up river to Vicksburg. She reentered the gulf and patrolled the Texas coast until she was shifted to Key West on March 18. From there, the destroyer ranged as far as the Cuban coast.

In April of 1917, the United States entered World War I; and, by June 9, Sterett was in Queenstown, Ireland. Throughout the reminder of the war, she operated from Queenstown to meet convoys and conduct them to either Berehaven, Ireland, or to Devonport, England. At these points, British and French destroyers assumed responsibility for the last leg of the voyage.

A little less than a year after her arrival at Queenstown, on May 31, 1918, Sterett was herding a convoy toward the rendezvous point when she came upon a surfaced U-boat. As Sterett closed, the submarine rapidly submerged. Sterett began dropping depth charges furiously; and, air bubbles and oil soon appeared on the surface, indicating damage to the German raider. After exhausting her supply of depth charges, Sterett pursued the enemy by the U-boat's wake of bubbles and trail of oil, hoping to force her to exhaust her batteries and air supply. She continued the pursuit through the night, guided in the darkness only by the fumes of the sub's leaking oil. Finally, at dawn, the destroyer's persistence was rewarded. She sighted the U-boat on the surface about 1,000 yards ahead. Sterett sliced through the waves at top speed seeking to ram the submarine, but the U-boat countered by swinging hard to port. Sterett passed within 20 feet of the submarine and as the U-boat attempted to dive, brought her guns to bear. However, without sufficient time to bracket their adversary, Sterett's gunners watched helplessly as the submarine slid beneath the surface and escaped. For their dogged determination, the officers and men of Sterett received the commendation of the Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland.

The year 1918 brought with it an all out effort on the part of the Central Powers to bring the war to a successful conclusion. The German Navy increased the intensity of its submarine operations in order to free Germany from the Allies' ever-tightening blockade. In response to this thrust, Sterett maintained a grueling schedule of convoy duty-a week or more at sea followed by a day or two in port. One of her new techniques, the use of airborne surveillance, presaged modern hunter-killer antisubmarine warfare. The Allies prevailed, however, and the Armistice, signed on November 11, 1918, brought an end to Sterett's strenuous duty; and, by January 3, 1919, she was back in the United States at Charleston. From there, she moved to Philadelphia where she was decommissioned on December 9, 1919. On March 9, 1935, after a little more than 15 years of inactivity, Sterett was struck from the Navy list. On June 28, she was sold for scrapping to M. Black and Co. of Norfolk, Virginia.

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