The first USS Corry (DD-334) was a Clemson-class

Clemson class destroyer

The Clemson class was a series of 156 destroyers which served with the United States Navy from after World War I through World War II.The Clemson-class ships were commissioned by the United States Navy from 1919 to 1922, built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, New York Shipbuilding...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 following World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. She was named for Medal of Honor recipient LCDR William M. Corry, Jr.

William M. Corry, Jr.

William Merrill Corry, Jr. was a Lieutenant-Commander in the United States Navy during World War I and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.-Biography:...

.

History

Corry was launched on 28 March 1921 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when Bethlehem Steel Corporation acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works in 1905...

, San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

; sponsored by Mrs. S. W. Corry; commissioned on 25 May 1921, Lieutenant Commander K. E. Hintze in command; and reported to the Pacific Fleet.

Corry cruised on the west coast on a varied operating schedule. She joined in fleet maneuvers, cruises from Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 to the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, development and tests of sonic depth finders, antiaircraft gunnery, aircraft rescue and plane guard rehearsals. In July 1923 she joined to serve as escort for President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding

Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...

 embarked in for a cruise to Alaskan and Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 waters (during which President Harding came down with his last illness). She rejoined her division to participate in the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

 convention at San Francisco in October 1923. On 8 September – 9 September 1924, she embarked Secretary of the Navy

United States Secretary of the Navy

The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...

 Curtis D. Wilbur

Curtis D. Wilbur

Curtis Dwight Wilbur was born in Iowa. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy in 1884. Shortly after graduation, Curtis Wilbur resigned his commission, a common practice at the time, and moved to Riverside, California. He was admitted to the California bar in 1890 and served as Los...

 for a visit to Mare Island Navy Yard. From 28 August to 9 September 1925 she served as station ship during nonstop airplane flight from Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 to San Francisco.

In December 1929 Corry entered the San Diego Destroyer Base to prepare for decommissioning. She was towed to Mare Island Navy Yard and decommissioned 24 April 1930. She was stripped and sold for salvage 18 October 1930 in accordance with the terms of the London Treaty for the limitation of naval armament

London Naval Treaty

The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, the Empire of Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which regulated submarine warfare and limited naval shipbuilding. Ratifications were exchanged in London on October 27, 1930, and the treaty went...

.

After being partially dismantled at the Mare Island Navy Yard, ex-USS Corry's remains, consisting of most of her hull and a small portion of her superstructure, were sold. Taken a short distance up the Napa River

Napa River

The Napa River, approximately 55 miles long, is a river in the U.S. state of California. It drains a famous wine-growing region, called the Napa Valley, in the mountains northeast of San Francisco. Milliken Creek is a tributary of the Napa River....

, about a mile from Mare Island, she was later abandoned where she lay

External links

• http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/334.htm