The first USS Hopkins (DD-6) was a 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...

 named for Esek Hopkins

Esek Hopkins

Commodore Esek Hopkins was the first and only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He was also an accomplished merchant captain and privateer.-Early life and career:...

.

Hopkins was launched by Harlan & Hollingsworth Company, Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

, on 24 April 1902, and sponsored by Alice Gould Hawes, a great-great-granddaughter of Esek Hopkins. The ship was commissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 23 September 1903, with Lieutenant Montgomery M. Taylor

Montgomery M. Taylor

Montgomery Meigs Taylor was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as Commander in Chief, United States Asiatic Fleet from 1931 to 1933.-Military career:...

 in command.

Pre-World War I

Hopkins sailed from Philadelphia on 12 May 1904, and joined the Fleet at Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

. That summer the destroyer deployed with the Coast Squadron for the midshipmen at sea training. During the following three years she ranged into the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

, exercising with the Flotilla, engaging in torpedo practice, and Fleet problems. In September 1906, Hopkins was present for the Presidential Review off Oyster Bay. On 29 September, she and escorted the President in to Cape Cod Bay

Cape Cod Bay

Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Measuring below a line drawn from Brant Rock in Marshfield to Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south and east, and Plymouth County, Massachusetts, to the west....

 to witness record target practice. In 1907-1908, Hopkins - as part of the Torpedo Flotilla - accompanied the Atlantic Fleet

United States Fleet Forces Command

The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...

 on a practice cruise to the Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. They sailed from Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 on 2 December 1907, exchanging courtesies at various Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n ports en route. After target practice in Magdelena Bay, the Flotilla arrived at San Francisco on 6 May 1908, in time for the review of the combined Atlantic and Pacific Fleet

United States Pacific Fleet

The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...

s by the Secretary of the Navy. On 1 June of that year, Hopkins joined the Pacific Torpedo Fleet for tactics along the West Coast, at sea training north to 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...

n waters, and south to the coast of Mexico.

On February 14, 1910, Hopkins suffered a boiler

Boiler

A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...

 accident. Two sailors, Chief Watertender Robert Earl Bonney and Watertender Edward Alvin Clary

Edward Alvin Clary

-External links:...

, were awarded the Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

 for their actions during the incident.

World War I

On 30 April 1917, after the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 entry into 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...

, Hopkins departed San Diego for the Panama Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

. She performed patrol duty, convoyed submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s and assisted them in torpedo proving. On 3 August, she arrived at Hampton Roads, for escort and patrol ranging along the coast to Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

.

Hopkins entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 29 January 1919, and decommissioned there 20 June. She was sold for scrapping on 7 September 1920 to the Denton Shore Lumber Company.