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USS Trippe (DD-33)
Encyclopedia
The second USS Trippe (DD-33) was a in the United States Navy
during World War I
and later in the United States Coast Guard
, designated (CG-20). She was named for Lieutenant
John Trippe
.
Trippe was laid down on 12 April 1910 at Bath, Maine
, by the Bath Iron Works
; launched on 20 December 1910; sponsored by Mrs. John S. Hyde; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard
on 23 March 1911, Lieutenant Frank D. Berrien in command.
s assigned to the east coast as a unit of the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet. For the next three years, she conducted routine operations along the east coast. In 1911, she completed trials and participated in exercises off Newport
, Boston, and the Virginia Capes
. She made her first cruise to southern waters in 1912. She cleared Newport on 3 January and dropped anchor in Guantanamo Bay
11 days later. Following three months of training at Guantanamo Bay and in the Gulf of Mexico
, the torpedo boat destroyer returned north in April and entered Boston harbor on the 21st. After repairs, Trippe resumed training operations off the northeastern coast. On 2 January 1913, the warship headed south once more for three months of tactical exercises and gunnery drills out of Guantanamo Bay and in the Gulf of Guacanayabo
. She returned to Boston on 14 April and spent the remainder of 1913 in operations off the coast between Boston and Norfolk, Virginia
.
Trippe began 1914 as she had the previous two years — by heading south and conducting battle practice in the Caribbean
through the end of March. However, in April, the Tampico incident
brought her to the shores of Mexico
, when American sailors and Marines
went ashore at Veracruz
and seized the customs house on the 21st. Trippe arrived off Tampico on the 22d and patrolled the area for a week to prevent arms from being landed. On 1 May, she steamed south to Vera Cruz where she conducted more patrols and supported the battleships and cruisers operating in the vicinity. Near the end of the month, Trippe cleared Mexican waters; and, on the 31st, entered Boston harbor.
At the completion of an extensive overhaul, the warship conducted trials and drills in the Boston area from mid-August to late September. On 30 September, Trippe arrived at Newport for a week of operation before heading south. She shifted to Hampton Roads
in mid-October and participated in exercises there and at Lynnhaven Bay
for a month before returning to Boston.
The warship spent December and the first three weeks of 1915 in the Boston area and, on 26 January, arrived in Guantanamo Bay to resume her schedule of winter drills in the Caribbean. Late in March, Trippe pointed her bow northward once more and reached Boston on 6 April. After her normal round of maneuvers off the northeastern coast, the torpedo boat destroyer returned to Boston on 23 October. A little less than two months later — on 13 December 1915 — Trippe became a unit of the newly-organized 2nd Reserve Flotilla. On 5 January 1916, she was designated a "Destroyer operating with reduced complement;" and, on the 27th, she was placed in ordinary at the Boston Navy Yard.
Roy P. Emrich in command. During the following eight months, Trippe trained along the coast in preparation for the increasingly probable entry of the United States into World War I. The United States declared war on the German Empire
on 6 April 1917. Trippe continued to operate off the coast until early May, when she entered Boston and commenced preparations for duty overseas.
On 21 May, the destroyer cleared Boston for Britain
. After a call at St. John's, Newfoundland, she arrived in Queenstown
on the southern coast of Ireland
, the location of a major wartime American destroyer base. She paused only long enough to refuel and make voyage repairs before clearing the harbor on 5 June for her first patrol. From Queenstown, she escorted Allied convoys on the last leg of their voyage from America to France
and England
. Her field of operations, situated as it was in the war zone which had been established around the British Isles
by Germany on 5 February 1915, was the prime hunting ground of High Seas Fleet
U-boat
s. When not engaged in escorting convoys, Trippe patrolled the waters around Queenstown in an effort to detect and destroy as many enemy submarines as possible.
The warship had only one verified scrape with German U-boats. On 18 September 1917, she and were steaming in company some 350 mi (563.3 km) west of Brest, France, when — shortly after 0200 — she sighted the distinctive wake of the periscope of a submarine running on a parallel course, but in the opposite direction. Trippe dropped depth charge
s, but without "visible results", and continued on to rendezvous with an eastbound convoy. That night, she dueled with another adversary — the sea. In a raging storm, waves carried her starboard waist gun platform overboard. Trippe, however, successfully shepherded her convoy into Quiberon Bay
, France
, made repairs quickly, and resumed her grueling routine.
Through the final year of the war, Trippe and her sister ships slowly bested the enemy. Convoys of merchant ships carried troops and supplies to France, where the armies of the Allies grew steadily. By the fall of 1918, they reached a point of overwhelming superiority over those of the Central Powers
. On 11 November, the day of the signing of the armistice
, Trippe was in port at Queenstown. Just over a month later, she cleared that Irish port, refueled at the Azores
and Bermuda
, and returned to Boston on 3 January 1919. After six months of operations along the eastern seaboard, the destroyer entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 23 July for preinactivation overhaul. On 6 November 1919, Trippe was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
.
had spawned a thriving traffic in smuggling alcoholic beverages. The Coast Guard's small fleet, charged with stopping the illegal importation of alcohol, was unequal to the task. Consequently, President
Calvin Coolidge
proposed to increase that fleet by 20 of the Navy's inactive destroyers, and Congress
authorized the necessary funds on 2 April 1924. Coast Guardsmen and Navy yard workers overhauled Trippes hull, stripped her of depth charge gear and torpedo tubes, and removed one of her four guns. On 7 June 1924, Trippe was transferred to the Treasury Department; and, on 24 June, she was placed in commission as Trippe (CG-20), Lieutenant Commander
John H. Cornell, USCG, in command. For the next four years, the former Navy destroyer operated along the northeastern coast out of New London, Connecticut
, as a cutter of the Coast Guard's "rum patrol."
Trippe was placed in reduced commission at New London on 5 January 1929. That October, she was moved to Stapleton, New York. From January to March 1930, she was overhauled at the New York Navy Yard. After a month of gunnery exercises off St. Petersburg, Florida
, she returned to Stapleton on 23 April to resume operations along the coast. On 18 December, Trippe cleared Stapleton for the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The Coast Guard decommissioned Trippe at Philadelphia on 15 April 1931 and returned her to the Navy on 2 May.
She remained in reserve at Philadelphia until 1934 when she was scrapped. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 5 July 1934. She was sold to Michael Flynn, Inc. of Brooklyn, New York on 22 August 1934.
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...
during 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...
and later in the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
, designated (CG-20). She was named for Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
John Trippe
John Trippe
John Trippe was an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France and the First Barbary War.-Biography:Born in Dorchester County, Maryland, Trippe was appointed a midshipman in the Navy on 5 April 1799...
.
Trippe was laid down on 12 April 1910 at Bath, Maine
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...
, by the Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...
; launched on 20 December 1910; sponsored by Mrs. John S. Hyde; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
on 23 March 1911, Lieutenant Frank D. Berrien in command.
Pre-World War I
Upon commissioning, Trippe joined the torpedo boat destroyers and submarineSubmarine
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 assigned to the east coast as a unit of the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet. For the next three years, she conducted routine operations along the east coast. In 1911, she completed trials and participated in exercises off Newport
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, Boston, and the Virginia Capes
Virginia Capes
The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....
. She made her first cruise to southern waters in 1912. She cleared Newport on 3 January and dropped anchor in Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
11 days later. Following three months of training at Guantanamo Bay and in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, the torpedo boat destroyer returned north in April and entered Boston harbor on the 21st. After repairs, Trippe resumed training operations off the northeastern coast. On 2 January 1913, the warship headed south once more for three months of tactical exercises and gunnery drills out of Guantanamo Bay and in the Gulf of Guacanayabo
Gulf of Guacanayabo
The Gulf of Guacanayabo is a bay along the southern coast of Cuba, bordered by Granma and Las Tunas provinces. It is located at .The largest port on the bay is Manzanillo, ad to the north-west, the gulf is bordered by the Jardines de la Reina archipellago...
. She returned to Boston on 14 April and spent the remainder of 1913 in operations off the coast between Boston and Norfolk, Virginia
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....
.
Trippe began 1914 as she had the previous two years — by heading south and conducting battle practice in 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...
through the end of March. However, in April, the Tampico incident
Tampico Affair
The Tampico Affair started off as a minor incident involving U.S. sailors and Mexican land forces loyal to General Victoriano Huerta during the guerra de las facciones phase of the Mexican Revolution...
brought her to the shores of Mexico
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...
, when American sailors and Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
went ashore at Veracruz
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
and seized the customs house on the 21st. Trippe arrived off Tampico on the 22d and patrolled the area for a week to prevent arms from being landed. On 1 May, she steamed south to Vera Cruz where she conducted more patrols and supported the battleships and cruisers operating in the vicinity. Near the end of the month, Trippe cleared Mexican waters; and, on the 31st, entered Boston harbor.
At the completion of an extensive overhaul, the warship conducted trials and drills in the Boston area from mid-August to late September. On 30 September, Trippe arrived at Newport for a week of operation before heading south. She shifted to 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...
in mid-October and participated in exercises there and at Lynnhaven Bay
Lynnhaven
Lynnhaven is the name commonly given to a strip of land in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Lynnhaven area of Virginia Beach is recognized as starting off the Lesner Bridge....
for a month before returning to Boston.
The warship spent December and the first three weeks of 1915 in the Boston area and, on 26 January, arrived in Guantanamo Bay to resume her schedule of winter drills in the Caribbean. Late in March, Trippe pointed her bow northward once more and reached Boston on 6 April. After her normal round of maneuvers off the northeastern coast, the torpedo boat destroyer returned to Boston on 23 October. A little less than two months later — on 13 December 1915 — Trippe became a unit of the newly-organized 2nd Reserve Flotilla. On 5 January 1916, she was designated a "Destroyer operating with reduced complement;" and, on the 27th, she was placed in ordinary at the Boston Navy Yard.
World War I
The threat of war, however, made her retirement a brief one. Trippe was placed in full commission once again at Boston on 25 July 1916, Lieutenant, junior gradeLieutenant, Junior Grade
Lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, United States Merchant Marine USMM, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade...
Roy P. Emrich in command. During the following eight months, Trippe trained along the coast in preparation for the increasingly probable entry of the United States into World War I. The United States declared war on the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
on 6 April 1917. Trippe continued to operate off the coast until early May, when she entered Boston and commenced preparations for duty overseas.
On 21 May, the destroyer cleared Boston for Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. After a call at St. John's, Newfoundland, she arrived in Queenstown
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
on the southern coast of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the location of a major wartime American destroyer base. She paused only long enough to refuel and make voyage repairs before clearing the harbor on 5 June for her first patrol. From Queenstown, she escorted Allied convoys on the last leg of their voyage from America to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Her field of operations, situated as it was in the war zone which had been established around the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
by Germany on 5 February 1915, was the prime hunting ground of High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s. When not engaged in escorting convoys, Trippe patrolled the waters around Queenstown in an effort to detect and destroy as many enemy submarines as possible.
The warship had only one verified scrape with German U-boats. On 18 September 1917, she and were steaming in company some 350 mi (563.3 km) west of Brest, France, when — shortly after 0200 — she sighted the distinctive wake of the periscope of a submarine running on a parallel course, but in the opposite direction. Trippe dropped depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s, but without "visible results", and continued on to rendezvous with an eastbound convoy. That night, she dueled with another adversary — the sea. In a raging storm, waves carried her starboard waist gun platform overboard. Trippe, however, successfully shepherded her convoy into Quiberon Bay
Quiberon Bay
The Baie de Quiberon is an area of sheltered water on the south coast of Brittany. The bay is in the Morbihan département.-Geography:The bay is roughly triangular in shape, open to the south with the Gulf of Morbihan to the north-east and the narrow peninsular of Presqu'île de Quiberon providing...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, made repairs quickly, and resumed her grueling routine.
Through the final year of the war, Trippe and her sister ships slowly bested the enemy. Convoys of merchant ships carried troops and supplies to France, where the armies of the Allies grew steadily. By the fall of 1918, they reached a point of overwhelming superiority over those of the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
. On 11 November, the day of the signing of the armistice
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
, Trippe was in port at Queenstown. Just over a month later, she cleared that Irish port, refueled at the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
and 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...
, and returned to Boston on 3 January 1919. After six months of operations along the eastern seaboard, the destroyer entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 23 July for preinactivation overhaul. On 6 November 1919, Trippe was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
.
Inter-war period
Trippes inactivity lasted five years. By 1924, ProhibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
had spawned a thriving traffic in smuggling alcoholic beverages. The Coast Guard's small fleet, charged with stopping the illegal importation of alcohol, was unequal to the task. Consequently, 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....
Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
proposed to increase that fleet by 20 of the Navy's inactive destroyers, and Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
authorized the necessary funds on 2 April 1924. Coast Guardsmen and Navy yard workers overhauled Trippes hull, stripped her of depth charge gear and torpedo tubes, and removed one of her four guns. On 7 June 1924, Trippe was transferred to the Treasury Department; and, on 24 June, she was placed in commission as Trippe (CG-20), Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
John H. Cornell, USCG, in command. For the next four years, the former Navy destroyer operated along the northeastern coast out of New London, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
, as a cutter of the Coast Guard's "rum patrol."
Rum Patrol
The Rum Patrol was an operation of the United States Coast Guard to interdict liquor smuggling vessels, known as "rum runners" in order to enforce prohibition in American waters. On 18 December 1917, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was submitted to the states by Congress...
Trippe was placed in reduced commission at New London on 5 January 1929. That October, she was moved to Stapleton, New York. From January to March 1930, she was overhauled at the New York Navy Yard. After a month of gunnery exercises off St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
, she returned to Stapleton on 23 April to resume operations along the coast. On 18 December, Trippe cleared Stapleton for the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The Coast Guard decommissioned Trippe at Philadelphia on 15 April 1931 and returned her to the Navy on 2 May.
She remained in reserve at Philadelphia until 1934 when she was scrapped. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 5 July 1934. She was sold to Michael Flynn, Inc. of Brooklyn, New York on 22 August 1934.