USS Paulding

{{Short description|Paulding-class destroyer}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=Paulding (DD22). Starboard side, camouflaged, 1918 - NARA - 530782.jpg |image_caption=USS ''Paulding'' (DD-22) port side, camouflaged, Queenstown, Ireland, 1918 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{USN flag|1930}} |name=''Paulding'' |namesake=Rear Admiral Hiram A. Paulding |original_cost=$652,928.16<ref>{{cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mZEqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA762 |title= Table 21 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919 |journal= Congressional Serial Set |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |year= 1921 |page= 762 }}</ref> |ordered= |builder=Bath Iron Works Bath, Maine |laid_down=24 July 1909 |launched=12 April 1910 |acquired= |sponsor=Miss Emma Paulding |commissioned=29 September 1910 |decommissioned=August 1919 |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck=28 June 1934 |identification=*Hull symbol:DD-22 *Code letters:NON *{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|November}} |honors= |fate=Transferred to the United States Coast Guard, returned 1930 and scrapped in 1934 |notes= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=United States |flag={{shipboxflag|United States|coast guard}} |name=''Paulding'' |namesake= |ordered= |builder= |laid_down= |launched= |acquired=28 April 1924<ref name="ROM436">{{cite book | url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/RecordofMovements.pdf | title=Record of Movements Vessels of the United States Coast Guard 1790 -December 31, 1933 | publisher=TREASURY DEPARTMENT | year=1989 | location=Washington | pages=436}}</ref> |commissioned=23 January 1925<ref name="ROM436" /> |decommissioned=18 October 1930<ref name="ROM436" /> |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck= |identification=Hull symbol:CG-17 |honors= |fate=Transferred back to the United States Navy, 18 October 1930<ref name="ROM436" /> |notes= }}

|section4={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption=<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/05/022.htm | title=USS Paulding (DD-22) |website=NavSource | access-date=June 16, 2015}}</ref> |class= {{sclass|Paulding|destroyer}} |displacement=*{{convert|742|LT|t|abbr=on|lk=on}} normal *{{convert|887|LT|t|abbr=on}} full load |length={{convert|293|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|27|ft|m|abbr=on}} |draft={{convert|8|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}} (mean)<ref name="congress" /> |power={{convert|12000|ihp|kW|abbr=on}} |propulsion=*4 × boilers *3 × Parsons Direct Drive Turbines *3 × shafts |speed=*{{convert|29.5|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} *{{convert|30.80|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} (Speed on Trial)<ref name="congress">{{cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mZEqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA762 |title= Table 11 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919 |journal= Congressional Serial Set |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |year= 1921 |page= 731 }}</ref> |range= |complement=4 officers 87 enlisted |sensors= |EW= |armament=*5 × {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}/50 caliber guns *6 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (3 × 2) |armor= |notes= }} }}

'''USS ''Paulding'' (DD-22)''' was the lead ship of {{sclass|Paulding|destroyer}}s in the United States Navy. She was named for Rear Admiral Hiram A. Paulding (1797–1878). She was in commission from 1910 to 1919 and saw service in World War I.

After her Navy service, ''Paulding'' served in the United States Coast Guard as '''USCGC ''Paulding'' (CG-17)''' from 1924 to 1930.

==Construction and commissioning== ''Paulding'' was laid down by the Bath Iron Works Corporation at Bath, Maine, on 24 July 1909. She was launched on 12 April 1910, sponsored by Miss Emma Paulding, and commissioned on 29 September 1910, Lieutenant Commander Yates Stirling Jr. in command. She was the first American destroyer solely fueled by fuel oil.

==United States Navy== Assigned to the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet, ''Paulding'' operated primarily off the United States East Coast until after the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917. During April 1917, she patrolled off the New England coast and in May 1917 she prepared for distant service. On 21 May 1917, she got underway for the United Kingdom, arriving at Queenstown, Ireland, to escort convoys and protect them from Imperial German Navy U-boats. She served on that duty through the end of the war.

On 24 February 1918, ''Paulding'' was proceeding in a scouting line with the destroyers {{USS|Davis|DD-65|6}} and {{USS|Trippe|DD-33|6}} in the Atlantic Ocean off the south coast of Ireland bound for Queenstown when she sighted the British Royal Navy submarine {{HMS|L2}}′s periscope. Mistaking ''L2'' for a German U-boat, she headed for the periscope at flank speed and opened gunfire. ''L2'' had sighted the destroyers and, assuming that the destroyers had not seen her periscope, submerged to {{convert|90|ft|0}}, but upon hearing ''Paulding'' open fire, she dove to {{convert|200|ft|0}}. ''Paulding'' dropped two depth charges, the first of which shook ''L2'' severely and jammed her diving planes in a hard-upward position. This caused ''L2'' to take on a tremendous inclination, and her stern struck the seabed at a depth of {{convert|300|ft|0}}. Four more depth charges exploded, again shaking the submarine. ''L2''′s commanding officer gave the order to blow the number 5 and 6 ballast tanks, and ''L2'' surfaced bow-first. ''Davis'' dropped a depth charge near her, and then all three destroyers opened gunfire on her from a range of about {{convert|1,500|yd|sigfig=3}}. One round struck ''L2''′s pressure hull just abaft her conning tower. Some of ''L2'''s crew emerged from her conning tower, waved their hands and a White Ensign, and fired a smoke grenade. The destroyers ceased fire immediately. ''L-2'' did not sustain serious damage, and ''Davis'' escorted her to Berehaven, Ireland.<ref name=proceedingsmistakenattacks>[https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1934/december/mistaken-attacks-world-war Doughty, Leonard Jr., Lieutenant Commander, "Mistaken Attacks in the World War," ''Proceedings'', October 1934.]</ref> The force commander of British submarines, Captain Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, commended ''L2'' and the destroyers for the action in his report on the friendly fire incident. Admiral Lewis Bayly, the Royal Navy′s Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland, in his endorsement of Nasmith′s report, wrote, "Had ''L-2'' not been very skillfully and coolly handled, she would have been lost. The U. S. destroyers deserve great credit for their smartness in attack, and for their quickness in recognizing the submarine as British."<ref name=proceedingsmistakenattacks/>

''Paulding'' returned to the United States after the Armistice with Germany brought World War I to an end on 11 November 1918. She was decommissioned in August 1919 and placed in the Reserve Fleet.

==United States Coast Guard== The U.S. Navy loaned ''Paulding'' to the United States Coast Guard from 28 April 1924 to 18 October 1930. As USCGC ''Paulding'', she served on the Rum Patrol during Prohibition with her home port at Boston, Massachusetts.

''Paulding'' was sent to find the Coast Guard cutter {{USCGC|CG-238}} during a gale in February 1927 off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The {{convert|75|ft|m|abbr=on}} vessel had already foundered, and ''Paulding'' spent two days in the storm, losing much topside equipment, including one of her stacks.

On 17 December 1927, ''Paulding'' accidentally rammed and sank the U.S. Navy submarine {{USS|S-4|SS-109}} while ''S-4'' was surfacing. ''S-4'' sank with the loss of all hands. An inquiry absolved the Coast Guard of blame.

==Final disposition== Returned to the U.S. Navy on 18 October 1930, ''Paulding'' again joined the Reserve Fleet and was laid up at League Island in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 June 1934 and sold for scrap in accordance with the terms of the London Naval Treaty.

==Honors and awards== * {{ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|name=World War I Victory Medal ribbon|width=106}} World War I Victory Medal with DESTROYER clasp<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/navy-mc-awards-manual-rev1953/pt4-campaign-service-medals.html |title=Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual [Rev. 1953], Pt. 4 - Campaign and Service Medals| page=51 |author= |date=1953 |website=www.history.navy.mil |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref>

==References== {{commons category|USS Paulding (DD-22)}} {{reflist}} *{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/paulding.html}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulding (DD-22)}} Category:Paulding-class destroyers Category:World War I destroyers of the United States Category:Ships built in Bath, Maine Category:1910 ships Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War I Category:Maritime incidents in 1918 Category:Maritime incidents in 1927 Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the United States Coast Guard