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USS ''Wasmuth'' (DD-338/DMS-15) was a ''Clemson''-class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I. She was named for Henry Wasmuth. ==History== ''Wasmuth'' was laid down on 12 August 1919 at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California; designated DD-338 on 17 July 1920; launched on 15 September 1920; sponsored by Miss Gertrude E. Bennet, stepdaughter of Lieutenant Colonel R. H. Davis, USMC, an officer on duty at Mare Island; and commissioned on 16 December 1921, Cmdr. W. P. Gaddis in command. ''Wasmuth'' was fitted out at Mare Island until 27 February 1922, when she sailed for Richmond, California, to commence her shakedown cruise. Operating off Sausalito and Mare Island, the new destroyer completed her trials on 14 March, putting into her builder's yard on that day for post-shakedown repairs. She sailed for San Francisco, California on 1 May and calibrated her sound signal apparatus at that port until the 4th, when she shifted to San Pedro. ''Wasmuth'' then spent the next month operating in connection with battleship torpedo practices, a duty broken on 7 May by dispatch service to San Diego. Returning to that port from San Pedro on 8 June, she commenced preparations for decommissioning soon thereafter. Placed out of commission at San Diego on 26 July 1922, ''Wasmuth'' remained in reserve for nearly eight years during the 1920s, when treaty restrictions and cuts in operating funds reduced the Navy's active seagoing forces. Recommissioned on 11 March 1930, Lt. Cmdr. I. C. Sowell in command, ''Wasmuth'' operated as a destroyer for the next decade, participating in an intensive slate of tactical exercises and maneuvers, varying that routine with upkeep and training. She also operated with the Battle Force's Destroyer Flotilla 2 from the western seaboard into the Caribbean. Only for one brief period, in the autumn of 1934, was ''Wasmuth'' not fully active, being then assigned to Rotating Reserve Squadron 10. With the construction of newer, more heavily armed and far-ranging destroyers, the need for the old "flush-deckers" in their designed destroyer role diminished. While, of course, a great many of those World War I-authorized ships lay in reserve on both coasts, the Navy was expanding as the 1930s had progressed and, in view of ominous developments in Europe and the Far East, was broadening its operational horizons. Aviation-oriented and mine-warfare types of ships - seaplane tenders and fast minesweepers and minelayers - were needed. Accordingly, some of the old "flush-deckers" were converted to other roles. ''Wasmuth'', a unit of the fleet in Hawaiian waters since the permanent basing of the ships there in April 1940, was among the ''Clemson''-class ships chosen for conversion to high-speed minesweepers of the ''Chandler''-class. ''Wasmuth'', reclassified as DMS-15 on 19 November 1940, underwent the metamorphosis at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. Retaining her full four-gun main battery and an antiaircraft battery of .50-caliber machine guns, as well as depth-charge tracks, the ship lost her torpedo capability when minesweeping gear replaced her dozen 21-inch torpedo tubes. Upon completion of that conversion at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard on 5 April 1941, ''Wasmuth'' sailed for Palmyra Island and operated there until 19 April, when she set course to return to Pearl Harbor. The high-speed minesweeper subsequently remained in Hawaiian waters until 10 June, when she sailed for the west coast of the United States. Returning to Hawaii in early July, ''Wasmuth'' operated out of Pearl Harbor through the autumn of 1941, as tensions increased in the Far East. She operated on local patrol and minesweeping exercises during that time, as the fleet maintained an intensive training schedule. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Wasmuth (DD-338)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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