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USS HAMILTON (DD-141 / DMS-18 / AG-111)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NFBQ

CLASS - WICKES As Built.
Displacement 1,154 Tons, Dimensions, 314' 5" (oa) x 31' 8" x 9' 10" (Max)
Armament 4 x 4"/50, 2 x 1pdr AA (1 x 3"/23AA In Some Ships), 12 x 21" tt..
Machinery, 24,200 SHP; Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 35 Knots, Crew 103.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Mare Island Navy Yard on June 8 1918.
Launched January 15 1919 and commissioned November 7 1919.
Decommissioned at San Diego on July 20 1922.
Recommissioning on January 20 1930.
Reclassified High Speed Minesweeper DMS-18 October 17 1941.
Reclassified AG-111 June 5 1945.
Decommissioned at San Diego and berthed there until her sale.
Stricken November 1 1945.
Fate Sold November 21 1946 to Hugo Neu, New York and broken up for scrap.

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-Archibald Hamilton was the son of Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy from 7 March 1809 to 31 December 1812. Archibald was appointed Midshipman 18 May 1809 and assigned to work with a new kind of hollow shot needed by frigate President. He next sailed for Europe in John Adams 31 January 1811 carrying dispatches for American officers in the Mediterranean. On his return to the United States, Archibald Hamilton was assigned to United States on which he won high commendation from his commanding officer, Commodore Stephen Decatur, for gallantry in action during the capture of British frigate Macedonian, 25 October 1812. Decatur selected him to bear the captured British flags to Washington. Appointed Acting Lieutenant 21 December 1812 and Lieutenant 24 July 1813, Hamilton served with distinction throughout the War of 1812 only to be killed shortly after the Treaty of Ghent had formally ended the war. Because of the slow communications of the day word of peace had not reached New York by 15 January 1815 when frigate President, carrying Hamilton, ran the blockade out of that port. The next day British men-of-war Endymion, Pomone and Tenedos overtook and captured President after a long and bloody running fight in which Hamilton was killed.Robert M. Cieri
USS Hamilton (DD-141)
Hamilton 605kUndated, the crew of the USS Hamilton (DD-141).Lary Haggard
Hamilton 43kUndated, location unknown. Photo was taken by L. Eugene Klotzbach.Tommy Trampp
Hamilton 162kUSS Hamilton (Destroyer No. 141) and USS Claxton (Destroyer No. 140) on the building ways at Mare Island, 16 July 1918.Darryl Baker
Jouett
0514118
714kHamilton (Destroyer No. 141) going down the ways at Mare Island Navy Yard on 15 January 1919.
MINY photo 4513-1-1919, from the files of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
Darryl Baker
Hamilton 177kMare Island Navy Yard, California, View looking south along the quay wall from Material Stores, to the north of the ferry slip, in mid-1919. The destroyers fitting out at left are, from outboard to inboard: USS Hamilton (Destroyer No. 141); USS Claxton (Destroyer No. 140); and USS Kennison (Destroyer No. 138). Collection of William H. Topley.
Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 74060, courtesy of Charles M. Loring, 1971.
Robert Hurst
Hamilton 126kBow view of USS Hamilton (Destroyer No. 141) with USS Claxton (Destroyer No. 140) outboard at Mare Island, 01 July 1919.Darryl Baker
Hamilton 139kStern view of USS Hamilton (Destroyer No. 141) with USS Claxton (Destroyer No. 140) outboard at Mare Island, 01 July 1919.Darryl Baker
Kennison 115kPanoramic photograph of the Division's ships, taken by O.A.Tunnell in San Diego Harbour, California, probably on 14 August 1920. The ships are, from left to right: USS Kennison (DD-138); USS Claxton (DD-140); USS Ward (DD-139); USS Boggs (DD-136); and USS Hamilton (DD-141).
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 106144-A. The image is copied from the original print for Photo # NH106144, donation of Rear Admiral Joe Stanton Thompson, USN (Retired), 2008
Robert Hurst
Red Lead Row 195kRed Lead Row, San Diego Destroyer Base, California. Photographed at the end of 1922, with at least 65 destroyers tied up there. Ships present are identified as: (left to right, in the right diagonal row): Stansbury (DD-180); MacKenzie (DD-175); Renshaw (DD-176); Howard (DD-179); Gillis (DD-260); Tingey (DD-272); McLanahan (DD-264); Swasey (DD-273); Morris (DD-271); Bailey (DD-269); Tattnall (DD-125); Breese (DD-122); Radford (DD-120); Aaron Ward (DD-132) -- probably; Ramsey (DD-124); Montgomery (DD-121); and Lea (DD-118). (left to right, in the middle diagonal row): Wickes (DD-75); Thornton (DD-270); Meade (DD-274); Crane (DD-109); Evans (DD-78); McCawley (DD-276); Doyen (DD-280); Elliot (DD-146); Henshaw (DD-278); Moody (DD-277); Meyer (DD-279); Sinclair (DD-275); Turner (DD-259); Philip (DD-76); Hamilton (DD-141); Boggs (DD-136); Claxton (DD-140); Ward (DD-139); Hazelwood (DD-107) or Kilty (DD-137); Kennison (DD-138); Jacob Jones (DD-130); Aulick (DD-258); Babbitt (DD-128); Twiggs (DD-127); and Badger (DD-126). (left to right, in the left diagonal row): Shubrick (DD-268); Edwards (DD-265); Palmer (DD-161); Welles (DD-257); Mugford (DD-105); Upshur (DD-144); Greer (DD-145); Wasmuth (DD-338); Hogan (DD-178); O'Bannon (DD-177); and -- possibly -- Decatur (DD-341). (Nested alongside wharf in left center, left to right): Prairie (AD-5); Buffalo (AD-8); Trever (DD-339); and Perry (DD-340). Minesweepers just astern of this group are Partridge (AM-16) and Brant (AM-24). Nearest ship in the group of destroyers at far left is Dent (DD-116). The others with her are unidentified.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 42539
Robert Hurst
Hamilton 27kCirca 1930's, location unknown.Marc Piché
Hamilton 131kUSS Hamilton (DD-141), At anchor, circa the 1930s.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 67681, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969
Robert Hurst
Hamilton 159kUSS Hamilton (DD-141) in port, circa the 1930s.
Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 107422
Robert Hurst
Hamilton 115kUSS Hamilton (DD-141), Underway while employed in ordnance tests during the 1930s. Note that a torpedo tube has been installed in place of her forward 4"/50 gun.
Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 107421
Robert Hurst
Hamilton 92kUSS Hamilton (DD 141) departing Mare Island in June 1930. The two radio towers (450 feet high) on the right side of photos are two of the five such towers constructed at Mare Island in the 1920's. Shipyard journals indicate Hamilton was only at the yard from 06 March to 03 June 1930 after she was commissioned.Jon Burdett/Darryl Baker
Hamilton 152kUSS Hamilton (DD-141), Underway in New York Harbor, circa 1939-1940. Her forward boiler has been replaced with stabilization tanks for anti-rolling tests, leaving her with only three smokestacks.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 107423-KN, color-tinted black & white photograph. Donation of the Lincoln County Museum, North Platte, Nebraska, 2010
Robert Hurst
USS Hamilton (DMS-18)
Hamilton 109kUndated, Seen here in her DMS configuration.-

USS HAMILTON DD-141 / DMS-18 / AG-111 History
View This Vessels DANFS History entry at the Naval History & Heritage Command website

Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves


LCDR Robert Grimes Coman    Nov 7 1919 - Aug 12 1920

LT Claude Claire Vickery    Aug 12 1920 - Jul 20 1922

(Decommissioned Jul 20 1922 - Jan 20 1930)

LCDR George Hudson Fort    Jan 20 1930 - Jun 14 1931 (Later VADM)

LCDR Clarence Gulbranson    Jun 14 1931 - May 19 1932

LCDR James Walter Whitfield    May 19 1932 - Aug 1 1934 

LCDR Arthur Elliot Bartlett    Aug 1 1934 - Jan 10 1936

LCDR Lester Milburn Harvey    Jan 10 1936 - May 10 1938

LCDR Thomas Cockey Evans    May 10 1938 - Jul 17 1940

LT Harold Melvin Briggs    Jul 17 1940 - Jan 21 1941

LCDR Harold Oscar (Swede) Larson    Jan 21 1941 - Jun 19 1942 (Later VADM)

LCDR Robert Roy Sampson    Jun 19 1942 - Jun 30 1944

LCDR John Clague     Jun 30 1944 - Jul 13 1945

LT Lyle Howard Turner    Jul 13 1945 - Oct 16 1945


Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
NavSource Minesweeper Pages, USS Hamilton (DMS-18)
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Destroyers Online Website
Official U.S.Navy Destroyer Website

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This page was created by Fred Willishaw (ex ARG-4, AS-11 & DD-692) and is maintained by David L. Wright
All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
Last Updated 11 April 2021