Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
No Photo Available	-	Seaman John McFarland, USN, entered the Navy at Boston, Mass., 24 December 1861 as seaman on Ohio, later transferring to Hartford in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. Rated captain of the forecastle, he had the station at the wheel in every engagement in which Hartford participated. During the Battle of Mobile Bay 4 and 5 August 1864. McFarland left his sickbed to take up station, keeping the wheel of Admiral Farragut’s flagship throughout the storm of shell and shot. He was commended by his commanding officers for his fortitude and intelligence and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallant and meritorious service. The circumstances and date of his death are unknown.		Bill Gonyo
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY WASHINGTON The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION to the UNITED STATES SHIP McFARLAND for service as set forth in the following Citation: "For outstanding performance during action with enemy Japanese forces in the Southwest Pacific Area, June 20 to October 16, 1942. Serving in turn as a seaplane tender, escort vessel, patrol boat, and cargo and troop carrier, the McFARLAND, under constant threat of hostile attack, delivered urgently needed supplies to American troops on Guadalcanal until eventually disabled by Japanese dive bombers and towed to port for repair. Her restoration to combatant status, at a time when she might easily have been given up for lost, is a distinctive tribute to the courageous tenacity of her officers and men.” For the President, Frank Knox Secretary of the Navy
	157k	USS McFarland (DD 237) date and place unknown. Photo from the collection of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.		Darryl Baker
	225k	USS McFarland (DD 237) date and place unknown. Photo from the collection of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.		Darryl Baker
	248k	Undated, Havana Harbor.		Ron Reeves
	130k	Undated, USS Overton (DD-239), USS Sturtevant (DD-240), USS James K. Paulding (DD-238), USS McFarland (DD-237) and USS Childs (DD-241) at Boston Navy Yard. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Ed Zajkowski
	356k	Under construction USS James K. Paulding DD-238 (left) & USS McFarland DD-237 (right). Picture is annotated as 1917 at Newport News, my sources indicate she was built by New York Ship Building ??? From the the Robert J. Lewis collection.		-
	102k	Christening of the McFarland at New York Shipbuilding Corporation Shipyard, Camden, New Jersey. Newspaper clipping from the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger date March 11 1920.Eleven destroyers fitting out in the Wet Basin between Piers 3 and 4. Photo is dated 28 September 1920.		Mike Mohl
	131k	New York Shipbuilding Corporation Shipyard, Camden, New Jersey. Eleven destroyers fitting out in the Wet Basin between Piers 3 and 4. Photo is dated 28 September 1920. Ships present are identified as (from left to right): Childs (DD-241), commissioned 22 Oct. 1920; Reuben James (DD-245), commissioned 24 Sept. 1920; McFarland (DD-237), commissioned 30 Sept. 1920; Sturtevant (DD-240), commissioned 21 Sept. 1920; Williamson (DD-244), commissioned 29 Oct. 1920; Sands (DD-243), commissioned 10 Nov. 1920; Lawrence (DD-250), commissioned 18 April 1921; Hopkins (DD-249), commissioned 21 March 1921; Bainbridge (DD-246), commissioned 9 Feb. 1921; Goff (DD-247), commissioned 19 Jan. 1921; and Barry (DD-248), commissioned 28 Dec. 1920.		Robert Hurst
	126k	USS McFarland (DD-237) at Venice, Italy in the 1920s. The original photo is dated 1927, but was more probably taken circa 1922-1923. Source: Naval History Heritage and Command, Photo No. NH 769.		Mike Green
	138k	Destroyers refitting at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California View taken circa 1921-22. Many of these ships are being modified to place the after 4"/50 gun atop an enlarged after deckhouse. Ships present include (listed from the foreground): USS Lamberton (DD-119); unidentified destroyer; USS Breese (DD-122); USS Radford (DD-120); unidentified destroyer; USS Elliot (DD-146); USS Tarbell (DD-142); USS Yarnall (DD-143); USS Delphy (DD-261); USS McFarland (DD-237); USS Litchfield (DD-336); USS Kennison (DD-138); USS Lea (DD-118); and two unidentified destroyers. Collection of Rear Admiral Ammen Farenholt, USN (MC), 1932. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.		Fred Weiss
	136k	USS McFarland after collision with battleship USS Arkansas on September 19 1923, Boston Navy Yard. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Mike Mohl/Ed Zajkowski
	246k	As above. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Mike Mohl/Ed Zajkowski
	210k	As above. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Ed Zajkowski
	231k	As above. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Ed Zajkowski
	218k	As above. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Ed Zajkowski
	149k	As above. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Mike Mohl/Ed Zajkowski
	161k	As above. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Ed Zajkowski
	129k	As above. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Ed Zajkowski
	193k	As above. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.		Ed Zajkowski
	100k	Coming alongside USS Pittsburgh (CA-4) in mid-ocean to send a sick man on board for treatment, during the mid-1920s. Photographed by Ray, USS Pittsburgh. Courtesy of Jack Howland, 1983. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.		Fred Weiss
	92k	Photographed during the 1920s or 1930s. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.		Fred Weiss
	139k	USS McFarland (DD-237) Leaving the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, on 4 August 1932, after being recommissioned. Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.		Robert McFarland
	66k	San Francisco Bay, late 1930s.		Fred Weiss
	108k	The plane guard destroyer USS McFarland (DD-237) returns a pilot to the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) after ditching and being recovered from the water, while the ships were operating off California. Note the Japanese flags painted on the superstructure indicating enemy aircraft shot down. The aircraft involved was a TBM which ditched at 0832, 14 April 1944. The crew was transferred to the carrier via breeches buoy at 1130. The same crew had ditched and been rescued by McFarland exactly one week earlier. National Museum of Naval Aviation, Photo No. NNAM.1996.488.093.005		Mike Green

LCDR Preston Bennett Haines    Sep 30 1920 - Nov 2 1921

CDR Harry Langley Pence    Nov 2 1921 -  ? 1923

LCDR Schuyler Mills    ? 1923 - Jul 27 1925

LCDR Lucius Claude Dunn    Jul 27 1925 - Jul 15 1929

CDR Howard Hall Crosby    Jul 15 1927 - ?

LCDR Elliott Buckmaster    Jun 21 1929 - Jun 21 1930 (Later VADM)

(Decommissioned January 20 1931 - June 13 1932)

LCDR Edwin Newcombe Fisher    Jun 13 1932 - Jun 20 1934

As the AVD-14

LCDR Jerome Lee Allen    Jun 20 1934 - Jun 10 1935

(Decommissioned June 10 1935 - October 5 1940) 

LCDR Joseph Lester (Paddy) Kane    Oct 5 1940 - Jul 30 1942 (Later RADM)

Reclassified DD-237 December 1 1943

LCDR John Clement (Dopey) Alderman    Jul 30 1942 - Jan 1943 (Later RADM)

LT Carl C. Ellis    Jan 16 1943 - Mar 10 1943

LCDR Earle Grace Gardner Jr.    Mar 10 1943 - Apr 5 1944

LCDR Herbert Stanley Calvin    Apr 5 1944 - Nov 3 1945

LT Clarence L. Saunders Jr.    Nov 3 1945 - Nov 8 1945

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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

Last Updated 15 December 2017