Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
	69k	Samuel W. Preston, born in Canada, 6 April 1840, was appointed Midshipman from the state of Illinois 4 October 1858. Graduating first in his class, 9 May 1861, he was appointed Acting Master, 4 October 1861 and Lieutenant 1 August 1862. From 1861 to 1863 he served on various vessels attached to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Captured by Confederate forces during an attack on Fort Sumter 8 September 1863, he was taken to Libby Prison and exchanged in the fall of 1864. Ordered to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as Flag-Lieutenant to Rear Admiral D. D. Porter, he participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher 24–25 December 1864 and 13 January 1865. He was killed while leading his men against the fort on the latter date. Photo #: NH 47236. Acting Master Samuel W. Preston, USN (1840-1865) photographed circa 1861-1862. The original print was mounted on a Carte de Visite. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.		Tony Cowart/Robert M. Cieri
	574k	Ship's Data Plaque, photographed at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, circa 1937. National Archives photo 19-N-16675, from the Bureau of Ships Collection.		Robert Hurst
	65k	Undated, location unknown.		-
	77k	Undated, location unknown.		-
	150k	Undated, location unknown.		Ed Zajkowski
	134k	USS Smith (DD-378) left and the USS Preston (DD-379) under construction at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 July 1935 (USN Photo No 19-N-17722).		Robert Hurst
	217k	The press released attached to this photo reads: Newest United States Destroyer Launched At Mare Island, Vallejo, California...Speeded by a salvo of guns and the splash of champagne, the destroyer U.S.S. Preston was launched at the Mare Island Naval Base yesterday. The new 1,500 ton fighting craft is the eighty-third warship to be built at the Mare Island Yards. Mrs. Edward Hale Campbell, wife of Admiral Campbell, Commandant of the Twelfth Naval District, christened the vessel in honor of Lieutenant Samuel W. Preston, naval hero of the Civil War. The new destroyer is one of sixteen similar destroyers built under naval construction funds, appropriated in the National Industrial Recovery Act. Work started in August, 1933. The Preston, it was announced, will be commissioned June 9.		Dale Hargrave
	95k	USS Smith (DD-378) at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 September 1936, two days after she went into commission. The destroyer astern of Smith is Preston (DD-379), which was still fitting out. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.		Fred Weiss
	200k	Broadside view of USS Preston (DD 379) off Mare Island in San Pablo Bay on Jan. 16, 1937. Photo from the collection of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.		Darryl Baker
	301k	USS Preston (DD-379) Underway at sea during the 1930s, possibly in 1938. Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 97937		Original: Fred Weiss Replacement: Jon Balson
	149k	Destroyers underway in San Diego Harbor, California, 1938. Identifiable ships are: USS Drayton (DD-366), at left; USS Preston (DD-379), at right; and USS Perkins (DD-377), in center, partially masked by Preston. Note colored bands painted on these destroyer's after smokestacks, possibly for unit identification purposes. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.		Fred Weiss
	129k	USS Preston (DD-379) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, on 15 August 1942 Barge in the far right distance is YF-380. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.		Fred Weiss
	176k	USS Detroit (CL-8) at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 August 1942. Note her after 6"/53 guns and men lounging on the fantail. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Destroyers in the background include USS Preston (DD-379), at right, and USS Conyngham (DD-371), at left. On the far side of the pier from them are USS Caldwell (DD-605), in the far center distance beyond Preston's bow, and USS Walke (DD-416), at left beyond Conyngham. YOS-1 is in the far right distance. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Photo #: 19-N-33050.		Robert Hurst
	147k	Map of Iron Bottom Sound indicating where ships were sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal.		Ron Reeves

CDR Charles Davis Swain    Oct 27 1936 - Apr 30 1938

LCDR Clayton Shadek Isgrig    Apr 30 1938 - Jul 1 1939

LCDR Timothy Joseph O'Brien    Jul 1 1940 - Oct 31 1941 (Later RADM)

CDR Max Clifford Stormes    Oct 31 1941 - Nov 14 1942

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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