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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Melville (AD-2)
ex
 USS Melville (Destroyer Tender #2) (1915 - 1920)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Juliet - Xray
 NEJX
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - World War I Victory Medal (with Mobile Base Clasp) - American Defense Service Medal (with Sea Clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Melville Class Destroyer Tender:
  • Laid down, 11 November 1913, at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.
  • Launched, 2 March 1915
  • Commissioned USS Melville (Destroyer Tender #2), 3 December 1915, CDR. Henry B. Price in command
  • Designated (AD-2), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned, 9 August 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 23 April 1947
  • Turned over to the Maritime Commission, 30 March 1948 for disposal
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 20 July 1948, to Patapsco Scrap Corp. along with USS San Clemente (AG-79) and USS Wassuc (CMc-3), contract PDX-452, for $332,124.00
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,700 t. (lim)
    Length 417' 3"
    Beam 54' 4"
    Draft 20'
    Speed 14.7 kts (trial).
    Complement
    officers 34
    enlisted 391
    Armament
    two single 5".51 cal. dual purpose gun mounts
    four single 3"/50 cal. dual purpose gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    three 3-pdrs (removed)
    one 18"tt (removed)
    Largest boom capacity 8 t.
    Ship's Service Generators two turbo-drive 250Kw 120V D.C.
    Fuel Capacity NFSO 6,560 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one New York Shipbuilding Parsons-design turbine
    two Thorny boilers 250psi Sat.
    single Westinghouse Main Reduction Gear
    single propeller, 4,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Melville 91k
    Namesake
    Rear Admiral George W. Melville

    George Wallace Melville, born in New York City 10 January 1841, attended the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute before enlisting in the Navy Engineer Corps as third assistant engineer 29 July 1861. He served with distinction in the Civil War and the years following. In 1873 he volunteered for duty as Chief Engineer of Tigress for her rescue in Baffin Bay of 19 survivors of the Polaris expedition to the Arctic. Lieutenant Melville next volunteered to join the Jeannette expedition, departing San Francisco, Calif., 7 August 1879 to seek an ocean passage to the Atlantic by way of Siberia. Jeannette became icebound in September and, after 2 years of effort to save her, was crushed by floes in the Laptev Sea and sank 12 June 1881. Melville led the only boat party to reach safety in Lena Delta, Siberia. He then returned north to find the frozen bodies of Jeannette’s commanding officer, Lt. George W. Delong, and his party lost in July. Congress rewarded Melville for his gallantry and resourcefulness by advancing him 15 numbers on the promotion list and awarding him a medal. Following his next assignment in 1884 as Chief Engineer of Thetis for the Greely Relief Expedition, President Grover Cleveland appointed Melville Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering 9 August 1887. During his administration of over 16 years, Melville superintended the design of 120 ships of the “New Navy” and introduced such widely acclaimed innovations, as the water tube boiler, vertical engines, and the repair ship. Promoted to rear admiral 3 March 1899, he was appointed Engineer in Chief of the Navy 6 December 1900. The author of many technical articles and one book, “In the Lena Delta,” Admiral Melville retired 10 January 1903 and died in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 March 1912.
    Photo: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA    		 Bill Gonyo
    USS Melville (Destroyer Tender #2)
    Melville 264k Launching of Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2), 2 March 1913, at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.
    Photo by Underwood - The Washington Times, March 6, 1915 - Pictorial Review of the News.    		 Michael Mohl
    Melville 85k Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) underway at 15.15 knots during run # 16 of her trials, 16 July 1915.
    US Navy photo # NH 804 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 65k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) at anchor, circa 1916 or early 1917. The original photograph is printed on a postcard stock.
    US Navy photo # NH 104451 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007.    		 Robert Hurst
    Melville 118k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) in drydock circa 1916 or early 1917. The original photograph is printed on post card stock.
    US Navy photo # NH 104452 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007.    		 Robert Hurst
    Melville 81k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) tending U.S. Navy destroyers at Queenstown, Ireland, 1917. The destroyers present include (from left to right):
    USS Jacob Jones (Destroyer # 61)
    USS Ericsson (Destroyer # 56)
    USS Wadsworth (Destroyer # 60)
    and an unidentified ship.
    US Navy photo # NH 46396 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 62k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) at Queenstown, Ireland, while serving as destroyer flotilla repair ship during World War I.
    US Navy photo # NH 46394 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 90k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) moored at Queenstown, Ireland, 11 April 1918, while acting as "mother ship" for U.S. destroyers based there.
    US Navy photo # NH 43616 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 103k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) at Queenstown, Ireland, with three destroyers alongside in 1918, during the British First Sea Lord's visit to the American forces.
    US Navy photo # NH 46397 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 131k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) tending destroyers and submarine chasers at Queenstown, Ireland, in 1918. Flying at the peak of her mainmast is the three-star flag of Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Operating in European Waters.
    US Navy photo # NH 46200 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 70k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) at anchor, Cork Harbour, Queenstown, (now Cobh) is the land to the left. The Naval base on Haulbowline Island is visible behind her bows, with ships tied up alongside and the island astern is Spike Island. The land in the far distance is Whitegate and Aghada, where the US seaplane base was during the war. circa 1918. Photo courtesy Jim Kazalis, 1981, Caption cou8rtesy Roland Green, Carrigaline, Co. Cork, Ireland.
    US Navy photo # NH 98936 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 103k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) returning to the United States with the "Victory Fleet" on 15 April 1919, after target practice in Cuban waters. Location is probably New York Harbor.
    US Navy photo # NH 43615 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 38k USS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) with USS McLanahan (Destroyer # 264) tied up alongside at San Diego, CA., 1919. The bow of USS Reno (Destroyer # 303) is visible in the right distance.
    US Navy photo # NH 77259 courtesy of Mrs. C.R. DeSpain, 1973. From the scrapbooks of Fred M. Butler.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USS Melville (AD-2)
    Melville 82k USS Melville (AD-2) anchored in the Hudson River, near New York City, 2 May 1927.
    US Navy photo # NH 1034 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 83k USS Melville (AD-2) seen from directly overhead while anchored in the Hudson River, near New York City, 2 May 1927.
    US Navy photo # NH 46399 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Melville 73k USS Melville (AD-2) approaching the Gatun Locks, 11 June 1927, while transiting the Panama Canal. Immediately beyond Melville is the SS Edwin Christenson (American freighter, built in 1918 as SS West Wind).
    US Navy photo # NH 105061-A, a panoramic photograph by Goldbeck, National Photo Service, 737 East Houston Street, San Antonio, TX., now in the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    Melville 74k USS Melville (AD-2) with Destroyer Division 35 alongside and all are flying full flags during Navy Day at San Diego, CA., 28 October 1927. From left to right are the:
    USS MacDonough (DD-331),
    USS Mervine (DD-322),
    USS Marcus (DD-321),
    USS Mullany (DD-325),
    USS Chase (DD-323),
    USS Robert Smith (DD-324), and
    USS Selfridge (DD-320).
    Thirty months later, these misleadingly attractive ships and 27 others in the Pacific Fleet would be paired off with inhabitants of red lead row. The next step for these beautiful but worn-out destroyers was the scrap heap. Photo from author's collection "Warship Boneyards," by Kit and Caolyn Bonner.    		 Robert Hurst
    Melville 93k USS Melville (AD-2) steams past Yerba Buena Island, in San Francisco Bay, circa 1930.
    US Navy photo # NH 67845-A from the collection of LT. Ralph F. Nourse, donated by LCDR. J.R. Bradley, 1961.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 66k USS Melville (AD-2) with squadron alongside, circa 1930, San Diego, CA.
    National Archives photo # 80-G-416393, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		US National Archives
    Melville 100k USS Melville (AD-2) in Balboa Harbor, Panama Canal Zone, 24 April 1934. From the bottom to the top of the photo several US Navy and British ships are present including USS Zane (DD-337) and another destroyer alongside Melville, USS Medusa (AR-1), USS Litchfield (DD-336), HMS Exeter and another destroyer nested with USS Truxtun (DD-229).
    US Navy photo # NH 60813 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 19k USS Melville (AD-2) underway, circa 1936, location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Melville 82k USS Melville (AD-2) moored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 23 August 1940, as seen from an altitude of 800 feet.
    US Navy photo # NH 411136 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Melville 19k USS Melville (AD-2) off Portland, England, as part of D-Day landing preparations, 3 June 1944.
    US Navy photo         		.

    For more photos and information about USS Melville, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 15 March 2013