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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 43761-A:  USS Worden at anchor, possibly in the Hampton Roads area in 1907

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Worden (Torpedo Boat Destroyer # 16), 1902-1920

USS Worden, a 433-ton Truxtun class destroyer built at Sparrows Point, Maryland, was placed in commission at the end of 1902 or in February 1903 (sources differ on the date). She operated along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, in the Caribbean area and in the Gulf of Mexico for nearly five years. In November 1907 Worden became a member of the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla, based at Norfolk, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina. She remained in that status until 1914, with the exception of several months in 1909, when she was in full commission, and during 1912-1913, when she was stationed at Philadelphia on training duty with the Pennsylvania Naval Militia. Beginning in 1914 Worden served as a tender to the Atlantic Fleet's Submarine Force.

In March 1917, as the United States drew closer to direct involvement in World War I, Worden was assigned to recruiting duty at New York. This lasted until early 1918, when she was sent to the European war zone, steaming across the Atlantic by way of Bermuda and the Azores. Arriving at Brest, France, in February, she was soon conducting anti-submarine patrols and escorting coastal convoys, work that continued for the rest of the conflict. In December, after the 11 November 1918 Armistice had brought the fighting to an end, Worden retraced her previous trans-Atlantic route to return to the United States. She was inactive at the Philadelphia Navy Yard from early 1919 until placed out of commission in mid-July 1919.

USS Worden was stricken from the Navy list in September 1919 and sold in early January 1920. Her new owners converted her to a banana freighter, stripping out her steam machinery to create more internal space for this perishable cargo. Her long career in this commercial role ended off the coast of Florida on 1 May 1942, when she was reportedly torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-109.

USS Worden was named in honor of Rear Admiral John L. Worden (1818-1897), who commanded USS Monitor during her historic battle with CSS Virginia on 9 March 1862.

This page features all the views we have concerning USS Worden (Torpedo Boat Destroyer # 16).


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 91222

USS Worden
(Torpedo Boat Destroyer # 16)

Underway during the North Atlantic Fleet review, 1905.
Photographed by the Burr McIntosh Studio.

Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Rodgers Collection.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 59943-A

USS Worden
(Torpedo Boat Destroyer # 16)

Underway during the North Atlantic Fleet review, 1905.
Photographed by the Burr McIntosh Studio.

Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Rodgers Collection.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 575 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 43761-A

USS Worden
(Torpedo Boat Destroyer # 1)

At anchor, possibly in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area in 1907.
An armored cruiser is visible in the left distance.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 46KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 101529

Hudson-Fulton celebration
,
New York City, September-October 1909

Crowd observes warships anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, during the festivities, circa 25 September -- 9 October 1909.
The four-funneled destroyer in the left foreground is USS Worden (Destroyer # 16), accompanied by several torpedo boats.
The British armored cruisers beyond are HMS Argyll (at left) and HMS Duke of Edinburgh (right center).

Collection of Chief Quartermaster John Harold, USN.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 455 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 99868

Destroyers in port, circa 1914


The ship in the center foreground, with four equally-spaced smokestacks, is USS Macdonough (Destroyer # 9), which was assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Division, Newport, Rhode Island, on 1 January 1914. Alongside her starboard side (in left center) is USS Worden (Destroyer # 16), assigned at that time to the Reserve Torpedo Division, Annapolis, Maryland. The destroyer at far left is a member of the Second Division, U.S. Atlantic Fleet Torpedo Flotilla, as shown by the numeral "2" on her middle smokestack.
This photo is one of a series from the collection of a USS Walke (Destroyer # 34) crewmember, a three-stack member of the Second Division.

Courtesy of Jim Kazalis, 1981.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 455 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 43036

Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania


Destroyers awaiting decommissioning in the Navy Yard's Reserve Basin, during the Spring of 1919. Photographed by La Tour.
Ships present are identified in Photo # NH 43036 (complete caption).

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 500 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 52105

Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania


Destroyers awaiting decommissioning, in the Yard's Reserve Basin, 4 March 1919.
Ships present include (from left to right):
USS Lawrence (Destroyer # 8);
USS Perry (Destroyer # 11);
USS Whipple (Destroyer # 15);
USS Truxtun (Destroyer # 14); and
USS Worden (Destroyer # 16).
Note Lawrence's after torpedo tube (with torpedo visible) and pattern camouflage; 48-star flags, radio masts and signal flags on several of these destroyers; and small craft moored to the ships' sterns.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 122KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 92301

Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania


Old destroyers in the Reserve Basin, 13 June 1919, while awaiting decommissioning. Note the truck and liferafts on the pier.
These ships are (from left to right):
USS Worden (Destroyer # 16);
USS Barry (Destroyer # 2);
USS Hull (Destroyer # 7);
USS Hopkins (Destroyer # 6) -- probably;
USS Bainbridge (Destroyer # 1);
USS Stewart (Destroyer # 13);
USS Paul Jones (Destroyer # 10); and
USS Decatur (Destroyer # 5).
Ships further to the right can not be identified.

Courtesy of Frank Jankowski, 1981.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 117KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 


The following image shows the former USS Worden while she was employed as a commercial banana freighter.

Photo #: 80-G-177164 (cropped)

M.S. Worden
(Nicaraguan Banana Freighter, 1903)

Standing by a damaged freighter (probably M.S. La Paz) off the east coast of Florida (80 10'W; 28 10'), 1 May 1942.
According to Röwer: "Axis Submarine Successes of World War II" Worden was sunk by the German Submarine U-109 on this date and in this approximate location.
Worden, which has the Nicaraguan flag painted on her side, was the former USS Worden (Destroyer # 16), which was sold by the U.S. Navy in January 1920.
This image is cropped from Photo # 80-G-177164.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 620 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 28 January 2006