USS Yarborough
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Namesake | George Hampton Yarborough, Jr. |
| Builder | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Union Iron Works, San Francisco |
| Laid down | 27 February 1919 |
| Launched | 20 June 1919 |
| Commissioned | 31 December 1920 |
| Decommissioned | 29 May 1930 |
| Stricken | 3 November 1930 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 25 February 1932 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Clemson-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,308 tons |
| Length | 314 feet 4+1⁄2 inches (95.82 m) |
| Beam | 30 feet 11+1⁄2 inches (9.44 m) |
| Draft | 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h) |
| Range |
|
| Complement | 122 officers and enlisted |
| Armament | 4 × 3 in (76 mm) gun, 12 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
USS Yarborough (DD-314) was a
Namesake
George Hampton Yarborough, Jr. was born on 14 October 1895 in
He was promoted to first lieutenant on 11 August 1917 and served two tours of detached duty while assigned to the 5th Regiment, first at Cosne, France, between 8 December 1917 and 4 January 1918 and then at Gondrecourt, between 22 February and 29 April 1918.
On 23 June 1918, the height of the
History
Yarborough was laid down on 27 February 1919 at
Following commissioning, Yarborough was fitted out at Mare Island into late January 1921 and departed the yard on the 25th, bound for
One event was noteworthy during the ship's largely port-bound routine in 1921. She embarked
Yarborough remained alongside the Santa Fe dock at San Diego until 30 June, when she headed for the Mare Island Navy Yard. After a drydocking, the destroyer ran trials off the southern California coast, during which she shipped heavy seas over the forecastle that caused some damage to her bridge on 11 July. Visiting San Francisco briefly, the destroyer returned to San Diego on the 13th, where she remained into mid-October.
Yarborough subsequently ran gunnery exercises and drills in company with her sistership Wood (DD-317) late in October, after receiving on board a large draft of men from Jacob Jones (DD-130). Yarborough apparently joined the operating segment of the "rotating reserves" at that point because the rest of her career was largely one of operational activity.
She spent the majority of 1922 operating from San Diego, touching at ports in the Pacific Northwest like
The following year, however, Yarborough began her voyages beyond what had become the usual west coast routine. After maneuvers out of San Pedro with the Battle Fleet, Yarborough departed that port on 9 February 1923, bound for Magdalena Bay, Mexico. Arriving there on the 6th, in company with Destroyer Squadrons 11 and 12 and the destroyer tender Melville (AD-2), she was underway again two days later this time bound for Panama.
In the succeeding days that February, Yarborough took part in the first of the large United States Fleet exercises -
After further exercises, Yarborough departed the Panama area on 31 March as part of the screen for the northward-bound battleships. She arrived at San Diego on 11 April. For the remainder of the year, her schedule remained routine, operations within the vicinity of San Diego, San Francisco, or San Pedro, with a period under repairs at Mare Island and dry-docked on a marine railway at San Diego.
On 2 January 1924, Yarborough got underway for Panama to participate in the next series of fleet exercises - Fleet Problems II, III, and IV - conducted concurrently.
Yarborough's role in the maneuvers was similar to those she had performed before. However, there was one exception because, during one phase of the exercises, she operated with
After further exercises off Puerto Rico, Yarborough headed for home; transited the Panama Canal on 8 April; and arrived at San Diego on the 22d. For the remainder of the year, she operated in and around her home port.
The Scouting Fleet once more "battled" the Battle Fleet in March 1925, in
Yarborough departed San Francisco as part of this movement on 15 April 1925. Her log noted: "underway in company with the
During subsequent maneuvers out of Lahaina, Yarborough and her mates performed as "Cruiser Division 1" for the sake of the exercise, acting in that guise from 19 to 29 May, before returning to Pearl Harbor for upkeep.
After visiting
Yarborough eventually returned via Pearl Harbor to San Diego on 19 September and remained in the vicinity of her home port for the remainder of 1925. Early the following year, 1926, she took part in
The year 1927 proved to be a busy one for Yarborough, one that she began, as usual, at San Diego. Departing that port on 17 February, the destroyer transited the Panama Canal on 5 March, Atlantic-bound. The loss of the German steamship Albatross, however, forced a change in plans. Yarborough re-transited the canal four days later, on 9 March, and headed for the Galápagos Islands in company with the rest of Destroyer Division 34. Forming a scouting line, the flush-deckers combed the seas for survivors of the Albatross. During the search, Yarborough often operated in sight of her sisterships Sloat (DD-316) and Shirk (DD-318) but found nothing. Abandoning the search on the 13th, the ship retransmitted the canal and rejoined the Fleet.
Participating in
Yarborough subsequently headed for Panama, arriving at Colon on 9 June. She shifted to Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, soon thereafter, due to an outbreak of unrest there. She joined Denver (PG-28) and Robert Smith (DD-324) in guarding American interests in that port before heading back to Colon, retransiting the Panama Canal, and undergoing a drydocking at Balboa. She returned to Puerto Cabezas on 9 July and found Tulsa (PG-22) and Shirk in port.
Yarborough remained at Puerto Cabezas into early August, drilling her landing force in light marching order early in the deployment to be ready for any emergency. The destroyer sailed for the Panama Canal on 5 August, transited the canal on the 7th, and arrived at San Diego on the 23rd. She exercised out of San Diego and off San Clemente Island for the rest of 1927.
The following spring, Yarborough again operated in Hawaiian waters, taking part in
Yarborough participated in her final large-scale maneuvers in January 1929, operating between San Diego and the westward side of the Panama Canal Zone, in
After alternating periods in port and operating locally, Yarborough was moored at the Destroyer Base at San Diego that autumn and prepared for decommissioning. Simultaneously, she participated in the reactivation of ships that had been in reserve during the past few years. Two of those ships were Upshur (DD-144) and Tarbell (DD-142).
Fate
Yarborough was decommissioned on 29 May 1930; and, on 3 November 1930, her name was struck from the Navy List. Scrapped on 20 December of the same year, her remains were sold as scrap metal on 25 February 1932.
As of 2019, no other ships have been named Yarborough.
References
- ^ "CAA Admin Tool". Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
- ^ "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps". 1919.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
