-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Hamilton (Destroyer # 141, later DD-141, DMS-18 & AG-111), 1919-1946
USS Hamilton, a 1090-ton Wickes class destroyer built at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, was commissioned in November 1919. She operated along the U.S. West Coast and in Hawaiian waters until July 1922, when she was decommissioned and laid up. After nearly eight years in San Diego's "Red Lead Row", the destroyer recommissioned in January 1930. Based at Norfolk, Virginia in 1930-1931, she then spent a year back at San Diego before returning to the East Coast early in 1933. Her service there included a time as a torpedo test ship at Newport, Rhode Island. Late in the decade, Hamilton was modified for stabilization tank trials, giving her with a unique three-smokestack profile.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, she was employed on patrols in the western North Atlantic, protecting U.S. neutrality and escorting shipping. In mid-1941 Hamilton was converted to a high-speed minesweeper and redesignated DMS-18. After the United States formally entered the war in December 1941, she spent two years in the Atlantic and Caribbean, primarly engaged in anti-submarine work but also participating in the invasion of Morocco during November and December 1942.
Hamilton steamed to the Pacific late in 1943 to join the war against Japan, in which she frequently performed dangerous pre-invasion minesweeping off enemy-held islands. Her 1944 operations included the conquest of Kwajalein in January and February, the Admiralty Islands and Northern New Guinea campaigns in March and April, the invasions of Saipan and Guam during June and July, landings in the Palaus in September and Leyte in October. In January-March 1945, Hamilton participated in amphibious attacks on Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, and Iwo Jima. She went to the U.S. West Coast for overhaul in April. Redesignated AG-111, the ship was used for mine-sweeping experiments until the war ended. USS Hamilton decommissioned in October 1945 and was sold for scrapping in November 1946.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Hamilton (Destroyer # 141, later DD-141, DMS-18 & AG-111).
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Photo #: NH 67681 USS Hamilton (DD-141) At anchor, circa the 1930s. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 86 KB; 900 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 107422 USS Hamilton (DD-141) In port, circa the 1930s. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Online Image: 116 KB; 900 x 720 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 107421 USS Hamilton (DD-141) Underway while employed in ordnance tests during the 1930s. Note that a torpedo tube has been installed in place of her forward 4"/50 gun. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 65 KB; 900 x 560 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 107423-KN (color) USS Hamilton (DD-141) Underway in New York Harbor, circa 1939-1940. Her forward boiler has been replaced with stabilization tanks for anti-rolling tests, leaving her with only three smokestacks. Color-tinted black & white photograph. Donation of the Lincoln County Museum, North Platte, Nebraska, 2010. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 91 KB; 900 x 715 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 70505 USS Hamilton (Destroyer # 141) Fitting out at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 July 1919. At left, also fitting out, is USS Claxton (Destroyer # 140). Courtesy of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 1970. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 121 KB; 700 x 925 pixels |
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USS Hamilton is among the ships seen in the following photographs:
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Photo #: NH 70503 USS Claxton (Destroyer # 140) Fitting out at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 July 1919. Two other destroyers, also fitting out, are on either side. USS Hamilton (Destroyer # 141) is at right, and USS Kennison (DD-138) is at left. Courtesy of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 1970. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 111 KB; 700 x 925 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 74060 Mare Island Navy Yard, California View looking south along the quay wall from Mateial Stores, to the north of the ferry slip, in mid-1919. The destroyers fitting out at left are, from outboard to inboard: Collection of William H. Topley. Courtesy of Charles M. Loring, 1971. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 128 KB; 900 x 705 pixels
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Photo #: NH 42539 "Red Lead Row", San Diego Destroyer Base, California Photographed at the end of 1922, with at least 65 destroyers tied up there. Many of the ships present are identified in Photo # NH 42539 (complete caption). U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 159KB; 740 x 515 pixels |
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In addition to the views referenced above, the National Archives appears to hold other photographs of USS Hamilton (DMS-18, formerly DD-141). The following listing describes some of these images:
The images listed below are not in the Naval History and Heritage Command's collections, and therefore cannot be obtained using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".
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For higher resolution images see: Obtaining Photographic Reproductions
To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.