Renshaw II (Destroyer No. 176)
(DD-176: displacement 1,284; length 314-4-; beam 30-11-; draft 9-10-; speed 33 knots; complement 122; armament 4 4-, 1 3-, 4 21- torpedo tubes; class Little)
Richard T. Renshaw entered the Navy as a midshipman 26 January 1838 and was commissioned acting master 10 September 1851. Resigning 29 June 1852, Renshaw reentered the Navy at the beginning of the Civil War as lieutenant 13 May 1861. He served in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron commanding side-wheel gunboat Louisiana during the war, winning promotion to commander 22 September 1862 and to captain 20 September 1868. He retired 10 December 1874 and died 22 March 1879.
William B. Renshaw, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., 11 October 1816, was appointed midshipman in November 1831. Appointed commander 26 April 1861, he was attached to Admiral Farragut's squadron during the Civil War and was commended for the "handsome manner in which he managed his vessel," Westfield, during Mortar Flotilla operations on the Mississippi in 1862. At Galveston at the end of the year, he refused to surrender his ship on 1 January 1863 and set fire to her to keep her out of Confederate hands.
The first Renshaw honored both Richard T. and William B. Renshaw; the second and third were named for William B.
II
The second Renshaw (Destroyer No. 176) was laid down 8 May 1918 by the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, Calif.; launched 21 September 1918; sponsored by Mrs. Frank Johnson; and commissioned 31 July 1919, Lt. Comdr. R. A. Hall in command.
Renshaw was assigned to the Destroyer Force, Pacific Fleet. She joined the Fleet in Monterey Bay, and passed in review for the Secretary of the Navy who observed the Fleet from Oregon (Battleship No. 3). Renshaw departed San Francisco 16 September for her base of operations, San Diego, where she arrived on the 20th. Her brief service was none too active, since small appropriations limited most units of the Fleet to routine target practice and engineering competition. The destroyer participated in exercises off the California coast, performed patrol and dispatch duty, transported prisoners, and made one training cruise with naval reservists out of Portland, Oreg.
Renshaw cruised to Hawaii from 25 March to 28 April 1920, with Destroyer Flotilla 11, to conduct a thorough reconnaissance of the islands with a view toward establishing an operating base for the Fleet. During the period from 16 December 1920 to 4 April 1921, the ship was at the Puget Sound Navy Yard for overhaul, returning to base on 8 April to rejoin the Destroyer Force.
In January 1922 Renshaw calibrated radio compasses for the 12th Naval District. She returned to San Diego 28 January and remained moored, except for a brief trip to San Pedro 20-24 February, until decommissioned 27 May 1922. The destroyer was laid up at San Diego until disposed of in 1936 in accordance with the London Treaty for the limitation and reduction of naval armament. She was struck from the Navy list 19 May 1936, sold 29 September to Schiavone Bonomo Corp., and reduced to a hulk 2 December 1936.
23 September 2005
