USS Sampson (Destroyer #63, later DD-63)
The lead ship of her class, USS Sampson (Destroyer #63) was commissioned on June 27, 1916, at Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Massachusetts. Operating in the Atlantic until United States' entry into World War I, she departed in May 1917 to be based at Queenstown, Ireland, to conduct anti-submarine and convoy-escort missions. Following the war, Sampson briefly returned to the United States then departed to monitor the trans-Atlantic flight of the NC-4 seaplane at the Azores as part of the destroyer-picket line. Decommissioned in June 1921, Sampson was laid-up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, and was stricken from the Navy List in January 1936 then sold for scrapping in September.
A model of Sampson was on display in the World War I section at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, Bldg 76, until 2022.
Image: NH 41781: USS Sampson (Destroyer #63), anchored at Hampton Roads, Virginia, December 13, 1916. NHHC Photograph Collection.
