Kennedy (Destroyer No. 306)
(DD-306: dp. 1,190; l. 314'5"; b. 31'5"; dr. 9'3"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 95; a. 44", 13", 1221" tt.; cl. Clemson)
John Pendleton Kennedy was Secretary of the Navy in 1852 and 1853. See John P. Kennedy.
Kennedy (Destroyer No. 306) was launched 15 February 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., San Francisco, Calif.; sponsored by Mrs. Eugene F. Essner; and commissioned 16 August 1920, Lt. Comdr. C. J. Parrish in command.
Kennedy arrived in San Diego, her homeport, 7 October 1920 and joined the Pacific Fleet in exercises and maneuvers along the West Coast from the Pacific Northwest to South America. Gunnery drills, torpedo practice, plane-guard duty, fleet problems, and war maneuvers with the Army kept Kennedy busy at sea, perfecting the techniques of naval warfare which were to make possible the great victories of World War II.
During the spring of 1924, the destroyer transited the Panama Canal for fleet concentrations in the Caribbean. She returned San Diego 22 April to resume operations of her homeport. She sailed 13 June 1925 for a fleet problem and joint exercises off Hawaii. During this cruise she accompanied the Battle Fleet to Pago Pago, Samoa, and ports in Australia and New Zealand, returning San Diego 26 September. In 1927 she revisited the Caribbean for more exercises, this time calling at Norfolk and New York before returning San Diego 22 May. Kennedy sailed once again 9 April 1928 for large scale maneuvers in Hawaiian waters, resuming operations out of San Diego 2 months later.
After training cruises for reserves during the summer of 1929, Kennedy arrived San Diego 27 September and decommissioned there 1 May 1930. Her hulk was sold 19 March 1931 and scrapped in accordance with the terms of the London Treaty limiting naval armament.
