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USS ERICSSON (DD-56)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NIS

CLASS - O' BRIEN As Built.
Displacement 1,090 Tons, Dimensions, 305' 3" (oa) x 31' 1" x 10' 7" (Max)
Armament 4 x 4"/50, 8 x 21" tt..
Machinery, 17,000 SHP; Direct Drive Turbines With Triple Expansion Cruising Engines, 2 screws
Speed, 29 Knots, Crew 101.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by New York Shipbuilding, Camden on November 10 1913.
Launched August 22 1914 and commissioned August 14 1915.
Ericsson was placed in reduced commission from August 7 1919 until
1922 she was berthed at New York, Philadelphia and Charleston until being
decommissioned at Philadelphia June 16 1922 and berthed there until
Loaned to the Coast Guard as CG-5 on June 7 1924 and returned April 27 1934.
Stricken July 5 1934.
Fate Sold and broken up for scrap in 1934.

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Ericsson 56kJohn Ericsson, one of the 19th Century's most creative engineers and inventors, was born on 31 July 1803 in Sweden. As a youth, he joined the Swedish Army, which recognized his talents and put him to work on topographical duties. Ericsson left the Army in 1826 and moved to England, where he pursued a variety of engineering projects, among them the use of screw propellers on ships, the development of extraordinarly large guns and the creation of engines driven by hot air instead of steam. Ericsson's work attracted the attention Robert F. Stockton, an influential and progressive U.S. Navy officer, who encouraged him to relocate to the United States. During the early 1840s, the two designed a screw-propelled warship, which was commissioned in 1843 as USS Princeton, armed with heavy guns of their devising. The tragic explosion of one of these guns, and efforts to improperly assign the blame to Ericsson, led the strong-willed engineer to redirect his creativity into civilian fields, which he pursued successfully during the 1840s and 1850s. The outbreak of the American Civil War brought John Ericsson back into formal contact with the Navy, when he designed and produced USS Monitor, a revolutionary armored ship carrying her guns in a rotating turret. Monitor's successful battle with the Confederate ironclad Virginia on 9 March 1862 made Ericsson a great hero in the North. For the remainder of the conflict, he was actively involved in designing and building a large series of "Monitor"-type turret ships for the Navy. Ericsson continued his work on maritime and naval technology after the Civil War, producing ships for foreign navies and experimenting with submarines, self-propelled torpedoes and heavy ordnance. He remained active until his death in New York City on 8 March 1889. In August 1890, following a memorial service at New York, his body was placed on board the cruiser Baltimore, which carried him across the Atlantic to his native Sweden for burial. Photo #: NH 305. John Ericsson (1803-1889) photograph taken in 1862. The original print is mounted on a Carte de Visite. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Bill Gonyo
Ericsson 60kUndated stereograph, location unknown.Tommy Trampp
Ericsson 105kSpeed trials, 10 May 1915. USN photo.Joe Radigan
Ericsson 525kUSS Ericsson (Destroyer # 56), Steaming at 19.93 knots during Run No. 10 of builder's trials, 18 May 1915. Her armament has not yet been installed. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #: NH 1372. Presented in larger than normal scale so you can see the detail.Robert Hurst
Ericsson 96kUSS Melville (Destroyer Tender # 2) tending U.S. Navy destroyers at Queenstown, Ireland, 1917. The destroyers present include (from left to right): USS Jacob Jones (Destroyer # 61); USS Ericsson (Destroyer # 56); USS Wadsworth (Destroyer # 60); and an unidentified ship. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Fred Weiss
Ericsson 79kPhoto #: NH 56378, USS Benham (Destroyer # 49) in port with her main deck nearly awash, after she was rammed by HMS Zinnia during World War I. She is tied up between USS Ericsson (Destroyer # 56), at right, and another ship. Collection of Lieutenant Commander Philip W. Yeatman, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Tony Cowart
Ericsson 91kPhoto #: NH 103746, USS Benham (Destroyer # 49) in port with her main deck nearly awash, after a collision with HMS Zinnia during World War I. She is tied up between USS Ericsson (Destroyer # 56), at right, and another ship. Collection of Lieutenant Commander Philip W. Yeatman, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Tony Cowart
Ericsson 80kPhoto #: NH 91644, USS Ericsson (Destroyer # 56) photographed from USS Mercury (ID # 3012), while escorting her in French waters, 1918. Note Ericsson's pattern camouflage. Courtesy of James Russell, 1980. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Paul Rebold
Ericsson 46kPhoto #: NH 103514-F, USS Ericsson (DD-56) in the North River off New York City, 20 May 1921. Cropped from NH 103514, a panoramic photograph by Himmel and Tyner, New York. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Paul Rebold
Ericsson 86kDestroyer Squadron 14 in the North River, off New York City, 20 May 1921. Panoramic photograph by Himmel and Tyner, New York. U.S. Navy ships present are (from left to right): USS Cummings (DD-44); USS Wainright (DD-62); USS Parker (DD-48); USS Balch (DD-50); USS McDougal (DD-54); USS Ericsson (DD-56) and USS Dixie (AD-1), squadron flagship. Note what appears to be a yacht club in the lower left (Photo No NH 103514).Robert Hurst
Ericsson 30kOn Coast Guard service during the Prohibition Era, from the Official Coast Guard Website.Mike Green
Ericsson 108kOn Coast Guard service May 27 1930 at BGoston Navy Yard. Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library.Ed Zajkowski

USS ERICSSON DD-56 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The hazegray Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves

LCDR William Lee Pryor    Aug 15 1915 - Jun 10 1916
LCDR William Siebel Miller    Jun 10 1916 - Jul 18 1917
LCDR Laurence North    Jul 18 1917 - Jul 6 1918
LCDR Murphy John Foster    Jul 6 1918 - Oct 10 1918
CDR Charles Thomas Hutchins Jr.    Oct 10 1918 - Feb 25 1919 
LCDR Abner Moyer Steckel    Feb 25 1919 - Apr 24 1919
LT Clarence Earl Williams    Apr 24 1919 - Mar 8 1921
LT Martin Richard Derx    Mar 8 1921 - Jun 16 1922

Under Coast Guard command
LCDR Lloyd Toulmin Chalker (USCG)    May 28 1925 - Jan 1928 (Later VADM)
LCDR Merlin O'Neill (USCG)    1927 - Aug 1927 (Later VADM)
LCDR John Elliott Whitbeck (USCG)    Sep 1929 - Apr 30 1930 (Later COMO)

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Destroyers Online Website
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