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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Dorsey (DMS 1)



Call sign:
Nan - Easy - Love - George

ex-Dorsey (DD 117)
ex-Dorsey, Destroyer No. 117



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Boy - Love
Wickes Class Destroyer/Dorsey Class Highspeed Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 18 September 1917 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, PA
  • Launched 9 April 1918
  • Commissioned USS Dorsey, Destroyer No. 117, 16 September 1918
  • Designated DD-117, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 9 March 1923 at San Diego, CA and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • Recommissioned 1 March 1930
  • Reclassified as a Highspeed Minesweeper, DMS-1, 19 November 1940
  • Grounded by Typhoon Louise at Okinawa 9 October 1945, total loss
  • Decommissioned 8 December 1945
  • Struck from the Navy Register 3 January 1946
  • Hulk destroyed 1 January 1946.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,090 t.
  • Length 314' 5"
  • Beam 31' 4"
  • Draft 11' 4"
  • Speed 34 kts.
  • Complement 149
  • Armament: Three 3"/50 dual purpose mounts and one twin 40mm mount
  • Propulsion: Three White-Forster boilers, two 26,000shp Cramp (Parsons design) geared turbines, De Laval single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Dorsey 70k
    Namesake:

    John Sword Dorsey (1783 - 7 August 1804) was an officer in the United States Navy during the First Barbary War. Born in Maryland, Dorsey was appointed midshipman on 28 April 1801. He was killed on 7 August 1804 in the attack on Tripoli in North Africa when Gunboat No. 9 was blown up by an enemy shell
    National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
    Artist Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, 12 March 1770 - 23 June 1852

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 1 March 2022
    Dorsey 129k At San Francisco on 12 September 1944, in camouflage 32/7D. The colors are dull black, ocean gray and light gray
    National Archives photo BS 91030 from the Bureau of Ships Collection    		 Original photo: Barb Rebold
    Replacement photo: Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Dorsey 134k At San Francisco on 12 September 1944, in camouflage 32/7D. The colors are dull black, ocean gray and light gray
    National Archives photos BS 91028 and BS 91031 from the Bureau of Ships Collection    		 Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Dorsey 153k
    Dorsey 262k 6 February 1943
    Dorsey after her overhaul at Hunters Point Navy Yard.
    U.S. Navy photo 1080-43 from the collection of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum    		 Darryl Baker
    Dorsey 133k c. 1945
    Alongside USS Goodhue (APA-107)
    Courtesy of D. M. McPherson, 1975
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 83406    		 Gary Priolo
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR George Franklin Neal, USN - USNA Class of 1901
    Awarded the Navy Cross (World War I) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		16 September 1918 - 20 May 1919
    02LCDR John Richard Peterson, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1911
    Retired as Lieutenant Commander    		20 May 1919 - 26 August 1920
    03LCDR John Calvin Jennings, USN - USNA Class of 1908
    Retired as Lieutenant Commander    		26 August 1920 - 16 January 1921
    04LCDR Raymond Foss Frellson, USN - USNA Class of 1907
    Retired as Captain    		16 January 1921 - 30 November 1922
    05LT Homer Louis Grosskopf, USN - USNA Class of 1916
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		30 November 1922 - 21 February 1923
    06LTJG Emmett Peter Forrestel, USN - USNA Class of 1920
    Retired as Vice Admiral    		21 February 1923 - 8 March 1923
    07LCDR Francis Warren Rockwell, USN - USNA Class of 1908
    Awarded the Navy Cross (World War I), Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1941), Silver Star and two Legions of Merit (1944/1945) - Retired as Vice Admiral    		1 March 1930 - 30 May 1931
    08LCDR Mark Zacharias, Sr., USN - USNA Class of 1912
    Awarded three Legions of Merit - Retired as Rear Admiral    		30 May 1931 - 3 June 1933
    09LCDR Myron Wells Hutchinson, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1915
    Awarded the Bronze Star (1945) - Retired as Commodore    		3 June 1933 - 1 January 1934
    10LT Benton Weaver Decker, USN - USNA Class of 1920
    Awarded two Legions of Merit (1944/1945) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		1 January 1934 - 10 June 1935
    11LCDR William Fishback Loventhal, USN - USNA Class of 191610 June 1935 - 30 June 1937
    12LCDR Howard Raymond Healy, USN- USNA Class of 1922
    Killed in action 8 May 1942 (Battle of the Coral Sea) while serving in Lexington (CV 2)    		30 June 1937 - 25 May 1939
    13LCDR Howard Lyman Collins, USN - USNA Class of 1924
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1945) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		25 May 1939 - 15 June 1940
    14LCDR Ranald MacNicol MacKinnon, USN - USNA Class of 192515 June 1940 - 21 March 1942
    15LCDR Wayne Rowe Loud, USN - USNA Class of 1927
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1945) and five Legions of Merit (1944 two with Combat V, 1945 one with Combat V and 1962) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		21 March 1942 - 20 August 1943
    16LCDR Archibald Egerton Teal, USN - USNA Class of 1936
    Awarded the Silver Star (1945) - Retired as Captain    		20 August 1943 - 16 July 1944
    17LT John Michael Hayes, USN16 July 1944 - 23 June 1945
    18LT Gorman Gerard Powell, Jr., USN23 June 1945 - 9 October 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves, Joe Radigan and Ben Arnold
    View the Dorsey (DMS 1)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Dorsey (DD-117)
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
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