USS Gwin (DD-71)

USS Gwin (DD-71) was one of six Caldwell-class destroyers built for the United States Navy. She was in commission from 1920 to 1922.

Description
The Caldwells were a transitional design between the "thousand-tonners" of the Sampson-class destroyer and the mass-produced destroyers built during World War I. They introduced the flush deck and were known as the first of the "flush-deckers" that were so wet in heavy weather. The ship displaced 1262 LT at standard load and 1379 LT at deep load. They had an overall length of 315 ft, a beam of 30 ft and a draft of 8 ft. They had a crew of five officers and 95 enlisted men.

The propulsion arrangements differed between the ships of the class. Gwin was powered by two Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Thornycroft boilers. The turbines developed a total of 18500 shp and were designed to reach a speed of 30 kn. The ships carried a maximum of 205 LT of fuel oil that gave them a range of 2500 nmi at 20 kn.

The ships were armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) guns in single mounts and were fitted with two 1-pounder guns for anti-aircraft defense. Their primary weapon, though, was their torpedo battery of a dozen 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in four triple mounts. During World War I, the 1-pounders were replaced by 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) guns and a "Y-gun" depth charge thrower replaced the aft AA gun and the searchlight.

Construction and commissioning
Gwin, the second Navy ship named for Lieutenant Commander William Gwin, was launched on 22 December 1917 by the Seattle Construction & Drydock Company, Seattle, Washington, sponsored by Mrs. James S. Woods. She was commissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington, on 18 March 1920.

Service history
Gwin departed Puget Sound on 26 April 1920 for calls at California ports, then transited the Panama Canal bound for Newport, Rhode Island, where she arrived on 2 June 1920. She subsequently participated in operations along the United States East Coast as far south as Charleston, South Carolina.

Decommissioning and disposal
Gwin was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 28 June 1922. She remained inactive there until her name was struck from the Navy List on 25 January 1937. Her hulk was sold for scrapping to the Union Shipbuilding Company of Baltimore, Maryland, on 16 March 1939.