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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 70850:  USS Caldwell off the Mare Island Navy Yard, 14 December 1917

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Caldwell (Destroyer # 69, later DD-69), 1917-1936

USS Caldwell, a 1125-ton (normal displacement) destroyer built by the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, was the name ship of a class of six destroyers that reintroduced the soon to be widely used "flush deck" hull form to the U.S. destroyer force. She was commissioned at the beginning of December 1917 and crossed the Atlantic to the European war zone during the first quarter of 1918. Based at Queenstown, Ireland, Caldwell was employed on patrol and convoy escort duties for the rest of World War I, and also took part in experiments with submarine detection equipment. In December 1918, about a month after the fighting ended, she was one of the destroyers that escorted President Woodrow Wilson into Brest, France. Following her return to the U.S. early in 1919, Caldwell operated along the Atlantic Coast. In August 1920 her crew was reduced and she thereafter performed limited active service. USS Caldwell was decommissiond in late June 1922 and laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. She was sold at the end of June 1936.

USS Caldwell was named in honor of Lieutenant James R. Caldwell (1778-1804), who was killed in action at Tripoli on 7 August 1804.

This page features all the views we have concerning USS Caldwell (Destroyer # 69, later DD-69).


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 70850

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 14 December 1917.
She is painted in what appears to be Mackay Low Visibility camouflage.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 590 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 69832

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 14 December 1917.
She is painted in what appears to be Mackay Low Visibility camouflage.

Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 625 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 70849

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, in late 1917, probably on 14 December.
She is painted in what appears to be Mackay Low Visibility camouflage.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 55003

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Taking on fuel oil from the French four-masted barque Quevilley, at Ponta Delgada, Azores, 27 February 1918.
Caldwell appears to be painted in a Mackay low visibility camouflage pattern.
Photographed from USS Margaret (SP-527) by Raymond D. Borden.
Quevilley was one of the World's few sailing oil tankers.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 450 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 55001

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Alongside another destroyer, 1918, while she was painted in pattern camouflage.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 485 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 52854

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Moored in a harbor, 1918.
She is painted in pattern camouflage.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 565 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 90446

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Underway in British waters, 1918.
She is painted in pattern camouflage, whose design on her forward hull differs somewhat from that seen in other photographs.

Courtesy of Charles Sass, 1979.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 460 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 54480

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Underway off France, circa late 1918.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 55002

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Underway off France, circa late 1918.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 530 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 69834

USS Caldwell
(Destroyer # 69)

Fitting out at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 November 1917.
She was commissioned one month later.

Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 84KB; 590 x 765 pixels

 


The following photograph shows a camouflaged destroyer that MAY be USS Caldwell (Destroyer # 69):

Photo #: NH 101628

U.S. Navy Destroyer


Underway in late 1918, seen from the stern of another destroyer, whose depth charges are visible in the lower left.
Note this ship's pattern camouflage scheme. She may be USS Caldwell (Destroyer # 69), which wore a very similar, though not identical, camouflage design during part of her service.

Courtesy of Jack Howland, 1987.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 45KB; 740 x 435 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 7 November 2004
New image added 18 November 2005