USS Rowan, a 1111-ton Sampson class destroyer built at Quincy, Massachusetts, was commissioned in August 1916 and performed her initial active service in East Coast and Caribbean waters. In May 1917, two months after the United States entered World War I, Rowan crossed the Atlantic to begin anti-submarine patrols and escort work out of Queenstown, Ireland. While so employed, she attacked and apparently damaged a German U-boat in late May 1918. Leaving Ireland in December 1918, the destroyer returned to the U.S. to begin more than two years of intermittant operations along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. When the Navy implemented its hull number system in July 1920, Rowan was designated DD-64. She was placed out of commission in mid-June 1922. Following nearly a decade and a half in "Red Lead Row" at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, USS Rowan was stricken from the Navy list in early 1936 and, in April 1939, sold for scrapping.
USS Rowan was named in honor of Vice Admiral Stephen C. Rowan (1808-1890), whose long Navy career included service in the Mexican War and the Civil War, and command of the Asiatic Squadron in 1867-1870.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64, later DD-64).
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 103481 USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) Running trials, circa 22 July 1916. Note the ship's very dirty paintwork and incomplete condition, with weights installed in place of her guns. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 46KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41754 USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) Underway at low speed during trials, 22 July 1916. Note the incomplete condition of the ship, with no guns or torpedo tubes installed and very dirty paintwork. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 545 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41755 USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) At anchor, circa 1916-1917. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Recruiting Bureau, 1932. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 62KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 83126 USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) Escorting a convoy in November 1917. The photo title: "The Flying Zebra" reflects her camouflage scheme. This was later extensively modifified, as seen in Photo # NH 100432. Collection of Chief Warrant Officer J.B. Dofflemeyer, 1972. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 475 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 103485 USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) Underway while escorting a convoy, November 1917. The photo title, "The Flying Zebra", is a reference to her camouflage scheme. Collection of Chief Warrant Officer J.B. Dofflemeyer, 1972 U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 34KB; 740 x 465 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 103486 USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) Meeting a convoy in November 1917. Note her camouflage scheme. Collection of Chief Warrant Officer J.B. Dofflemeyer, 1972 U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 485 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 83125 Convoy at sea, November 1917 Photographed from USS San Diego (Armored Cruiser # 6). The troopship Madawaska (ID # 3011) is at right, and USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) is at left. Collection of Chief Warrant Officer J.B. Dofflemeyer, 1972. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 475 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 100432 USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) In European waters, 1918. Her camouflage scheme is an extensive modification of that seen in Photo # NH 83126, which was taken in November 1917. Courtesy of Ted Stone, 1985. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 530 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98604-D USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) With several other destroyers in the Philadelphia Navy Yard's Reserve Basin, circa spring 1919. Cropped from a panoramic photograph (Photo # NH 98604) taken by Keystone Photo Studios, 817 So. Broad St., Philadelphia. Collection of Eugene Bennett, donated by his daughter, Jene B. Hart, September 1988. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold at least one other view of USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64). The following list features this image:
The image listed below is NOT in the
Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".
USS Rowan (Destroyer # 64) underway at about 25 knots during trials, July 1916. Starboard bow surface view.
Reproductions of this image should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The image listed in this box is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions". |
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 29 January 2006
Name source information added 28 February 2006