USS Cushing (Destroyer No. 55/DD-55) was an built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of William B. Cushing, a U.S. Navy officer best known for sinking the Confederate ironclad warship during the American Civil War.
Cushing was laid down by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts, in September 1913 and launched in January 1915. The ship was a little more than in length, just over abeam, and had a standard displacement of . She was armed with four guns and had eight 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. Cushing was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to .
After her August 1915 commissioning, Cushing sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of seventeen destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket in October 1916. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Cushing was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. Cushing made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft.
Upon returning to the United States after the war, Cushing was placed in reserve in reduced commission. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia in August 1920. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1936 and sold for scrapping in June.
Design and construction
Cushing was authorized in March 1913 as the fifth of six ships of the , which was an improved version of the s authorized in 1911. Construction of the vessel was awarded to the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts, which laid down her keel on 23 September 1913. On 16 January 1915, Cushing was launched by sponsor Miss M. L. Cushing, daughter of the ship's namesake, William B. Cushing. The ship was the second ship named for Cushing, a U.S. Navy officer best known for sinking the Confederate ironclad warship during the American Civil War.
Cushings main battery consisted of 4 × /50 caliber Mark 9 guns,<!-- number, size --><!-- calibers --> with each gun weighing in excess of . The American destroyers arrived on the scene about 17:00 when the U-boat, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Rose, was in the process of stopping the Holland-America Line cargo ship . Shortly after, U-53 stopped the British passenger ship . After Rose had given passengers and crew aboard both ships adequate time to abandon them, he sank the pair. In total, 226 survivors from U-53s five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla.
After finishing out the rest of 1916 at Newport, Cushing again joined in exercises in the Caribbean for the first three months of 1917. , O'Brien, and . The destroyers arrived at Queenstown, Ireland, 24 May for duty in the war zone. at extremely long range following their attack on the Italian merchant vessel SS Lamia L., from whom Cushing rescued 27 survivors. On 26 November, when RFA Crenella was torpedoed, Cushing stood by, giving damage control assistance which kept the merchantman from sinking, then escorted her into Queenstown. Cushing rejoined her convoy the next day. Continuing her convoy escort and patrol duty, Cushing on 25 April 1918 dropped fifteen depth charges on German submarine , damaging her severely; sank U-104 later that same day. After 11 June 1918, Cushing operated from Brest, France, escorting eleven troop convoys through the submarine zones into French ports, making two depth charge attacks without success in the process.