USS Jarvis (DD-38)

USS Jarvis (DD-38), running trials on 17 September 1912. Her armament has not yet been installed.
History
United States
Name	Jarvis
Namesake	Midshipman James C. Jarvis
Builder	New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, New Jersey
Cost	$641,380.73[1]
Laid down	1 July 1911
Launched	4 April 1912
Sponsored by	Mrs. Jean King
Commissioned	22 October 1912
Decommissioned	26 November 1919
Stricken	8 March 1935
Identification	Hull symbol:DD-38 Code letters:NIB
Fate	Sold for scrap, 23 April 1935
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Paulding-class destroyer
Displacement	742 long tons (754 t) normal 887 long tons (901 t) full load
Length	293 ft 10 in (89.56 m)
Beam	27 ft (8.2 m)
Draft	8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) (mean)[3]
Installed power	12,000 ihp (8,900 kW)
Propulsion	4 × boilers 3 × Parsons Direct Drive Turbines 3 × shafts
Speed	29.5 kn (33.9 mph; 54.6 km/h) 30.01 kn (34.53 mph; 55.58 km/h) (Speed on Trial)[3]
Complement	4 officers 87 enlisted[4]
Armament	5 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber guns 6 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (3 × 2)

The first USS Jarvis (DD-38) was a modified Paulding-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for James C. Jarvis.

Jarvis was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, New Jersey on 1 July 1911; launched on 4 April 1912; sponsored by Mrs. Jean King; and commissioned on 22 October 1912.

Following shakedown off Cuba, Jarvis spent a year operating out of Norfolk, Virginia in the Caribbean. She departed Pensacola, Florida on 20 April 1914 for patrols off Tampico and Veracruz, Mexico, during the US occupation of Veracruz. Returning to Norfolk on 16 June, she operated in the Atlantic until departing New York on 26 May 1917 to join US Naval Forces operating in European waters under Vice Admiral William Sims.

Arriving in Queenstown, Ireland, via St. Nazaire, France on 11 June, she commenced patrol and escort duty along the Irish and English coasts. The operations of destroyers such as Jarvis were of immense value to the Allies in overcoming the German U-boat menace. While not credited with sinking any U-boats, on two occasions Jarvis rescued crews of ships torpedoed by enemy submarines. On 19 June she rescued 41 survivors of SS Batoum off the Irish coast, and she pulled 22 survivors of the British merchantman Purley from the North Sea on 25 July. After recovering Batoum's survivors, she braved a possible torpedo attack and positioned herself between SS Mechanician and a U-boat to protect the merchant ship from enemy torpedoes.

Jarvis operated out of Queenstown until 15 February 1918, when she sailed to Brest, France to guard Allied shipping along the French coast. She patrolled out of Brest until 28 December; then she sailed for the United States. Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 12 January 1919, she resumed operations along the Atlantic Coast. Jarvis returned to Philadelphia on 21 July and decommissioned on 26 November. To comply with the terms of the London Naval Treaty, she was scrapped and her materials sold on 23 April 1935.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Photo gallery of USS Jarvis at NavSource Naval History