USS Rowan (DD-64)
   Ship's History
 
Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Published 1976)

The second Rowan, destroyer No. 64, was laid down on 10 May 1915 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Mass.; launched 23 March 1916; sponsored by Miss Louise McL. Ayres, great-niece of Vice Admiral Rowan; and commissioned at Boston on 22 August 1916, Lt. William R. Purnell in command.

Following shakedown, Rowan, based at Newport, R.I., operated along the Atlantic coast during the fall of 1916, then participated in winter exercises in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. At Norfolk, when the United States entered World War I, she patrolled off the mouth of the York River, then repaired at New York. On 7 May 1917, she departed Boston for Ireland, arriving with Division 7 at Queenstown on the 27th.

From then, through the remainder of the war, Rowan conducted antisubmarine patrols and escorted convoys to both British and French ports. On 28 May 1918, she joined two other destroyers in attacking a U-boat; dropped 14 depth charges; and had the satisfaction of watching oil cover the surface in the attack area.

Rowan departed Queenstown on 26 December 1918 and reached New York on 8 January 1919. Into the summer, she conducted exercises along the east coast and in the Caribbean. On 29 August, she entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was placed in reduced commission.

Designated DD-64 the following summer, 1920, Rowan resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet in March 1921 and continued with them until March 1922. She then returned to Philadelphia where she was decommissioned on 19 June 1922. She remained inactive, laid up at League Island, until struck from the Navy list on 7 January 1936. Her hulk was sold for scrap on 20 April 1939.