Hull Number: DD-173
Launch Date: 08/10/1918
Commissioned Date: 07/12/1919
Decommissioned Date: 08/15/1922
Call Sign: NEVT
Other Designations: DM-13
Class: LITTLE
LITTLE Class
Data for USS Little (DD-79) as of 1921
Length Overall: 314’ 4 1/2"
Beam: 31' 8"
Draft: 9’ 2"
Standard Displacement: 1,191 tons
Full Load Displacement: 1,284 tons
Armament:
Four 4″/50 caliber guns
One 3″/23 caliber anti-aircraft gun
Four 21″ triple torpedo tubes
Complement:
8 Officers
8 Chief Petty Officers
106 Enlisted
Propulsion:
4 Boilers
2 Curtis Geared Turbines: 27,180 horsepower
Highest speed on trials: 34.7 knots
Namesake: JOHN G. SPROSTON
JOHN G. SPROSTON
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, February 2016
John G. Sproston was born in Maryland and appointed to the Naval Academy in 1846. He served on the Pacific Station during the war with Mexico. During the Civil War, he served as commanding officer of Powhatan and as executive officer of Senneca. On 1 November 1861, during the battle for Port Royal, S.C., Sproston personally fired many of the 11-inch guns on board Senneca as the crew was new and untrained. Lt. Sproston was killed on 8 June 1862 while on a boat expedition to destroy a Confederate privateer in the St. John’s River, Fla.
Disposition:
Stricken 12/1/1936. Sunk as a target off California 7/20/1937.