USS MAYRANT DD-31

USS MAYRANT DD-31 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, February 2016

Mayrant, torpedo boat Destroyer No. 31, was laid down 22 April 1909 by Will. Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.; launched 23 April 1910; sponsored by Mrs. I. B. Beard, great‑great‑granddaughter of Capt. John Mayrant; and commissioned 12 July 1911, Lt. Cmdr. C. P. Nelson in command.

Following her shakedown, Mayrant operated briefly off the New England coast before departing Newport for a southerly cruise in late October. She arrived at Guantanamo Bay 9 January 1912, participated in winter exercises in the Caribbean and then, as a unit of the Torpedo Florida, Atlantic Fleet, remained in the area, calling at various gulf and Caribbean ports, until spring. Returning to Newsport 14 May, she continued to operate off the east coast and in the Caribbean until 1915. Then, after completion of the 1915 winter exercises off Cuba, she steamed to the Navy Yard, Brooklyn, for overhaul prior to decommissioning 20 May.

On 9 November 1915 she was moved to Philadelphia where she was berthed until recommissioning 2 January 1918. Joining the wartime fleet in the spring, the destroyer was employed as an escort ship, operating along the coast and across the Atlantic. Following the Armistice, she cruised south for winter maneuvers and then cruised off the middle Atlantic coast until entering the Navy Yard at Charleston for a second preinactivation overhaul, 21 June 1919. Departing Charleston 16 July she sailed back to Philadelphia where she decommissioned for a final time 12 December 1919. Designated DD‑31, 17 July 1920, she remained berthed at Philadelphia as a unit of the Reserve Fleet until 1935. On 8 March of that year she was struck from the Naval Register; on 28 June she was sold to M. Block & Co.. Norfolk, Va.; and on 21 August her bulk was scrapped.