Hull Number: DD-310
Launch Date: 04/22/1919
Commissioned Date: 10/30/1920
Class: CLEMSON
CLEMSON Class
Namesake: SAMUEL PHILLIPS LEE
SAMUEL PHILLIPS LEE
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, February 2016
Samuel Phillips Lee, grandson of Revolutionary War statesman, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, was born on 13 February 1812 in Fairfax County, Va. Appointed Midshipman on 22 November 1825, he served in sloop of war, Hornet, on the West India station for six months before beginning three years of duty in the Mediterranean. He served in Charles Wilkes’ exploring expedition from 1838 to 1842 and spent most of the next decade conducting coastal surveys.
During the Mexican War, he volunteered for combat service and was present at the capture of Tobasco. In 1854, he took command of brig, Dolphin, and made oceanographic observations in her in the North Atlantic.
In the East Indies, in command of Vandalia at the outbreak of the Civil War, he returned home in her on his own initiative and was assigned to blockade duty off Charleston, S.C. He was selected for command of the new screw sloop of war, Oneida, and served in her during Flag Officer Farragut’s campaign against New Orleans, and follow-up operations on the Mississippi.
In September 1862, he was given command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, with the rank of Acting Rear Admiral. For two years, he led this increasingly efficient squadron as it choked off vital Confederate commerce. In October 1864, he was transferred to command of the Mississippi Squadron which held through the end of the Civil War.
Much of Lee’s postwar service kept him ashore in Washington. He was promoted to Rear Admiral on 22 April 1870, and was placed on the retired list on 13 February 1875. He died on 7 June 1897 at his home in Silver Spring, Sligo, Md.
Disposition:
Ran aground on Point Arguello, Calif. on 09/08/23 with six other destroyers. Stricken 11/20/1923. Wreckage sold on 10/19/1925 to Robert J. Smith, Oakland, CA.