The first USS ''Hale'' (DD–133) was a in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, later transferred to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as HMS ''Caldwell'' (I20). She was named for Senator

Eugene Hale Eugene Hale (June 9, 1836October 27, 1918) was an American politician who was a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senator from Maine. Biography Born in Turner, Maine, he was educated in local schools and at Maine's Hebr ...

Construction and career

United States Navy

''Hale'' was launched by the

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics, one of the world's largest ...

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bath is included in the Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick Micropolitan statistical area, micropolitan area. Bath has a 2024 population of 8,870. It is also the county seat of Sagadahoc County ...

on 29 May 1919; sponsored by Miss Mary Hale, granddaughter of Senator Hale. The ship was commissioned at Boston on 12 June 1919. ''Hale'' joined Destroyer Squadron 3,

U.S. Atlantic Fleet The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Sta ...

, and after training exercises departed 11 July 1919 for

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. On this cruise, the ship paid goodwill visits to European and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

ports, assisted in the execution of the Austrian Armistice in October, and joined the American detachment in Turkish waters. ''Hale'' then carried refugees, relief officials, and freight between the ports of Greece, Bulgaria, and Russia, showing the flag in the vital Mediterranean and

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

area. She returned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 31 March 1920 and resumed her schedule of training and development exercises along the Eastern Coast. ''Hale'' decommissioned at Philadelphia on 22 June 1922 and remained in reserve until 1 May 1930, when she re-commissioned. Departing Philadelphia on 15 May, ''Hale'' took part in refresher training operations and then resumed readiness exercises on the East Coast. She participated in

Scouting Fleet The Scouting Fleet is an important part of the U.S. Navy, established in 1922 as part of the reorganization of the Navy after World War I. It is one of the four core units of the newly formed "American Fleet", which together with the battle Fleet ...

maneuvers in early 1931 in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and arrived at San Diego, California via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

4 April 1931. For the next few years ''Hale'' participated in maneuvers with the

Battle Force The United States Battle Fleet or Battle Force was part of the organization of the United States Navy from 1922 to 1941. The General Order of 6 December 1922 organized the United States Fleet, with the Battle Fleet as the Pacific presence. Thi ...

along the California coast and spent much time perfecting the techniques of modern

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

tactics with carriers and . The destroyer decommissioned once more at San Diego on 9 April 1937. ''Hale'' recommissioned at San Diego on 30 September 1939, at a time of mounting crisis in both oceans, and departed on 25 November for

Neutrality Patrol On September 3, 1939, the British and French declarations of war on Germany initiated the Battle of the Atlantic. The United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) established a combined air and ship patrol of the United States Atlantic co ...

in the Caribbean. Her base was changed to

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

on 22 February 1940, and later to

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

, but the ship continued to patrol the Caribbean Sea and

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. At Philadelphia on 1 September 1940 she prepared for transfer to Great Britain as a part of the

Destroyers for Bases Agreement The destroyers-for-bases deal was an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom on 2 September 1940, according to which 50 , , and -class US Navy destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy from the US Navy in exchange for lan ...

. She arrived at Halifax 6 September 1940 and decommissioned 3 days later. Entering the

, she became HMS ''Caldwell'' (I20).

Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy

During her career in the British Navy, HMS ''Caldwell'' was assigned to escort duty in the Atlantic and later in the Caribbean, as Britain tried desperately to cope with the German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

menace. She joined the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

in mid-1942 as HMCS ''Caldwell'', and while returning to

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Amer ...

, 18 December 1942, was seriously damaged during a heavy gale. She became disabled, and was found drifting helplessly by ''Wanderer'' 21 December. ''Caldwell'' was then towed to St. John's and later to Boston. Ready for sea again in May 1943, the ship resumed convoy duty with the Royal Canadian Navy until 1 December, when she returned to

Tyne Tyne may refer to: __NOTOC__ Geography *River Tyne, England *Port of Tyne, the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England * River Tyne, Scotland *River Tyne, a tributary of the South Esk River, Tasmania, Australia Peopl ...

and was placed in reserve. She was broken up for scrap in September 1944.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hale (DD-133) Wickes-class destroyers Ships built in Bath, Maine 1919 ships Town-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Town-class destroyers converted from Wickes-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom