USS Meade (DD-274)

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USS Meade (DD-274) at anchor off San Diego, circa in 1920 (NH 49833).jpg
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Meade
Namesake Richard Worsam Meade and Robert Leamy Meade
Builder Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Squantum Victory Yard
Laid down23 September 1918
Launched24 May 1919
Commissioned8 September 1919
Decommissioned18 December 1939
Stricken8 January 1941
IdentificationDD-274
FateTransferred to United Kingdom, 26 November 1940
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Ramsey
Acquired26 November 1940
Identification Pennant number: G60
FateSold for scrap, 18 February 1947
General characteristics
Class and type Clemson-class destroyer
Displacement1,190 long tons (1,209 t)
Length314 ft 5 in (95.83 m)
Beam31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Draft9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Installed power26,500  shp (19,800 kW)
Propulsion
Speed35  kn (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Range4,900  nmi (5,600 mi; 9,100 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement120 officers and enlisted
Armament

The first USS Meade (DD-274) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy and transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Ramsey (G60).

Contents

Service history

As USS Meade

Named for brothers Richard Worsam Meade and Robert Leamy Meade, she was laid down by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Squantum, Massachusetts, on 23 September 1918; launched on 24 May 1919; sponsored by Miss Annie Paulding Meade; and commissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, on 8 September 1919.

After shakedown along the east coast, Meade was assigned to duty with the Pacific Fleet. For more than two years afterward, she operated out of west coast ports including San Diego, California and San Francisco, California while participating in fleet and squadron maneuvers. After duty with several destroyer divisions, she decommissioned at San Diego on 25 May 1922 and was placed in reserve.

Meade recommissioned at San Diego on 18 December 1939. After returning to the east coast in 1940, she served with ships of Destroyer Squadron 9 (DesRon 9) of the United States Fleet.

As HMS Ramsey

In accordance with provisions of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement of September 1940, Meade was designated one of the 50 destroyers to be transferred to Britain. She was decommissioned from the USN and turned over to the British on 26 November 1940. Renamed HMS Ramsey (G60), she served the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic and later performed duty as an aircraft training ship. She completed her service on 30 June 1945 and was scrapped in July 1947 at Bo'ness, Scotland.

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