Editing Clemson-class destroyer (section)

== History ==
[[File:NH 66721 Honda Point.gif|thumb|right|The Honda Point Disaster 1923.]]
[[File:US flushdeck destroyer base 1924.jpg|thumb|right|Seventy-seven "four-stackers" laid up at San Diego in 1924.]]
Fourteen ships of the class were involved in the [[Honda Point Disaster]] (aka Point Pedernales) in 1923, of which seven were lost.

Many never saw wartime service, as a significant number were decommissioned in 1930 and scrapped as part of the [[London Naval Treaty]]. About 40 ''Clemson''-class destroyers with [[Yarrow boiler]]s were scrapped or otherwise disposed of in 1930–31, as these boilers wore out quickly in service. Flush-deckers in reserve were commissioned as replacements.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ |title=DestroyerHistory.org Flush-decker page, retrieved 16 Oct 2013 |access-date=25 May 2011 |archive-date=18 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018135845/http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1936 only some 169 of the flush deck destroyers would be left, four ''Caldwell'' class and the rest ''Wickes'' and ''Clemson'' class.<ref>Friedman, p. 49</ref> In 1937 four ''Clemson'' class were converted to [[destroyer minelayer]]s ([[hull classification symbol]] DM), joining several ''Wickes''-class ships in this role.

Nineteen were transferred to the [[Royal Navy]] in 1940 as part of the [[Destroyers for Bases Agreement]], where they became part of the {{sclass2|Town|destroyer|4}}. Others were upgraded or converted to [[high-speed transport]]s (APD), high-speed [[minesweeper]]s (DMS), [[destroyer minelayer]]s (DM), or [[seaplane tender]]s (AVD) and served through [[World War II]].  Four ''Wickes''-class DM conversions and the four ''Clemson''-class DM conversions survived to serve in World War II.

[[File:Clemson-class destroyer sinking c1942.jpg|thumb|''Clemson''-class destroyer (possibly [[USS Pope (DD-225)|USS ''Pope'']]) sinking, c. 1942.]]
Most ships remaining in service during World War II were rearmed with dual-purpose [[3"/50 caliber gun|3-inch/50 caliber gun]]s to provide better anti-aircraft protection.<ref>Morrison 1962 p. 39</ref> The AVD [[seaplane tender]] conversions received two guns; the APD high-speed transport, DM [[minelayer]], and DMS minesweeper conversions received three guns, and those retaining destroyer classification received six.<ref>Silverstone 1968 pp. 112, 212, 215, 276, 303</ref> Their original low-angle [[4"/50 caliber gun|4-inch/50 caliber gun]]s (Mark 9) were transferred to [[Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships]] for anti-submarine protection.<ref>Campbell 1985 p. 143</ref> For the ships converted to minesweepers, the twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes were replaced by minesweeping gear.<ref>[[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]] (public domain)</ref>

{{USS|Stewart|DD-224|6}} was scuttled at [[Surabaya|Soerabaja]] on 2 March 1942, following the surrender of the [[Dutch East Indies]] to the Japanese. She was raised, repaired and recommissioned as [[USS Stewart (DD-224)#Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese patrol boat ''PB-102'']] by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. She was surrendered to the US Navy following the end of World War II and was used as a target for aircraft. In addition, 17 ''Clemson''-class destroyers were lost during the war.

The wrecks of three ''Clemson''-class destroyers remain in the [[San Francisco Bay area]], {{USS|Corry|DD-334|6}} a few miles north of [[Mare Island Navy Yard]] on the [[Napa River]], {{USS|Thompson|DD-305|6}} in the southern part of the Bay where it was used as a bombing target in World War II,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/today |title=DestroyerHistory.org Flush-deckers today page, retrieved 16 Oct 2013 |access-date=16 October 2013 |archive-date=17 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017180350/http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/today/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and the aforementioned USS ''Stewart'' in what is now the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.<ref>{{cite news|last=Greshko |first=Michael |title=Wreck of ‘Ghost Ship of the Pacific’ Found Off California |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/01/science/shipwreck-ghost-ship-pacific-drones.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1 October 2024 |access-date=1 October 2024}}</ref>

A number of ships in the class were christened by the initial batch of women who enlisted in the Navy as [[Yeoman (F)]] in World War I.  The [[USS Hatfield (DD-231)|USS ''Hatfield'' (DD-231)]] was sponsored by Mrs. J. Edmond Haugh (Helen Brooks) who had been a Yeoman during the Great War.