Woolsey was
laid down on 1 November 1917 at
Bath, Maine, by the
Bath Iron Works. The ship was
launched on 17 September 1918,
sponsored by Mrs. Elise Campau Wells. The destroyer was
commissioned on 30 September 1918,
Lieutenant Commander Frederick V. McNair, Jr. in command. After
trials out of Bath and outfitting at the
Boston Navy Yard and the Newport Torpedo Station,
Woolsey headed for New York on 9 October to join the
battleship before sailing for Europe. On 13 October, she and
Virginia departed
New York harbor in the screen of Convoy HX 52. After a relatively uneventful voyage, the
convoy was turned over to a British escort force on 22 October.
Woolsey then set course for
Buncrana, located in the far northern portion of
Ireland, and arrived there on 23 October. Two days later, she departed Buncrana and stood down the
Irish Sea en route to
Ponta Delgada in the
Azores. After fueling at Ponta Delgada on 30 October, the destroyer continued her voyage home and reentered New York on 5 November. After about a month at New York, during which time hostilities ended under the
armistice of 11 November,
Woolsey left New York on her way back to Europe to join the American naval contingent assigned there for postwar duty. She arrived in
Brest, France on 20 December and reported for duty to the Commander, Naval Forces Europe. For the next seven months, she performed various missions for the United States' naval establishment in Europe. Her primary mission consisted of runs between Brest and ports in southern
England – notably
Plymouth and
Southampton – transporting passengers and mail. On 11 March 1919, she was one of the four American destroyers to escort into Brest when that ship arrived with
President Woodrow Wilson embarked. After a four-month return to cross-channel runs between England and France,
Woolsey was honored a second time when she was assigned duty as one of
George Washingtons escorts for President Wilson's return voyage to the U.S. from the
Versailles peace conference. She departed Brest late in June 1919 in company with
George Washington and arrived in
Hampton Roads on 8 July. Ten days later,
Woolsey put to sea again bound for a new assignment – the
Pacific Fleet. She reached
Panama on 24 July, transited the
Panama Canal, and headed for maneuvers in the
Hawaiian Islands. At the completion of those maneuvers, she returned to the continental United States at
San Diego. On 31 May 1920, the destroyer was placed out of commission at the
Mare Island Navy Yard – probably for an extensive
overhaul because she was recommissioned again on 20 October. For the remainder of her relatively brief career,
Woolsey operated with the Pacific Fleet along the western coast of North America. While operating off the Pacific coast of
Panama near
Coiba Island early on the morning of 26 February 1921,
Woolsey was cut in half during a collision with the
merchant ship SS
Steel Inventor and sank. There were 100 survivors, 17 injured, and 16 killed. Only one body was recovered. Survivors were rescued by her
sister ship, . ==References==