USS Abel P. Upshur (DD-193) - As USS Abel P. Upshur

As USS Abel P. Upshur

Named after Secretary of the Navy, Abel Parker Upshur, she was laid down on 20 August 1918 at Newport News, Virginia by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry-dock Co., launched on 14 February 1920, sponsored by Mrs. George J. Benson, great-great niece of Secretary Upshur, and commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 23 November 1920, Lt. Vincent H. Godfrey in command.

Following her commissioning, the destroyer was assigned to Destroyer Division 37, Squadron 3, Atlantic Fleet. She cruised along the east coast, taking part in fleet exercises and maneuvers. The ship was placed out of commission at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 7 August 1922.

Abel P. Upshur assumed duties at the Washington Navy Yard in March 1928 as a training ship for Naval Reserve personnel from the District of Columbia and continued this routine until 5 November 1930, when the ship was transferred to the U.S. Treasury Department. Her name was then struck from the Navy list. The ship served the Coast Guard attempting to prevent the smuggling of liquor into the United States.

Abel P. Upshur was returned to Navy custody on 21 May 1934 but was laid up at Philadelphia until 4 December 1939, when she was again placed in commission and assigned to the Atlantic Squadron. The ship operated along the east coast on neutrality enforcement patrols.

On 9 September 1940, Abel P. Upshur was decommissioned at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The vessel was transferred to Britain under an agreement by which, the United States exchanged 50 overage destroyers for bases on British colonial territory in the Atlantic. Her name was again struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1941.