Pre World War II Service
After shakedown, McDougal operated directly under the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations until mid-1937, when she steamed to the Pacific for duty with the Scouting Force and later the Battle Force. Operating out of San Diego, California, she served as flagship for Destroyer Squadron 9. As a heavily armed destroyer leader, she took part in type-training, readiness cruises, and battle problems in the eastern Pacific and in the Caribbean operating area.
McDougal returned to the Atlantic coast with her division in the spring of 1941 to operate along the east coast. Between 5 and 7 August she escorted Augusta carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, where, from 9 to 12 August, he met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for the first time to discuss the menace of the Axis Powers and to formulate "common principles" for peace in the postwar world. On 10 August McDougal transported President Roosevelt to and from HMS Prince of Wales (53) during the only meeting of the two leaders on board the battleship. The President and the Prime Minister completed formulation of the eight-point declaration, embodied in the Atlantic Charter, 12 August; thence, both British and American ships departed NS Argentia later that day. McDougal screened Augusta to the coast of Maine 14 August before resuming operation along the eastern seaboard.
Read more about this topic: USS Mc Dougal (DD-358)
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