USS Wilkinson (DL-5)

USS Wilkinson (DL-5)

USS Wilkinson (DL-5) was a Mitscher class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Vice Admiral Theodore Stark "Ping" Wilkinson USN (1888–1946).

Wilkinson was laid down by the Shipbuilding Division of the Bethlehem Steel Company at Quincy in Massachusetts on 1 February 1950; originally designated DD-930, she was reclassified as a destroyer leader and designated DL-5 on 9 February 1951, launched on 23 April 1952 by Lady Catherine Moore, the former Mrs. Theodore S. Wilkinson and commissioned on 3 August 1954.