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Resting on the mud flats of San Francisco Bay, Nearly visible to thousands of residents in the area, lies a rusting, shattered hulk. Closer inspection, however, reveals the clean sleek lines of a famous class of ships, flush-deck, four-pipe destroyers commissioned dur- lng the 1917-1922 period. For this derelict is no anonymous tramp steamer. She is the remains of a proud Vessel, the USS Thompson (DD-305). And she is, quite Possibly, the last of the four-pipe destroyers.
The hulk of the Thompson rests less than 15 miles from the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Yard where she was built. Named after Secretary of the Navy (1877-1881) Richard W. Thompson, her keel was laid 25 September 1918. Launched on 15 January 1919, the destroyer was commissioned in Mare Island Navy Yard on 16 August 1920, Lieutenant Commander C. L. Best, U. S. Navy, commanding.
The Thompson had an over-all length of 314 feet, 5 inches and a beam of 31 feet 8 inches. Normal displacement was 1,215 tons, which produced a mean draft of 9 feet, 4 inches. Her designed speed was 35 knots, and her complement was six officers and 89 men. The ship was originally armed with four 4-inch .50-caliber, and one 3-inch .23-caliber guns. Twelve 21-inch torpedo tubes were also carried.
She was one of 273 flush-deck destroyers commissioned between 1917 and 1922. These vessels, commonly referred to as "four-pipers,” were built too late for extensive combat service in World War I, and were approaching obsolescence by the advent of World War II. Still, they played an important role in that conflict. For example, on 3 September 1940, 50 four-pipers were traded by President Roosevelt to Great Britain for seven naval and air bases in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. In addition, one ship of the class, the USS Reuben James (DD-245), became the first American combat vessel sunk when she was torpedoed by a German submarine while escorting a British convoy on 31 October 1941, more than one month before the United States entered the war.
Four-pipers were possibly the U. S. Navy’s most ubiquitous and colorful ships. Some of them were converted to destroyer minelayers, seaplane tenders, high-speed minesweepers, high-speed transports, miscellaneous auxiliaries, radio controlled target vessels, and even water barges. Several were sold and converted to civilian banana carriers. As combat ships, they served under the ensigns of the United States, Great Britain, Norway, Russia, Canada, and Poland. One captured four-piper even fought for Japan.
The Thompson departed San Francisco on 4 September 1920 for shakedown training that took her south to Magdalena Bay, Mexico. She returned to San Diego on 29 September 1920, basing there for operations along the California coast. In the following years she ranged out of San Diego to take part in winter and spring exercises off Panama. Sometimes she transited the canal for combined Fleet exercises in the Caribbean Sea. Other operations and training took her north as far as Seattle.
It was perhaps during this period that the Thompson first displayed the rare good luck and durability which resulted in her unusual longevity. For she was among
the seven ships in DesRon 11 which escaped the 8 September 1923 disaster at Point Arguello, California, in which half of the 14-destroyer squadron went aground because of a navigational error and became a total loss on the rocky coast. The Thompson, steaming last in column, turned away from certain destruction as seven of her sister ships surged to their doom at 20 knots.
On 15 April 1925, the Thompson sailed from San Francisco in company with the U. S. Battle Fleet bound for fleet problems and amphibious warfare training in Hawaiian waters. Upon completion of this training on 1 July 1925, she departed Pearl Harbor with the U. S. Fleet for a memorable goodwill cruise to Australia and New Zealand. She called at Pago Pago, Samoa for two days and arrived in Melbourne, Australia 23 July 1925. She departed 6 August for Dunedin, New Zealand, arriving on 10 August in company with sister destroyers Kennedy, Decatur, and Farquhar. She put to sea again 20 August to visit Wellington, New Zealand, then via Pago Pago and Pearl Harbor returning to San Diego, California on 26 September 1925.
The Thompson continued to cruise along the Pacific Coast out of San Diego until on 10 April 1927 she departed for the East Coast. Transiting the Panama Canal, she combined tactics and training with visits to New York, Newport and Norfolk. She returned to San Diego on 25 June 1927 and spent the remainder of her career cruising south as far as the Panama Canal and north to Seattle. Decommissioned 4 April 1930, her name was struck from the Navy List 22 June 1930. She was sold 10 June 1931.
The sale of the Thompson ended the glamorous phase of the ship’s life. Surprisingly, however, it did not end her Navy career. The buyer of the hulk was Mr. E. H. Douglas. While the intent of his purchase is not clear, it is known that the Thompson remained afloat and was used during the depression years as a bar in South San Francisco Bay. Her other activities and uses during this period remain obscure.
World War II again created a military need for the Thompson. Pilot training was being conducted for both the Army Air Corps and Navy at several airfields in the San Francisco Bay area. A nearby target was considered desirable to accelerate bombing training for the pilots. Since inert bombs were to be used, a target in San Francisco Bay was considered satisfactory.
Thus, the second and final Navy tour began for the Thompson. In February 1944, she was towed to a point bearing 085 degrees true, distance 1% miles from the Redwood City entrance buoy NR-2. Here the sea cocks were burned off, and the ship settled in the mud flats, where she rests today. Her position, clearly shown on the current nautical chart of San Francisco Bay, is
Latitude 73°33,15" North, Longitude 122°09,40" West.
After her sinking, the Thompson was used as a frequent target for inert bombs, including flour sacks, during World War II. Practice bombing attacks were made on the wreck by Army Air Corps P-38 and P-51 aircraft, as well as Navy planes. These attacks diminished and ceased in the early postwar years. Once again the hulk became nearly useless, serving primarily as a shelter for duck hunters, an inviting target for scavengers and souvenir seekers, and a base of operations for enterprising individuals salvaging debris from the inert lead bombs.
But the Thompson was not dead yet. After receiving several inquiries from individuals interested in salvaging the hulk, the Chief of Naval Operations certified that she was not essential to the defense of the United States, on 8 January 1957. The Bureau of Supplies and Accounts was then authorized to dispose of the Thompson in a manner most advantageous to the government. Disposal of the vessel took place through competitive sale by the New York Naval Shipyard.
The second civilian purchaser of the Thompson was Mr. Edward O’Mara of Fremont, California. He purchased the hulk on 5 May 1958 from the New York Naval Shipyard for $2,600. One of the conditions of this purchase was that the hulk be salvaged and removed within 90 calendar days, since it was interfering with oyster dredging operations being conducted in the area. Mr. O’Mara entered into an agreement with W&W Salvage Company of Oakland to raise and remove the hulk, and he posted a performance bond to ensure that this work would be completed.
But the task of salvaging the Thompson proved far more difficult than expected. About 400 tons of superstructure and 300 tons of ballast were removed from the ship, together with most of the machinery and almost 400 tons of mud. Nearly 300 temporary plywood patches were applied to the corroded and punctured steel shell. But the hull could not be floated. Two extensions of time to complete the removal of the hulk were extended by New York Naval Shipyard, but the salvage efforts eventually proved fruitless and were abandoned in 1959-
In order to avoid action being brought on the performance bond he had posted in 1958, Mr. O’Mara relinquished his rights to the hulk on 19 April 1963 to the Defense Surplus Sales Office, and he paid the U. S. Government $520.00 to exonerate his bond. No further salvage efforts have ever been made. The hulk of the Thompson is now ostensibly the property of the United States.
Thus, the USS Thompson still rests, shattered and awash, in the mud flats of San Francisco Bay. There she serves as an ignominous, mute memorial to a sleek and proud class of ships.