USS Burns (DD-171)
Encyclopedia
USS Burns (DD–171) was a Wickes class
Wickes class destroyer
The Wickes-class destroyers were a group of 111 destroyers built by the United States Navy in 1917-1919. Along with the 6 preceding Caldwell class and 155 subsequent Clemson-class destroyers, they formed the "flush-deck" or "four-stack" class. Only a few were completed in time to serve in World...

 destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, later redesignated DM-11. She was named for Otway Burns
Otway Burns
Otway Burns was an American privateer during the War of 1812 and later, a North Carolina State Senator.-Early life:...

.

History

Burns was launched 4 July 1918 by Union Iron Works
Union Iron Works
Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.-History:...

, San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

; sponsored by Miss Alice H. Palmer, and commissioned 7 August 1919, Commander W. H. Lee in command.

Burns was attached to Destroyer Force, Pacific, until March 1920 when she was ordered to special duty as a tender for NC Seaplane Division
NC-4
The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat which was designed by Glenn Curtiss and his team, and manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. In May 1919, the NC-4 became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, starting in the United States and making the crossing as far as Lisbon,...

. On 15 March 1921 she was reclassified DM-11 and on 5 May she was assigned to the Mine Force, Pacific. She was at Mare Island Navy Yard 11 July undergoing conversion and overhaul when her home yard was changed and she departed for the Naval Station, Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

, where she completed the yard period. Thereafter, attached to Mine Squadron 2 Pacific Fleet, she served throughout her active service in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

 except for periodic concentrations of the Fleet in other areas for maneuvers and Fleet problems.

In 1925 she joined the Fleet for a tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. In the summers of 1926, 1927, and 1928 she conducted training cruises for Naval Reservists
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...

. In 1927 Burns returned to San Diego with her squadron for inspection, training, and recreation. Returning to Pearl Harbor, she participated in mining and gunnery practice, and acted as a high-speed target for submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s in Hawaiian waters until November 1929. Arriving at San Diego 26 November, Burns was decommissioned 2 June 1930. On 11 June she was towed to Mare Island Navy Yard where she was used as a barracks ship. She was later scrapped and her material sold 22 April 1932.

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