Toucey

Toucey

Issac Toucey-born on 5 November 1796 in Newtown, Conn.—was admitted to the bar in 1818 and began two full terms in the United States House of Representatives on 4 March 1835. He served as Governor of Connecticut in 1846 and 1847 and as Attorney General under President Polk from 21 June 1848 to 3 March 1849. After a stint in the state legislature in 1850 and 1851, Toucey represented Connecticut in the United States Senate from 12 March 1852 to 3 March 1857. He v~as Secretary of the Navy under President Buchanan from 6 March 1857 to 3 March 1861.

After retiring from public office upon Lincoln's inauguration, Toucey resumed the practice of law. He died in Hartford, Conn., on 30 July 1869.

The first ship built by the Mare Island Navy Yard was launched as Toucey on 3 March 1859 but, at the request of her namesake, the Secretary of the Navy, was renamed Saginaw (q.v.) before being commissioned on 6 January 1860.
Toucey
(Destroyer No. 282: dp. 1,216 (n.), l. 314'4 1/4", b. 30'111/2" (wl.); dr. 9'9~4"; S. 34.96 k.; cpl. 122, a.4 4", 1 3", 12 21" tt.; cl. Clemson)

Toucey (Destroyer No. 282) was laid down on 26 April 1919 at Squantum, Mass., by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 5 September 1919- sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Alden Robinson; and commissioned at Boston on 9 December 1919, Comdr. Reuben B. Coffey in command.

Soon after commissioning, Toucey began duty with the Atlantic Fleet as a unit of Division 42, Flotilla 7, Squadron 1. Based at Newport, R.I., for the next seven years, she operated along the eastern seaboard and in the West Indies. During the summer, the destroyer cruised the northern latitudes off the New England coast, training in destroyer operations. Each winter, she headed south for the annual fleet concentration held in waters near the Panama Canal and for gunnery training at the range near Puerto Rico. Sometime between 1 July 1921 and 1 January 1922, she was reassigned to Division 25 of Squadron 9 and began operating with only 50 percent of her normal complement. However, by 1 January 1923, her full complement had been restored and, still assigned to the same squadron and division, she began operating with the newly organized Scouting Force.

Late in 1926, she appears to have been temporarily assigned to the American naval forces operating in Europe. By 1 January 1927, her base of operations had been moved from Newport, R.I., to Norfolk, Va. From the sketchy records which exist, she appears to have served the remainder of her career with the Scouting Force destroyers operating out of Norfolk.

In the spring of 1930, she moved to Philadelphia to prepare for inactivation. On 1 May 1930, Toucey was decommissioned at Philadelphia. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 22 October. The former destroyer was sold on 17 January 1931 and scrapped sometime in 1934.