Case DD- 285

Case

Born in Newburgh, N.Y., 3 February 1812, Augustus Ludlow Case was appointed midshipman in 1828 and attained the rank of rear admiral 24 May 1872. He participated in the Wilkes Expedition of 1837-42 which explored the South Seas and discovered the Antarctic Continent; the Mexican War, 1846-48, when with 26 men he held the town of Palisada against the Mexican cavalry for two weeks to block the escape of General Santa Ana; and the Paraguay Expedition of 1859. In the Civil War he was Fleet Captain of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in its capture of Forts Clark and Hatteras in August 1861, and commanded Iroquois in the blockade of New Inlet, N.C. From 1869 to 1873 he was Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, and from 1873 to 1875, commanded the European Squadron and the combined European, North and South Atlantic Fleet assembled at Key West in 1874. Retired in 1876, Admiral Case died in Washington 16 February 1893.

(DD-285. dp. 1,215,1. 314'4", o. 30'8"; dr. 9'4"; s. 35 k.;
cpl. 122, a. 4 4", 12 21" tt.; cl. Clemson)

Case (DD-285) was launched 21 September 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Squantum, Mass.; sponsored by Miss A. R. Case; commissioned 8 December 1919, Commander C. S. Joyce in command; and reported to Destroyer Division 43, Atlantic Fleet.

Between January and July 1920, Case operated along the east coast, and on winter maneuvers in the Caribbean, during which she obtained tactical data for Naval War College study. From July 1920 through December 1921, she operated in reduced commission with fifty percent of complement. Beginning in December 1921 Case was permanently assigned to Destroyer Division 25 for a regular schedule of operations designed to keep her operational readiness at its maximum. Along with gunnery and engineering exercises and competitions, she joined the fleet annually in maneuvers and war problems.

From 1924 to 1925 Case was flagship of her division, and with it in April 1926 sailed to the European station, where the flag was shown and good-will created by visits to various British and Mediterranean ports. Returning to the United States a year later, the destroyer resumed operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean. Designated for scrapping in accordance with the London Treaty in 1929, Case was decommissioned at Philadelphia 22 October 1930, and sold as a stripped hulk 17 January 1931.