USS Nicholson (DD-52)

Nicholson during trials in 1915
History
United States
Name:	Nicholson
Namesake:	Nicholson family: James Nicholson Samuel Nicholson John Nicholson William Nicholson James W. Nicholson.
Ordered:	March 1913
Builder:	William Cramp and Sons Philadelphia
Cost:	$853,845.93 (hull and machinery)
Yard number:	405
Laid down:	8 September 1913
Launched:	19 August 1914
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Charles T. Taylor
Commissioned:	30 April 1915
Decommissioned:	26 May 1922
Struck:	7 January 1936
Identification:	Hull symbol:DD-52 Code letters:NIU
Fate:	sold 30 June 1936, scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type:	O'Brien-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,050 long tons (1,070 t) 1,171 long tons (1,190 t) fully loaded
Length:	305 ft 3 in (93.04 m)
Beam:	31 ft 1 in (9.47 m)
Draft:	9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) (mean) 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) max
Installed power:	4 × White-Forster boilers 17,000 shp (13,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × Zoelly direct-drive steam turbines 2 × screw propellers
Speed:	29 kn (33 mph; 54 km/h) 29.08 kn (33.46 mph; 53.86 km/h) (Speed on Trial)
Complement:	5 officers 96 enlisted
Armament:	4 × 4 in (100 mm)/50 caliber guns 8 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (4 × 2)

USS Nicholson (Destroyer No. 52/DD-52) was an O'Brien-class destroyer built for the United States Navy before the American entry into World War I. The ship was the second U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of five members of the Nicholson family who rendered distinguished service in the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the American Civil War: brothers James, Samuel, and John Nicholson; William Nicholson, son of John; and James W. Nicholson, grandson of Samuel.

Nicholson was laid down by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia in September 1913 and launched in August 1914. The ship was a little more than 305 ft (93 m) in length, just over 31 feet (9.4 m) abeam, and had a standard displacement of 1,050 long tons (1,070 t). She was armed with four 4 in (100 mm) guns and had eight 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes. Nicholson was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to 29 kn (33 mph; 54 km/h).

After her April 1915 commissioning, Nicholson sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Nicholson was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. In October 1917, Nicholson steamed to the rescue of J. L. Luckenbach, driving off German submarine U-62, which had shelled the American cargo ship for over three hours. In November, Nicholson and another US destroyer, Fanning, were responsible for sinking German submarine U-58, the first submarine taken by US forces during the war. In September 1918, Nicholson helped drive off U-82 after that U-boat had torpedoed the American troopship Mount Vernon off the coast of France.