| Class | Clemson class |
|---|
| Type | Destroyer (DD) |
|---|
| Hull | DD-211 |
|---|
| Builder | William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia |
|---|
| Launched | 1919-05-14 |
|---|
| Commissioned | 1919-11-24 |
|---|
| Fate | Afloat. Not sunk. Decommissioned at San Diego on 24 January 1923 and recommissioned there on 8 May 1930. Decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 July 1945. Struck 13 August 1945. Sold 30 November 1945 to the Boston Metals Salvage Company, Baltimore, and broken up. Three battle stars. |
|---|
| Armament (class) | Flush-deck four-piper, the same pattern as the Wickes class. |
|---|
| Command | - Ancrum, William Alexander Captain, 24 November 1919 to 5 February 1921
- Armstrong, Eldred Bewes Captain, 5 February 1921 to 21 May 1921
- Strother, Edmund Weyman Captain, 21 May 1921 to 24 December 1921
- Glassford, William Alexander Jr. Captain, 24 December 1921 to 24 January 1923; She was decommissioned that day.
- Gray, Lloyd Robert Captain, 8 May 1930 to 8 August 1930; He recommissioned her.
- McClain, John Franklin Captain, 8 August 1930 to 30 May 1931
- Stevens, Paul Augustus Captain, 30 May 1931 to 10 July 1934
- Kessing, Oliver Owen Captain, 10 July 1934 to 3 January 1935
- Haight, Stanley Martyn Captain, 3 January 1935 to 10 March 1938
- McCann, Thomas Lee Captain, 10 March 1938 to 22 January 1939
- Patten, Stanley Fletcher Captain, 22 January 1939 to 9 July 1940
- Coley, Lewis Elliott Captain, 9 July 1940 to 15 March 1942; In command at the Battle of the Java Sea, 27 February 1942. She was not sunk.
- Cooper, Jacob Elliott Captain, 15 March 1942 to 15 April 1942
- Evans, Ernest E. (Medal of Honor) Captain, 15 April 1942 to 7 July 1943
- Herkness, Wayne II Captain, 7 July 1943 to 27 January 1945
- York, John Graham Captain, 27 January 1945 to 20 July 1945; She was decommissioned on 15 July 1945. NavSource carries him to 20 July.
|
|---|
Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.
The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.
Alden was a Clemson-class destroyer, a four-piper, hull number DD-211. William Cramp and Sons built her at Philadelphia. Her keel was laid on 24 October 1918, she was launched on 14 May 1919, and she was commissioned on 24 November 1919 under Commander William Ancrum. She was named for Rear Admiral James Alden, Jr. She was out of commission from 24 January 1923 to 8 May 1930, then went back to the Asiatic Fleet.
On 27 February 1942 Lieutenant Commander Lewis Elliott Coley had her. She was in the American destroyer column behind John D. Edwards. At about 1822 the four destroyers fired their torpedoes at the Japanese cruiser line. None hit. Alden was not sunk.
On 28 February she left Surabaya with Edwards, John D. Ford, and Paul Jones and got out through Bali Strait.
Ernest Evans had her from 15 April 1942 to 7 July 1943. She spent the rest of the war on escort duty. She was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 July 1945, struck on 13 August 1945, and sold for scrap on 30 November 1945. She earned three battle stars.
