USS Meade (DD-274)

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History
United States
Name	USS Meade
Namesake	Richard Worsam Meade and Robert Leamy Meade
Builder	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Squantum Victory Yard
Laid down	23 September 1918
Launched	24 May 1919
Commissioned	8 September 1919
Decommissioned	18 December 1939
Stricken	8 January 1941
Identification	DD-274
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom, 26 November 1940
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Ramsey
Acquired	26 November 1940
Identification	Pennant number: G60
Fate	Sold for scrap, 18 February 1947
General characteristics
Class and type	Clemson-class destroyer
Displacement	1,190 long tons (1,209 t)
Length	314 ft 5 in (95.83 m)
Beam	31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Draft	9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Installed power	26,500 shp (19,800 kW)
Propulsion	2 × geared steam turbines 2 shafts
Speed	35 kn (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Range	4,900 nmi (5,600 mi; 9,100 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement	120 officers and enlisted
Armament	4 × 4 in (100 mm) guns 2 × 3 in (76 mm) guns 12 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

The first USS Meade (DD-274) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy and transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Ramsey (G60).

Named for brothers Richard Worsam Meade and Robert Leamy Meade, she was laid down by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Squantum, Massachusetts, on 23 September 1918; launched on 24 May 1919; sponsored by Miss Annie Paulding Meade; and commissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, on 8 September 1919.

After shakedown along the east coast, Meade was assigned to duty with the Pacific Fleet. For more than two years afterward, she operated out of west coast ports including San Diego, California and San Francisco, California while participating in fleet and squadron maneuvers. After duty with several destroyer divisions, she decommissioned at San Diego on 25 May 1922 and was placed in reserve.

Meade recommissioned at San Diego on 18 December 1939. After returning to the east coast in 1940, she served with ships of Destroyer Squadron 9 (DesRon 9) of the United States Fleet.

In accordance with provisions of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement of September 1940, Meade was designated one of the 50 destroyers to be transferred to Britain. She was decommissioned from the USN and turned over to the British on 26 November 1940. Renamed HMS Ramsey (G60), she served the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic and later performed duty as an aircraft training ship. She completed her service on 30 June 1945 and was scrapped in July 1947 at Bo'ness, Scotland.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Photo gallery at navsource.org
• Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center