DD-94


Taylor I

		(Destroyer No. 94: dp. 1,090; 1. 314'41/2"; b. 30'11 1/4~" (wl.), dr. 9'0" (mean), s. 35 k. (est.); 
cpl. 122, a4 4", 1 3", 12 21" tt.; cl. Wickes)


	The first Taylor (Destroyer No. 94) was laid down on 15 October 1917 by the Mare Island Navy Yard, 
Calif.; launched on 14 February 1918; sponsored by Miss Mary Gorgas, and commissioned on 1 June 1918, 
Comdr. Charles T. Hutchins, Jr., in command.


	Upon commissioning, Taylor joined Division 12 of the Destroyer force, Atlantic Fleet. She cruised with 
that fleet through the end of World War I and into the postwar period. By 1 April 1919, she was assigned to 
Division 8, Destroyer force. In 1920, Taylor was placed in reduced commission though still operating on the 
Atlantic coast. That summer, on 17 July, the Navy adopted the alpha-numeric hull designation system, and 
Taylor became DD-94. In October, she was placed back in full commission and, until the summer of 1922, 
operated with Division 8, Flotilla 8 Squadron 3. On 21 June 1922, the destroyer was placed out of commission 
at Philadelphia.


	Taylor remained inactive there until 1 May 1930 when she was placed back in commission, Comdr. 
George B. Keester in command. She was assigned to Division 33, Squadron 7, Destroyer Squadrons, Scouting 
Fleet, and operated from Charleston, S.C., until November when she was placed in reduced commission once 
again. At the same time, Taylor was detached from the Scouting Fleet and transferred to Division 47 Squadron 
16, Training Squadron. She was assigned to the 6th and 7th Naval Districts to train reservists and to carry 
Reserve Officer Training Corps midshipmen on summer cruises.


	By 1 April 1931, her unit designation changed completely. Scouting Fleet became Scouting Force, and 
the destroyer was an element of Division 28 of the Training Squadron. She operated with that unit until early in 
1934 when she joined Squadron 19 of the rotating reserve with which she remained until that fall.


	On 1 September, she relieved J. Fred Talbot (DD156) on duty with the Special Service Squadron. She 
cruised the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico with that little force for the better part of a year to guard American 
interests during Latin America's sporadic political spasms. By 1 October 1935, Taylor was back with the 
Training Squadron as a unit of the newly established Division 30. She trained reservists until early in 1937 when 
she returned to the Special Service Squadron in relief of Manley (DD-74). The destroyer again patrolled the 
volatile Caribbean area protecting American lives and property.


	Upon her return to the United States in 1938, Taylor was moored at Philadelphia to prepare for 
inactivation. The destroyer was placed out of commission on 23 September 1938. Although her name was struck 
from the Navy list on 6 December 1938, and she was offered for sale in July 1939, Taylors service to the Navy 
was not yet at an end. On 11 July 1940, she was selected for use in training damage control parties and was 
designated Damage Control Hulk No. 40.


	Moreover, at least a part of her saw duty in World War II. In May 1942 while patrolling off Martinique 
one of her sister ships, Blakley (DD-150), lost 60 feet of her bow to a German torpedo. Taylor's bow was 
grafted onto Blakeley at Philadelphia that summer; and, in September, the latter destroyer returned to
convoy escort duty in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean. The former Taylor continued to serve as a
 damage control hulk until almost the end of the war. She was finally sold for scrap in August 1945 and delivered 
to her purchaser on the 8th.