USS Robert Smith
USS Robert Smith (DD-324) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the U.S. Navy from 1921 to 1930. Named for Robert Smith (1757–1842), a member of President James Madison’s cabinet, the ship was built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Union Iron Works in San Francisco. It was laid down on May 13, 1919, launched on September 19, 1919, and commissioned on March 17, 1921.
After leaving San Francisco on April 5, 1921, Robert Smith served as flagship of Division 45, 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, in the Pacific Fleet. It patrolled the West Coast and Mexico and underwent regular overhauls at Mare Island. In 1925 it took part in a long cruise with Battle Force units, visiting Lahaina Roads, Pago Pago, Samoa, Melbourne, Lyttelton and Wellington, New Zealand, and Tutuila before returning to Pearl Harbor.
The ship continued duties around the California coast, Hawaii, and Mexican waters, and operated in the Panama Canal area in 1927. Robert Smith was decommissioned on March 1, 1930, at San Diego, then towed to Mare Island for dismantling. It was struck from the Navy list on July 12, 1930, and sold for scrap on June 10, 1931, under the London Naval Treaty. No other U.S. Navy ship has been named Robert Smith.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:58 (CET).