The USS Preble (DD-12) was a Bainbridge-class destroyer built for the United States Navy, commissioned in 1903 and serving until 1919. Constructed by Union Iron Works in San Francisco, her keel was laid on April 21, 1899, and she was launched on March 2, 1901. She measured approximately 244 feet in length, with a beam of about 23 feet, and a draft of roughly 5 feet. Her design featured typical early 20th-century destroyer characteristics, emphasizing speed and agility. Preble was primarily assigned to the Pacific Fleet, operating off the West Coast of North America from Washington to the Panama Canal Zone. Her early service included cruises to Hawaii and American Samoa in 1908, followed by operations along the U.S. West Coast until 1909, when she entered Mare Island Navy Yard for inactivation. After reactivation in September 1909, she joined the Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, conducting torpedo practice, gunnery exercises, and minesweeping. Notably, she observed the Mexican Revolution’s Topolobampo Campaign in 1914 and participated in the final naval action of that campaign at the Fourth Battle of Topolobampo. With the onset of World War I, Preble was reactivated in April 1917 and transferred to the East Coast, where she conducted coastwise convoy duty in the Atlantic. Her service included an incident in July 1918 where she was involved in a friendly fire event with the British armed transport Minnekahda and the U.S. submarine USS N-3. During this incident, N-3 was mistakenly engaged by Minnekahda, resulting in minor damage to N-3 and the shelling of her forward superstructure, but no casualties occurred. Preble continued convoy escort operations until the Armistice in November 1918. She was decommissioned in July 1919 in New York, struck from the Navy List in September, and sold for scrapping in January 1920. Throughout her service, she earned the Mexican Service Medal and the World War I Victory Medal, contributing to early 20th-century naval operations and maritime history.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.