USS Perry (DD-11) - Pre-World War I

Pre-World War I

Perry was assigned to the Pacific Torpedo Flotilla and based at Mare Island until the United States entered World War I. Her operations took her as far north as Alaska and south along the coast of Mexico; and in the fall of 1908, combined fleet maneuvers took her to Hawaii.

Perhaps the highlight of the torpedo boat destroyer’s career came during the earthquake which struck San Francisco on 18 April 1906 and the resulting fire which devastated the city. For four days after, they were awakened by severe rolling and pitching of their ship before dawn on 18 April, the crew labored to save the western metropolis by fighting fires; patrolling districts where stores, warehouses, and homes were threatened by looters; and providing medical aid to countless injured men, women, and children.

In 1914, Perry observed the Topolobampo naval campaign in the Gulf of California during the Mexican Revolution, she was present at the Fourth Battle of Topolobampo, the final naval action of the campaign.