The first USS Twiggs (DD–127) was a in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Major Levi Twiggs. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy, as HMS Leamington and to the Soviet Navy as Zhguchy, before returning to Britain to star in the film The Gift Horse, which depicts the St. Nazaire Raid. Service history United States Navy service Twiggs was laid down on 23 January 1918 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. The ship was launched on 28 September 1918; sponsored by Miss Lillie S. Getchell, the granddaughter of Major Twiggs. Twiggs was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 28 July 1919, Commander Isaac C. Johnson, Jr., in command. Following shakedown, the destroyer joined Destroyer Division 16 (DesDiv 16), Destroyer Squadron 4 (Desron 4), Pacific Fleet, late in October 1919 and operated out of San Diego, California, on training cruises through the spring of 1922. While performing this duty, Twiggs was classified DD-127 on 17 July 1920 during the Navy-wide assignment of alphanumeric hull numbers. A combination of factors—increased operating costs, manpower shortages, and the general anti-military climate which followed World War I—resulted in a reduction of the Navy's active Fleet. Accordingly, Twiggs was decommissioned at San Diego on 24 June 1922. After almost eight years of inactivity, Twiggs was placed in commission again on 20 February 1930 at San Diego, Lieutenant Commander Thomas S. King II in command. She became flagship of DesDiv 14 and conducted operations out of San Diego with the Battle Fleet until late in the year. Early in February 1931, she headed south from San Francisco with the Battle Fleet to participate in the annual Fleet concentration with the Scouting Fleet. At the end of the exercises on 15 March 1931, Twiggs was reassigned to the Scouting Fleet, soon to be redesignated the Scouting Force as a result of the Fleet Reorganization of on 1 April 1931. Twiggs new home port was Charleston, South Carolina, whence she operated as flagship of DesDiv 7 until late in the spring of 1933. Sometime between 1 April and on 1 July 1933, she rejoined the Battle Force destroyers on the west coast as a unit of DesDiv 6, DesRon 2. The destroyer was completely active until on 1 November 1933 when she joined Rotating Reserve DesRon 20 at San Diego. She remained there in a caretaker