Three Truxtun-class destroyers were built for the United States Navy. Part of the original 16 destroyers authorized by Congress on 4 May 1898 for the fiscal year 1899 program, they were commissioned in 1902. They were very similar to their contemporaries, except for mounting six 6-pounder (57 mm) guns instead of five. They were considered the most successful of the first 16 US Navy destroyers, and were succeeded by the larger . The Truxtuns escorted convoys during World War I. All were decommissioned in 1919 and converted to merchant vessels in 1920. Design Armament The as-built torpedo armament was two torpedo tubes with four torpedoes. The gun armament was two /50 caliber guns and six 6-pounder () guns. During World War I the class was equipped with one or two depth charge racks for the convoy escort mission. Also during World War I, the single torpedo tubes were replaced with two twin torpedo tubes on Truxton and Worden, with the number of torpedoes remaining at four. Whipple was modified with one twin torpedo tube mount and four torpedoes at this time. Engineering Truxtun had four Thornycroft boilers supplying steam to two vertical triple-expansion engines totaling (design). She made on trials at . Normal coal capacity was 232 tons. Service Truxtun and Whipple served first on the East Coast and later on the West Coast prior to World War I. Worden engaged in reserve training duties on the East Coast and acted as a submarine tender 1914–17. All three served in the Atlantic during the US participation in World War I. Following the Armistice, all were sold in 1920 for scrapping but then converted for merchant use. Merchant Service On 3 Jan 1920, the three were sold for pennies per pound to Henry A. Hitner's Sons Company for scrapping. Instead, Hitner decided to sell them for motor fruit carriers; It made sense as the vessels were shallow enough to maneuver through the narrow fruit company waterways such as the Snyder Canal in Panama, and, with their engineering suite reduced and armament removed, were still fast and economical enough to get the job done. With their old magazines and one of their boiler rooms turned into banana holds, they could hold as many as 15,000 stems of fruit. The ships were rebuilt, scrapping their old VTE suites and boilers for a pair of economical 12-cylinder Atlas Imperial Diesels– a company known for