 USS Wainwright was commissioned into the United States Navy on 12 May 1916 under the command of Lieutenant Fred H. Poteet . After fitting out at Philadelphia , the destroyer rounded Cape May on 20 June and headed for Newport , Rhode Island , to load torpedoes before joining Division 8 of the Atlantic Fleet Destroyer Flotilla . Following exercises near Eastport , Maine , she remained on the New England coast until mid @-@ September when she headed south for gunnery tests and training off the Virginia capes . Upon the completion of a fortnight 's gun drills , the ship then returned to Buzzard 's Bay , Massachusetts , on 2 October . Later that month , Wainwright operated out of Newport , practiced torpedo tactics near Vineyard Sound , and visited New York to pick up cargo for the flotilla 's tender , Melville . She returned to Newport on the 18th and , eight days later , resumed torpedo practice near Vineyard Sound for the remainder of the month . She put into Boston , Massachusetts on 1 November for extensive repairs in the navy yard . 
