USS Waters (DD-115)

(Destroyer No. 115: dp. 1,154; l. 314'4 -"; b. 30'11 -" (wl.); dr. 9'10-" (f.) (aft); s. 35.2 k. (tl.); cpl. 122; a. 4 4", 2 3", 12 21" tt., 2 .30-cal. mg., 2 dct., 1 Y-gun; cl. Wickes )

Daniel Waters, born on 20 June 1731 at Charlestown, Mass., was one of the "minute men" who engaged the British at the onset of the Revolutionary War. Later placed in charge of a small gunboat during the American investment of Boston, Waters was appointed by General George Washington to command the schooner Lee on 20 January 1776. He was soon actively engaged in the ensuing assault upon British communications, capturing one enemy vessel in February and another in May. Aided by Warren, Lee seized an armed troopship with 94 Scottish Highlander troops on board in early June. Later in the month, Waters and Lee shared with other vessels the capture of transports Howe and Annabella.

Again at the recommendation of Washington, Waters was appointed a captain in the Continental Navy on 15 March 1777 and given command of the frigate Fox. Shortly thereafter, Waters and Fox, along with Hancock, were forced to surrender to superior British forces off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Following exchange in 1778, Waters made a cruise to the West Indies in the spring of 1779 in the Continental sloop General Gates. He then commanded the Massachusetts ship General Putnam in an ill-fated expedition against Castine, Maine, in which the American ships were destroyed in the mouth of the Penobscot River to prevent their capture.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Waters (Destroyer No. 115)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.