| Navy | The US Navy |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Class | Wickes |
| Pennant | DD 147 |
| Built by | William Cramp and Sons (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 19 Mar 1918 |
| Launched | 17 Aug 1918 |
| Commissioned | 15 Feb 1919 |
| End service | 15 Sep 1945 |
| Loss position | |
| History | Decommissioned at San Diego, California on 14 December 1922 Recommissioned on 18 March 1930 Reclassified High Speed Transport APD-20 on 20 October 1943 Roper was hit by a Kamikaze and returned to the Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California for repairs but with the cessation of hostilities repair work was halted She was decommissioned on 15 September 1945 Stricken 11 October 1945 Sold on 31 March 1946 and broken up for scrap. |
Commands listed for USS Roper (DD 147)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Hamilton Wilcox Howe, USN | < Apr 42 | ??? |
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Noteable events involving Roper include:
23 Mar 1942
USS Roper sinks the bow section of the damaged American tanker Naeco with gunfire. The Neaco was torpedoed by the German submarine U-124 about 65 nautical miles south-east of Cape Lookout, North Carolina in position 33º59'N, 76º40'W.
31 Mar 1942
USS Roper picks up 70 survivors of the American passenger ship City of New York that was torpedoed and sunk on 29 March 1943 by the German submarine U-160 40 nautical miles east of Cape Hatteras in position 35º16'N, 74º25'W.
14 Apr 1942
On this day USS Roper (Lt.Cdr. Hamilton Howe) sank U-85 near Cape Hatteras, USA.
U-85 was the first U-boat to be sunk off the North American coast after the start of the Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag) on 13 January 1942.
On the day that she was sunk U-85 stayed on the surface through the engagement. After repeated gunfire hits on the boat, fatally damaging her, the order to abandon ship was given and maybe half of the crew got into the water and then U-85 started to sink again fast. USS Roper then dropped 11 depth charges onto the already sinking U-boat and its 2 dozen survivors and in the process killed everyone in the water.
The wreck of U-85 is now a popular dive site. (see map)
23 Apr 1942
USS Roper picks up 30 survivors from the Panamanian merchant Desert Light that was torpedoed and sunk on 16 April 1942 east of Cape Hattaras in position 35º35'N, 72º48'W by the German submarine U-572.