"stockton" spent the last year of world war i assigned to convoy escort and antisubmarine duty, operating out of queenstown, ireland. during that time, she engaged an enemy u-boat on at least one occasion. on 30 march 1918, she and were escorting the troopship "st. paul" on the queenstown-liverpool circuit, when "ericsson" opened fire on a german submarine. the submerged enemy launched a torpedo at "stockton" almost immediately thereafter, and the destroyer narrowly evaded the "fish." the two destroyers dropped patterns of depth charges, but the u-boat managed to evade their attack and escaped. later that night, "stockton" collided with near south stack light. the destroyer had to put into liverpool for repairs and the merchantman sank.