The Moody was a WWI Clemson-class destroyer commissioned in 1919.  She was very fast at over 34 knots and heavily armed with four four-inch guns, one three-inch gun, and 12 torpedo tubes.  After being used as a training vessel all over the world, she was decommissioned in 1930 in San Diego.

Her next and final role was in the movies.  MGM Studios acquired her for the picture "Hell Below," where she played the part of an enemy mine layer destroyed by a Navy submarine.  The Moody's hull was cut in half amidships and temporarily stitched together with steel cable.  Timed explosions and controlled sinking made her a star.  The scene was so dramatic, it was borrowed by the documentary series "Victory at Sea."