High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS O`Brien (Destroyer No. 51/DD-51) was the lead ship of her class of destroyer built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the second US Navy vessel named in honor of Jeremiah O`Brien and his five brothers Gideon, John, William, Dennis, and Joseph who, together on the sloop Unity, captured a British warship during the American Revolutionary War.