Frustrating mystery. This ship was photographed off the Mid Atlantic coast (roughly near the Delaware) in August 1909. Now, I thought it might be one of the three Truxtun class destroyers, the only ships that fit her profile even remotely (at least to my untrained eye). But two of them were in the Pacific at that time; and the third was supposedly inactive. And they don’t really quite seem to fit; the length of the stern and the close placement of the stacks is a bit off.
Any guesses anyone?
Ha! I think I found a possibility: the two Lawrence class torpedo boat destroyers. Though it looks like something got changed on some of the deckwork, the stack placement is right. Furthermore, the USS Macdonough was in the right place at the right time!
http://destroyerhistory.org/early/lawrenceclass/
Acair Fearann 
If it were not for the date, I’d say Paulding class — but they didn’t enter service until 1910… at least that’s what Wikipedia, an unimpeachable source, says…
And we know that the date is solid, since that is taken on Mavourneen’s southern trip. It is a very distinctive profile, I just have to find what it matches…
USS MacDonough — DD 9 you say. Hmm… yes indeed. Very likely! Here’s the link I found… http://www.destroyersonline.com/usndd/info/infdL009.html
We got it! 🙂