USS Gloucester (1891)
| 300px USS Gloucester 1898 | |
| Career (USA) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Gloucester |
| Namesake: | Gloucester, Massachusetts |
| Builder: | Neafie & Levy |
| Launched: | 1891 |
| Acquired: | 23 April 1898 |
| Commissioned: | 16 May 1898 |
| Struck: | 12 August 1919 |
| Fate: | Sold |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 786 tons |
| Length: | 240 feet 8 inches (73.36 m) |
| Beam: | 27 feet 2 inches (8.28 m) |
| Draft: | 12 feet (3.7 m) |
| Speed: | 17 knots |
| Armament: | 4 x 6-pounders |
USS Gloucester was a gunboat in the United States Navy. Formerly J. P. Morgan's yacht Corsair, Gloucester was built in 1891 by Neafie & Levy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and acquired by the Navy on 23 April 1898. Gloucester was commissioned 16 May 1898, with Lieutenant Commander Richard Wainwright in command.
Gloucester served in Cuban waters in 1898 with the North Atlantic Fleet, Blockading Station. She participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba 3 July 1898 against Cervera's fleet. The victory came with no casualties, which was attributed to "The accuracy and rapidity of her fire, making the proper service of the guns on the Spanish ships impossible."
On 25 July 1898, she entered the harbor before the fleet at Guánica, Puerto Rico, and captured the place for the US Army in what is known as the Puerto Rican Campaign. The handling and fighting of Gloucester merited the commendation of the Navy Department. As the Army was anxious to transfer the place of disembarkation to the harbor of Ponce, the Fleet was directed to proceed to Ponce to reconnoiter; capture all lighters found there; and occupy such positions necessary for holding the port until the arrival of the Army. On 1 August 1898, with assistance of USS Wasp, Gloucester took possession of Arroyo, and hoisting the US flag, Wainwright held it until arrival of the Army, a day later.
Subsequently Gloucester cruised along the Eastern seaboard from New York to Provincetown in the fall of 1898, and from 1899 to 1902 served as a schoolship at Annapolis, Maryland. Recommissioned at Norfolk, Virginia 15 November 1902, she served as tender to the Commander in Chief, South Atlantic Squadron, and cruised to ports in the West Indies and along the east coast of South America.
Decommissioned 8 February 1905, at Pensacola, Florida, the ship was on duty with the Massachusetts and New York Naval Militias at New York City until recommissioned 7 April 1917 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Gloucester conducted harbor patrols at New York City until her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 12 August 1919, and she was sold 21 November 1919.
References
| USS Gloucester (1891)
]]- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
