USS Scorpion (PY-3)

USS Scorpion (PY-3) at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, ca. April 1898
Career (United States)
Name:	USS Scorpion
Namesake:	Scorpions, an order of arachnids having an elongated body and a narrow segmented tail bearing a venomous sting at the tip.
Builder:	John N. Robins, South Brooklyn, New York
Completed:	1896
Acquired:	7 April 1898
Commissioned:	11 April 1898
Recommissioned:	22 August 1899 (first recommissioning) 1 July 1902 (second recommissioning)
Decommissioned:	14 January 1899 (first time) 24 July 1901 (second time) 27 October 1927 (third and final time)
Struck:	23 March 1929
Fate:	Sold 25 June 1929
Notes:	Served as private yacht Sovereign 1896-1898
General characteristics
Type:	Armed yacht 1898-1899 Gunboat 1899-1927
Tonnage:	775
Length:	212 ft 10 in (64.87 m)
Beam:	28 ft 1 in (8.56 m)
Draft:	11 ft 0 in (3.35 m)
Propulsion:	Steam
Speed:	14 knots
Complement:	90
Armament:	4 x 6-pounder guns

For other ships of the same name, see USS Scorpion.

The fourth USS Scorpion was a steam yacht in commission in the United States Navy from 1898 to 1899, 1899 to 1901, and 1902 to 1927.

Construction and acquisition

Scorpion was built in 1896 as Sovereign, a two-masted schooner-rigged, 775-ton, steel steam yacht, for M. C. Borden by John N. Robins, South Brooklyn, New York. The U.S. Navy purchased her on 7 April 1898 for service in the Spanish-American War. Renamed USS Scorpion, she was commissioned on 11 April 1898 with Lieutenant Commander Adolph Marix in command.

First period of commission and Spanish-American War service 1898-1899

Following commissioning, Scorpion proceeded to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she joined the Flying Squadron on 1 May 1898 and prepared for duty in the Caribbean. On 22 May 1898, she arrived with the squadron off Cienfuegos, Cuba, then continued on to the Santiago de Cuba area with dispatches for ships scouting off that port. On 25 May 1898 she returned to Cienfuegos, patrolled there on blockade duty until the next day, then departed for Key West, Florida, for coal and water.

On 7 June 1898, Scorpion headed south, escorted a provisions ship and an ammunition ship to Santiago de Cuba, then, until 22 June 1898, performed blockade duties off the harbor there. On 22 June 1898 she assisted in clearing the beach at Daiquirí in preparation for a United States Army landing and, on 23 June 188, carried out a similar mission at Siboney. On 24 June 1898 she resumed blockade duties off Santiago de Cuba. On 30 June 1898, she shifted to Cape Cruz, and on 1 July 1898 she joined armed tug USS Osceola (AT-47) in an unsuccessful attack on Spanish gunboats in Manzanillo harbor. After the attack, she retired to waters off the entrance, captured a provisions lighter, and patrolled there until 5 July 1898.

Scorpion then proceeded to Guantanamo Bay for water, coal, provisions, and ammunition. She returned to Manzanillo on 11 July 1898, and, on 18 July 1898, participated in another attack that destroyed all Spanish Government vessels then in the harbor.

After the second attack on Manzanillo, Scorpion resumed blockade duties, continued them until 3 August 1898, then returned to Guantanamo Bay, whence she carried dispatches for the remainder of the war, which ended on 13 August 1898.

On 27 November 1898, Scorpion departed Cuban waters. A month later, she arrived at New York and, on 14 January 1899, she was decommissioned in preparation for conversion to a gunboat.

Second period of commission 1899-1901

Recommissioned on 22 August 1899, Scorpion was assigned to the Isthmian Canal Commission and ordered to Central America. Into the spring of 1900, she remained in the Caribbean as the Commission investigated the proposed canal routes. In June 1900 she returned to the United States, operated off the northeast coast into the autumn of 1900, then resumed operations in the Caribbean. From November 1900 to May 1901, she cruised off Hispaniola. In June 1901, she arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, and, on 24 July 1901, she was again decommissioned.

Pre-World War I service 1902-1914

On 1 July 1902, Scorpion was recommissioned and assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron. For the next six years, she carried dispatches and personnel, conducted hydrographic surveys, and participated in exercises along the United States East Coast and in the Caribbean, operating primarily off Santo Domingo during 1906 and 1907.

Ordered to the Mediterranean in 1908, Scorpion sailed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 22 October 1908. On 4 December 1908, she arrived at Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire to take up duties as station ship, but, on the 21 December 1908, she was ordered to Messina, Italy, to assist in relief efforts for the survivors of an earthquake there. She supported International Medical Service efforts from 3 January 1909 to 8 January 1909, then steamed back to the Ottoman Empire. From 10 February 1909 until 15 July 1909 she was at Naples, Italy, for repairs. She returned to Constantinople on 20 July 1909 and assumed station ship duties, which included work for the United States Embassy. From 27 November 1910 to 28 January 1912, she was at Trieste in Austria-Hungary for extensive repairs, and in February 1912 she returned to Constantinople. In August 1912 she assisted earthquake victims in the Ottoman Empire and, in October 1912, as the First Balkan War broke out, she commenced operations to assist Americans caught in disputed areas.

On November 18, 1912, the Diplomatic Corps resident in Constantinople decided to land 2500 men and 26 guns to protect foreign residents and their interests from rioting. In addition to detachments from British, French, German, Italian, and Russian warships, USS Scorpion landed a small detail to guard the US Legation. The men from Scorpion reembarked on December 3, 1912.

Throughout the First Balkan War, which lasted six months, and the Second Balkan War, which followed in the summer of 1913, Scorpion continued to protect American interests. After the two wars, she assisted the international commissions which gave aid to refugees and displaced persons.

World War I service 1914-1918

World War I began in August 1914 and in November 1914 the Ottoman Empire entered it on the side of the Central Powers. During the first years of the war, the Ottoman government held the Scorpion at Constantinople. The United States entered the war on the side of the Allies on 6 April 1917, and, on 11 April 1917, the government interned Scorpion. Under Ottoman Turkish guard from 15 November 1917, she was allowed to assist British personnel released from prisoner-of-war camps in the interior of the Ottoman Empire during late October 1918. The armistice that ended the participation of the Ottoman Empire in World War I went into force on 28 October 1918, and on 9 November 1918, the Ottoman Empire allowed Scorpion to resume her previous activities and soon thereafter she began assisting the many refugees in the area.

Post-World War I service 1918-1927

With the arrival at Constantinople of Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol, U.S. High Commissioner to the Ottoman Empire and Senior U.S. Naval Officer in Turkish Waters, Scorpion assumed duties as flagship and dispatch vessel, continuing, at the same time, her station ship and relief work. Designated PY-3 in 1920 when the U.S. Navy instituted its alphanumeric hull classification system, she shifted to Phaleron Bay, Greece, in November 1923 and took up duties as station ship in the eastern Mediterranean. On 16 June 1927, she departed the Mediterranean and steamed west to return to the United States. On 11 July 1927, she arrived at Philadelphia.

Final decommissioning and disposal

Scorpion decommissioned at Philadelphia on 27 October 1927. Struck from the Navy List on 23 March 1929, she was sold to the Boston Iron and Metal Company of Baltimore, Maryland on 25 June 1929.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Scorpion (1898-1929, later PY-3)