U.S.S. Wilkes (1901)

From The Dreadnought Project
Jump to: navigation, search
U.S.S. Wilkes (1901)
Hull Number: TB-35
Builder: Gas Engine & Power Co. and Chas. L. Seabury & Co.[1]
Ordered: Act of 4 May, 1898[2]
Laid down: 3 June, 1899[3]
Launched: 28 September, 1901[4]
Commissioned: 18 September, 1902[5]
Decommissioned: 14 November, 1913[6]
Stricken: 15 November, 1913[7]
Sunk: 1914[8]
Fate: Target ship
U.S.S. Wilkes was a torpedo boat completed for the U.S. Navy in 1902.

Construction

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Wilkes was laid down on 3 June, 1899 at Morris Heights, New York by the Gas Engine & Power Co. and Chas. L. Seabury & Co. She was launched on 28 September, 1901, sponsored by Miss Harriet E. Rankin.

Service

Wilkes was commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 18 September, 1902 with Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Dudley W. Knox in command.

Once worked up, she found herself operating from Puerto Rico later in the year.[9]

Wilkes spent the bulk of her career in reserve. Soon after her commissioning, she was assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla based at Norfolk. There, she remained until the winter of 1906 and 1907 when she briefly returned to full commission for service with the 3d Torpedo Flotilla. On 30 May, 1907, she was again placed in reserve with the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Norfolk. There, she remained until 23 November, 1908 when she was recommissioned and assigned to duty with the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet based at Charleston. On 22 December, 1909 Wilkes went back into reserve, this time at the Charleston Navy Yard.

Apparently in commission, in reserve, while at Charleston, Wilkes was decommissioned there on 14 November, 1913, and her name was struck from the Navy list on the following day. She was sunk as a target during the summer or fall of 1914.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Armament

  • three 1-pdr guns
  • three 18-in torpedo tubes, one on centreline aft, and one on each broadside between second and third funnels

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Silverstone. The New Navy. p. 40.
  2. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 162.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 162.
  4. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 162.
  5. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 162.
  6. Silverstone. The New Navy. p. 40.
  7. Silverstone. The New Navy. p. 40.
  8. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 162.
  9. Email from Mike Apgar, 20231126, citing a personal diary of a crew member which is in his possession.
  10. List and Station, July 1902. p. 17.
  11. Register of Officers, 1903. p. 32.
  12. Register of Officers, 1907. pp. 32, 204.
  13. List and Station, July 1907. pp. 18.
  14. List and Station, July 1907. pp. 17-18, 109.
  15. Register of Officers, 1909. pp. 222.
  16. Register of Officers, 1911. p. 36.

Bibliography

  • Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. (on Amazon.com).
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (2006). The U.S. Navy Warship Series: The New Navy 1883-1922. New York: Routledge.


Torpedo Boat U.S.S. Wilkes
<– Blakely Class Torpedo Boats (US) Nicholson Class –>