U.S.S. Alert (1874)
| U.S.S. Alert (1874) | |
|---|---|
| Hull Number: | AS-4 |
| Builder: | John Roach & Sons[1] |
| Ordered: | 10 February, 1873[2] |
| Laid down: | September, 1873[3] |
| Launched: | 18 September, 1874[4] |
| Commissioned: | 27 May, 1875[5] |
| Decommissioned: | 9 March, 1922[6] |
| Sold: | 29 July, 1922[7] |
| Fate: | Broken up |
U.S.S. Alert was one of three Alert Class gunboats completed for the U.S. Navy.
Service
Template:DANFS Alert was commissioned on 27 May, 1875 under the command of Commander William T. Sampson.
The ship returned to San Francisco on 13 July and commenced a two-month sojourn there. On 18 September, she headed back down the west coast to Central American waters and operated off the coast of Guatemala from 4 October to 6 November before heading back to San Francisco. Alert arrived there on 29 November and did not put to sea again until sailing for Nicaraguan waters on 8 January 1898. She patrolled the Pacific coast of Nicaragua for almost four months before heading north once more on 29 April. Alert reached San Francisco on 21 May, moved to the Mare Island Navy Yard on the 23d, and was decommissioned there on 4 June, 1898.
Following nearly three years of inactivity, she was recommissioned on 11 May, 1901 under the command of Commander Gottfried Blocklinger and was assigned to the Pacific Station as a training vessel. In that capacity, she made short cruises along the California coast until decommissioned again on 10 December 1903. She was berthed in the Mare Island Navy Yard until transferred on loan to the California Naval Militia sometime early in 1907.
Although returned to the Navy on 27 February 1910, Alert was not reactivated until almost two years later. On 25 January 1912, she was placed in commission, in reserve, Lt. Charles E. Smith in command, in connection with her fitting out for service as a submarine tender. She was placed in full commission on 1 July, 1912 with Lt. Smith still in command.
In early 1916, Alert was stationed in Pearl Harbor, helping to support the operations of four K class submarines.[8]
She tended submarines for the Torpedo Flotilla, Pacific Fleet, until late in 1917. In executing her new duties, she made short voyages along the California coast in much the same manner as she had done while serving as an apprentice training vessel.
World War I
The entry of the United States into World War I necessitated an increase of American naval strength in the Atlantic. Thus, in December 1917, Alert steamed south from San Diego, transited the Panama Canal, and proceeded to Bermuda to take up duty as base and repair ship.
In April 1918, Alert returned to the west coast and resumed duties as a Pacific Fleet Torpedo Flotilla submarine tender based at San Pedro, Calif. That assignment occupied her for the remaining four years of her naval career. When the Navy adopted the alphanumeric system of hull designations on 17 July 1920, she was classified AS-4. On 9 March 1922, Alert was placed out of commission at the Mare Island Navy Yard.
She was sold to A. Bercovich Co., Oakland, Calif., on 29 July 1922
Captains
Dates of appointment are provided when known.
- Commander William Thomas Sampson, 27 May, 1875
- Commander Charles L. Huntington, 3 March, 1879[9] – June 1881[10]
- Commander Louis Kempff, 18 June, 1881[11]
- Commander Charles J. Barclay, before 15 January, 1884[12]
- Commander James D. Graham, 15 January, 1887[13]
- Commander James G. Green, 23 January, 1889[14]
- Commander Roswell D. Hitchcock, 7 October, 1890[15]
- Commander George E. Ide, 8 October, 1894[16]
- Commander Franklin Hanford, 21 July, 1895[17]
- Commander Eugene H. C. Leutze, c. 1 January, 1898[18]
- Commander Gottfried Blocklinger, 11 May, 1901[19]
- Lieutenant Joseph V. Ogan, 20 February, 1913[20] – 16 February 1914[21]
- Lieutenant Charles E. Smith, 25 January, 1912[22]
- Lieutenant Bruce L. Canaga, 17 February, 1914[23] – before 1 January, 1916[24]
- Lieutenant (Junior Grade) John C. Thom, 1916[25][26]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Bauer and Roberts. Register of Ships. p. 78.
- ↑ Bauer and Roberts. Register of Ships. p. 78.
- ↑ Bauer and Roberts. Register of Ships. p. 78.
- ↑ Bauer and Roberts. Register of Ships. p. 78.
- ↑ Bauer and Roberts. Register of Ships. p. 78.
- ↑ Silverstone. The New Navy. p. 2.
- ↑ Bauer and Roberts. Register of Ships. p. 78.
- ↑ Estimates Submitted to the Secretary of the Navy, Volume II, 1916. pp. 1553-4.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1880. p. 11.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1881. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1882. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1884. p. 16.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1887. p. 8.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1890. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1892. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1895. p. 8.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1896. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1898. p. 10.
- ↑ DANFS.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1914. p. 32.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1915. p. 32.
- ↑ DANFS.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1915. p. 32.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1916. p. 30.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1916. p. 52.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1917. p. 52.
Bibliography
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