Wikipedia

USSBoston(1884)

For other ships with the same name, seeUSS BostonandUSS Despatch.

The fifthUSSBostonwas aprotected cruiserand one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s. In some references she is combined withAtlantaas theAtlantaclass, in others as theBostonclass.

Boston (protected). Port bow
USSBostonin 1891
History
United States
NameBoston
NamesakeBoston,Massachusetts
Ordered23 July 1883
BuilderDelaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works,Chester, Pennsylvania
Laid down15 November 1883
Launched4 December 1884
Commissioned2 May 1887
Decommissioned4 November 1893
Recommissioned15 November 1895
Decommissioned15 September 1899
Recommissioned11 August 1902
Decommissioned10 June 1907
Recommissioned18 June 1918
FateScuttled 7 April 1946
Notes
General characteristics
TypeProtected cruiser
Displacement3,189long tons(3,240t)
Length283 ft (86.3 m)
Beam42 ft (12.8 m)
Draft17 ft (5.2 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • Sails (as built)
  • 1 × shaft
Speed16.3kn(18.8 mph; 30.2 km/h) on trials, 13kn(15 mph; 24 km/h) designed
Range3,390nmi(6,280km;3,900mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement284 officers and men
Armament
Armor
NotesOne of theU.S. Navy's first foursteelships

Bostonwas laid down on 15 November 1883 byDelaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works,Chester, Pennsylvania,launchedon 4 December 1884, andcommissionedon 2 May 1887 at theNew York Navy Yard,CaptainFrancis M. Ramsayin command.[1]

Design and construction

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Bostonwas ordered as part of the "ABCD" ships, the others being the cruisersAtlantaandChicagoand thedispatch vesselDolphin.All were ordered from the same shipyard,John Roach & SonsofChester, Pennsylvania.However, whenSecretary of the NavyWilliam C. Whitneyinitially refused to acceptDolphin,claiming her design was defective, the Roach yard went bankrupt andBostonwas completed at the New York Navy Yard, which had little experience with steel-hulled ships.[2]

As-built armament included two8-inch (203 mm)/30caliber Mark 1 guns,[3]six6-inch (152 mm)/30caliber Mark 2 guns,[4]two6-pounder(57 mm (2.24 in)) guns, two3-pounder(47 mm (1.85 in))Hotchkiss revolving cannon,two1-pounder(37 mm (1.46 in)) Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two.45 caliber(11.4 mm)Gatling guns.[2]The 8-inch guns were initially in openbarbetteswith gun shields added later.[5]

Armor protection was light, with 2-inch (50.8 mm)gun shieldsandconning tower,and a 1.5-inch (38.1 mm) deck extending 100 feet (30 m) over the machinery spaces.[6]

The engineering plant included eight coal-fired cylindricalboilersproducing 100psi(690kPa) steam and a horizontalcompound engineproducing 3,500ihp(2,600kW) driving one shaft.[2][5][6]Like the other "ABCD" ships,Bostonwas built with a sail rig to increase cruising range, later removed. The ship carried up to 490 tons of coal, with a cruising range as built of 3,390nmi(6,280km;3,900mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph).[2][7]

Refits

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In 1900–01Bostonwas rebuilt and the 6-inch guns were converted torapid firingwith brass case ammunition replacing powder bags. During her service with theOregon Naval Militia1911-16 she retained her original pair of 8 "/30 guns and three of the 6" /30 guns, with a single4-inch (102 mm)/40caliber gun added.[2][8]All armament was removed prior to her conversion to a freighter in 1917.[6]

Service history

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Boston,being the second cruiser of the New Navy completed, was not ready for active service until 1888. She then made a cruise toGuatemalaandHaitito protect American citizens.[9]She joined theSquadron of Evolutionon 30 September 1889 and cruised to theMediterraneanandSouth Americafrom 7 December 1889 to 29 July 1890, and along the east coast in 1891.BostondepartedNew Yorkon 24 October 1891 for thePacificviaCape Horn,arriving atSan Franciscoon 2 May 1892. Except for a prospectivePacific Squadroncommanding officer's cruise to theHawaiian Islandsfrom 11 August 1892 to 10 October 1893 (in which she provided a shore party in January 1893 that bolstered theoverthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy), she remained on theWest Coastuntil laid up atMare Island Navy Yardon 4 November 1893.[1]

Bostonduring speed trials

Recommissioned on 15 November 1895,Bostonjoined theAsiatic SquadronatYokohama,Japanon 25 February 1896. She remained in East Asia protecting American interests for the next four years and during theSpanish–American Wartook part in theBattle of Manila Bayon 1 May 1898 and the capture ofManilaon 13 August 1898. From 4 October to 23 December,Bostonand other ships deployed to Taku inChinato protect American interests in the wake of acoup d'etatby theEmpress Dowager Cixi.Following this,Bostonremained in thePhilippinesassisting intheir pacificationuntil 8 June 1899.[1]Sometime during this overseas deployment,Boston's distinctive sail rig was removed. This is evidence by a photograph taken in 1899 ofBostonin the Philippines with pole masts but no cross rigging.[10]

Bostonreturned to San Francisco on 9 August 1899 and went out of commission at Mare Island Navy Yard on 15 September 1899. She remained out of commission until 11 August 1902 and then rejoined the Pacific Squadron. On 7 November 1903,Bostonwas the first ship of the Pacific Squadron to arrive nearPanamato support that country'snewly declared independence;a key event in the creation of thePanama Canal.She then cruised in South America, Hawaii, and the US West Coast. From 16 to 25 June 1905, she helped represent the Navy at theLewis and Clark Centennial ExpositionatPortland, Oregon,and from 23 April – 10 May 1906 she helped care for the victims of theSan Francisco earthquakeand fire. In April 1907 she carried a Honduran peace delegation that ended theHonduran–NicaraguanWar. She went out of commission again atPuget Sound Navy Yardon 10 June 1907. From 15 June 1911 to September 1916, she served as a training vessel with the Oregon Naval Militia.[1]

With the United States declaration of war on Germany in April 1917,Bostonwas loaned to theUnited States Shipping Boardfrom 24 May 1917 – June 1918.Bostonwas converted to a freighter bySeattle Construction & Drydockin 1917–1918. Her guns were most likely removed when she was laid up atBremertonbetween September 1916 and March 1917. On 18 June 1918, she was recommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard as areceiving shipand towed toYerba Buena Island,California,where she served as a receiving ship until 1940. She was renamedDespatch,the sixth U.S. Navy ship to bear that name, on 9 August 1940, thus freeing her original name for use on the newheavy cruiserBoston(CA-69).From 1940 to October 1945, she was used as a radio school. The old ship was redesignatedIX-2on 17 February 1941.Despatchwas towed to sea and sunk off San Francisco on 7 April 1946.[1]

Legacy

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The two 8-Inch, 30-Caliber guns, mounted inHamlin Park,2020.

Both ofBoston's 8-inch (203-mm) guns were placed at the new Seattle Naval Hospital in 1942. After the hospital closed, the guns went with the site to the new Firlands Sanitarium owned by King County in 1947. At some point after 1952, the guns were moved to Hamlin Park, inShoreline, Washington.[11][12]However, county records do not indicate when the guns were placed in the park or why it was done.[13]Of the two guns displayed at Hamlin Park, the easternmost gun bears a plaque which states that the gun fired the first shot of the Battle of Manila Bay. The other bears a plaque crediting the gun with the dismounting of three guns at the Spanish fort of Cavite.

Awards

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Despatchat Yerba Buena Island, San Francisco Bay in 1946

Boston/Despatchearned the following awards in her career spanning six decades:

Notes

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  1. ^abcde"Boston V (Protected Cruiser)".Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.Navy Department,Naval History and Heritage Command.26 June 2015.Retrieved19 January2016.
  2. ^abcdeFriedman, pp. 18-22, 457
  3. ^DiGiulian, Tony, US 8 "/30 guns at Navweaps.com
  4. ^DiGiulian, Tony, US 6 "/30 and 6" /35 guns at Navweaps.com
  5. ^abGardiner and Chesneau, p. 150
  6. ^abcBauer and Roberts, p. 141
  7. ^Gibbons, pp. 232
  8. ^DiGiulian, Tony, US 4 "/40 guns at Navweaps.com
  9. ^"Probably a mistake".Buffalo Courier (Buffalo, New York). 21 November 1888. p. 2.Retrieved22 August2018.The Navy department has no information of the reported surrender to the commander of the United States steamshipBostonof the steamerHaytian Republicby the authorities of Hayti. The only report received from Capt. Ramsey (and this was received by mail), stated that the Haytian officials had released the American schoonerWilliam Jones,which had been seized on suspicion of engaging in filibustering after an investigation which established her innocence.
  10. ^"Cruiser Photo Index Protected Cruiser/IX-2 USS BOSTON/DESPATCH - Navsource - Photographic History of the U.S. Navy".
  11. ^Photos ofBoston's guns at NavSource.org
  12. ^"Photos ofBoston's guns at The SunBreak.com ".Archived fromthe originalon 12 November 2015.Retrieved20 January2016.
  13. ^Seattle Post-Intelligencer Archives (dead link 2015-05-12)

This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere.

Bibliography

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