USS Badger (1889)
USS Badger in 1898
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History | |
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United States | |
Name |
|
Builder | Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania |
Laid down | 1889 |
Launched | 1889 |
Acquired | by purchase, 19 April 1898 |
Commissioned | 25 April 1898 |
Decommissioned | 31 October 1899 |
Fate | Transferred to War Department, 7 April 1900, U.S. Army Transport Lawton |
General characteristics | |
Type | Auxiliary cruiser |
Displacement | 4,784 long tons (4,861 t) |
Length | 329 ft 6 in (100.43 m) |
Beam | 48 ft 3 in (14.71 m) |
Draft | 18 ft 5 in (5.61 m) |
Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Complement | 235 officers and men |
Armament |
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USS Badger was an
burrowing mammal
. Badger was sold to the War Department in April 1900 to serve as the U.S. Army Transport Lawton.
She was built in 1889 by
New York Navy Yard, then commissioned on 25 April 1898, Commander A. S. Snow in command; and joined the North Patrol Squadron
.
Service history
From 1 July to 18 August 1898, Badger served on the blockade of
Dry Tortugas, she seized a Spanish tug with two vessels in tow, each with a quarantine flag hoisted. They were given medical assistance, provisioned, and kept in port until 3 August when a prize crew was put aboard the tug to sail her to New York. The other two vessels with 399 prisoners of war were sent to Havana
.
Badger left
Naval Militia. Decommissioned on 31 October 1899, Badger was transferred to the War Department
on 7 April 1900, where she was renamed Lawton and used as an army transport.
USAT Lawton, 3,497 GRT, was fitted for troop and supply service to Alaska with a capacity for 700 passengers. In June 1900 the ship was engaged in returning destitute citizens from Alaska to the United States.[1] Over the next fiscal year (1 July 1900—30 June 1901) Lawton was also engaged in transport to China and interisland service in the Philippines. The ship transported troops to China in July 1900 in response to the Boxer Rebellion.[2]
References
- ^ Quartermaster Corps, U.S. Army (1900). Annual Report of the Quartermaster General of the Army to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1900 (Report). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 10. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ Quartermaster Corps, U.S. Army (1901). Annual Report of the Quartermaster General of the Army to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1901 (Report). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.