USS Mayflower (1897)
USS Suwanee (ex-USLHT Mayflower) (center) underway off Siboney, Cuba, in 1898. The troop transport USS St. Louis is at left and the patrol yacht USS Vixen is at right.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USLHT Mayflower |
Namesake | Mayflower |
Operator | U.S. Lighthouse Board |
Builder | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
Cost | USD $74,872 |
Commissioned | November 1897 |
Fate | Transferred to U.S. Navy 27 April 1898 |
United States | |
Name | USS Suwanee |
Namesake | Suwannee River |
Operator | United States Navy |
Commissioned | 27 April 1898 |
Decommissioned | December 1898 |
Honors and awards | Cited for "conspicuous service" by the Department of the Navy |
Fate | Returned to the Lighthouse Service, December 1898 |
United States | |
Name | USLHT Mayflower |
Operator |
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Recommissioned | December 1898 |
Fate | Transferred to U.S. Navy 10 May 1917 |
United States | |
Name | USS Mayflower |
Operator | U.S. Navy |
Recommissioned | 10 May 1917 |
Fate | Returned to U.S. Lighthouse Service 1 July 1919 |
United States | |
Name |
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Operator |
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Recommissioned | 1 July 1919 |
Decommissioned | December 1939 |
Fate | Transferred to Maritime Training Service December 1939 |
United States | |
Name |
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Namesake | Mayflower |
Operator | U.S. Coast Guard |
Recommissioned | July 1940 |
Decommissioned | 8 October 1945 |
Renamed | USCGC Hydrangea 15 August 1943 |
Fate | Transferred to Maritime Commission for disposal and sold |
General characteristics | |
Type |
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Displacement |
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Length | 164 ft 0 in (49.99 m) |
Beam | 30 feet 0 inches (9.14 m) |
Draft |
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Propulsion | Two Almy watertube coal-fired boilers, two 325 reciprocating steam engines , two shafts |
Speed |
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Range | 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 kilometres) (1945) |
Complement |
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Armament | In 1945: Two 20 mm gun mounts, two depth charge tracks |
The second USS Suwannee and third USS Mayflower was a
Construction and commissioning
USLHT Mayflower was a lighthouse tender built for the U.S. Lighthouse Board in 1897 by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.[1] The Lighthouse Board commissioned her in November 1897.[1][2]
Service history
Spanish–American War
Just after the
On 11 June 1898, Lieutenant Victor Blue of Suwannee went ashore on the south coast of Cuba to conduct a visual reconnaissance of Santiago Bay at Santiago de Cuba and determine what ships were anchored there.[1] A member of the Cuban insurgency guided him through the Spanish lines,[1] and on 12 June 1898 he identified the Spanish Navy′s 1st Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete, as being in the bay.[1] His report confirmed for the first time that all of Cervera's squadron was in the bay, and this freed up the U.S. Navy′s heavy ships from searching the Caribbean for Cervera′s ships or escorting troop convoys carrying the United States Army′s Fifth Army Corps from Tampa, Florida, to Cuba, allowing the ships instead to concentrate off the harbor and reinforce the U.S. blockade of Santiago de Cuba.[1]
On 10 June 1898, during the Battle of Guantánamo Bay, United States Marine Corps forces had landed at Guantánamo Bay on the south coast of Cuba to seize it for use as a forward base for coaling and as an anchorage for use during bad weather.[1] On 15 June 1898, Suwannee joined the battleship USS Texas and the unprotected cruiser USS Marblehead in providing gunfire support for the Marines as they consolidated the American position at Guantánamo Bay. On 1 July 1898, during the Battle of the Aguadores, Suwannee, the armored cruiser USS New York, and the gunboat USS Gloucester provided gunfire support for U.S. Army forces advancing against Spanish Army positions on the Aguadores River.
When not otherwise engaged, Suwannee took part in the blockade of Cervera′s squadron at Santiago Bay.[1] She operated′ on a night station 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) from Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca as part of a picket line watching for any attempt by the Spanish destroyers Furor and Plutón to sortie from the bay and launch a torpedo attack against the blockading U.S. ships.[1] However, when Cervera′s squadron finally emerged from Santiago Bay on 3 July 1898, resulting in its annihilation in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, Suwannee was among ships coaling at Guantánamo Bay, and she therefore missed the battle.[1]
On 12 August 1898, the
Suwannee was
1899–1917
The Lighthouse Board rechristened the ship USLHT Mayflower and placed her in service as a lighthouse tender maintaining
World War I
After the United States entered
1919–1939
After returning to the Lighthouse Service, Mayflower again operated in the 2nd Lighthouse District. In 1924, she transferred to the 5th Lighthouse District, where she replaced
World War II
When World War II in Europe created a pressing need for tenders, the Coast Guard recommissioned the ship in July 1940 as USCGC Mayflower (WAGL-236) and based her at Norfolk, Virginia. The Coast Guard, which operated under the control of the U.S. Navy during World War II, renamed her Hydrangea on 15 August 1943 to again avoid a naming conflict with the same USS Mayflower (PY-1), which had returned to Navy service once again as a patrol craft.[1][2][4]
Final disposition
Hydrangea was decommissioned on 8 October 1945 and transferred to the
She is one of the very few ships to have seen service in the Spanish–American War as well as both world wars.Awards
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y McLean, Bruce D., "The U. S. Lighthouse Service," spanamwar.com, Retrieved 2 March 2019
- ^ a b Hamerlsy, p. 315.
- ^ a b c d e f g United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Mayflower, 1897; Later USS Suwanee; Hydrangea
- ^ "News Of The Lighthouse Service". Portsmouth Star. 5 August 1924. p. 7.
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: USCGC Hydrangea (WAGL 236), ex-USCGC Mayflower, ex-USS Suwannee, ex-USLHS Mayflower
- United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Mayflower, 1897; Later USS Suwanee; Hydrangea
- Hamersly, Lewis Randolph. The Records of Living Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, Seventh Edition, New York: L. R. Hamersly Company, 1902.