USS Topeka (PG-35)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Topeka.
USS Topeka (pg-35)
USS Topeka (pg-35)
History
United States
NameUSS Topeka
NamesakeTopeka, Kansas
Builder
Kiel, Germany
Launched1881 Built for the Peruvian Navy, retained in England
Acquired2 April 1898
Commissioned2 April 1898
Decommissioned15 February 1899
Recommissioned15 August 1900
Decommissioned7 September 1905
Recommissioned14 June 1916
Decommissioned14 September 1916
Recommissioned24 March 1919
Decommissioned21 November 1919
Reclassified
  • PG-35, 17 July 1920
  • IX-35, 1 July 1921
Recommissioned2 July 1923
Decommissioned2 December 1929
Stricken2 January 1930
FateSold for scrapping, 13 May 1930
General characteristics
TypeGunboat
Displacement2,255 long tons (2,291 t) normal
Length259 ft 4 in (79.04 m)
Beam35 ft (11 m) at the waterline
Draft16 ft 5 in (5.00 m) aft
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement167 officers and enlisted
Armament

USS Topeka (PG-35) was a gunboat of the United States Navy.

The ship was built in 1881 as the Socrates-class steamer (and prospectively, the Lima-Class cruiser Callao) Diogenes by the

Thames Iron Works
, London, England, on 2 April 1898, she was renamed Topeka, and placed in commission the same day.

Service history

Spanish–American War, 1898–1899

Topeka cleared

Key West, Florida, joined the blockading forces off Havana on 11 July 1898. That same day, she was assigned station off Nipe Bay, located on the northeastern shore of Cuba almost directly opposite Santiago de Cuba on the island's southeastern coast. On 17 July 1898, she and USS Maple captured the Spanish sloop Domingo Aurelio off Nipe Bay. Four days later, Topeka joined gunboat Annapolis, armed yacht Wasp, and armed tug Leyden in a foray into Nipe Bay. The four warships encountered no real resistance from the Spanish and, therefore, easily captured the port and sank the Jorge Juan, abandoned by her crew, in the Battle of Nipe Bay
.

Following the capture of the Bahia de Nipe littoral, Topeka steamed to

San Domingo, and Puerto Rico before returning — via Norfolk, Virginia, and Newport, Rhode Island — to Boston, early in February 1899. On 15 February 1899, Topeka was placed out of commission at the Boston Navy Yard
.

1900–1905

After 18 months of inactivity, the gunboat was re-commissioned at Boston on 15 August 1900. She departed Boston on 19 September and, after a five-day stop at Tompkinsville, New York, embarked upon a training cruise to the Mediterranean on 27 September. Steaming via the

St. Vincent and Barbados in the West Indies
, returned to the United States at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 4 March 1901.

For more than a year, Topeka operated along the southeastern coast of the United States and in the West Indies, working out of Norfolk and the South Carolina ports of

Norfolk Navy Yard
for three months of repairs.

On 10 December, Topeka completed repairs and departed Norfolk to join the fleet in the West Indies. She reached Culebra, Puerto Rico, on the 16th and, for the following two months, conducted exercises in the West Indies and the Caribbean. On 21 February 1903, the ship got underway from Kingston, Jamaica, to return to the United States. She arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, on 1 March, and began operations along the length of the eastern seaboard. Those operations occupied her until late in the year.

On 10 December, she steamed out of Hampton Roads to return south to the Caribbean Sea—Gulf of Mexico area. After a visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, between 16 and 22 December, she began duty with the Caribbean Squadron. In January and early February 1904, she cruised along the coast of Panama in the wake of the revolution which separated that republic from Colombia and paved the way for the construction of the Panama Canal. During the latter part of February, Topeka visited Kingston, Jamaica; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, before joining other units of the fleet off the coast of Dominican Republic late in the month. She plied the waters around Hispaniola through the end of March protecting American lives and interests while civil strife tore the island asunder.

Topeka left the West Indies on 30 March and returned to the United States upon her arrival at Charleston on the 5th. On 15 May, the warship reported for duty at Newport, Rhode Island, and, for the next four months, participated in wireless telegraphy experiments conducted off the New England coast. During October and November, Topeka participated in the trials of three new warships — Colorado (Armored Cruiser No. 7), West Virginia (Armored Cruiser No. 5), and Pennsylvania (Armored Cruiser No. 4). Late in November, she resumed duty along the east coast.

On 5 January 1905, Topeka stood out of

Pensacola, Topeka arrived in Hampton Roads on 11 April. On the 23rd, the gunboat again headed south to the troubled waters of the West Indies. She arrived off the Dominican Republic
on the 28th and patrolled the coastline of that strife-torn country into August. On 13 August, the gunboat weighed anchor at Guantanamo Bay and shaped a course for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she arrived on the 21st. Topeka was placed out of commission on 7 September 1905 and assigned duty as station ship at Portsmouth.

World War I, 1916–1918

She remained at Portsmouth — serving as station ship, auxiliary to

1st Naval District
recruits throughout the United States' participation in World War I.

Post-World War I, 1919–1929

On 24 March 1919, Topeka was recommissioned at Boston. After fitting out, she cleared Boston on 28 May and headed south. She arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, on 9 June and reported for duty with the American Patrol Detachment. From then until late October, she cruised the Gulf of Mexico along the coast of Mexico. The gunboat returned to Charleston on 23 October. Topeka was placed out of commission on 21 November 1919 and was turned over to the Commandant of the

Charleston Navy Yard
. On 17 July 1920, the Navy adopted the alpha-numeric system of hull designations, and the gunboat became PG-35. Almost a year later, on 1 July 1921, she was redesignated IX-35. On 1 July 1922, Topeka was put up for sale. However, no satisfactory bids were forthcoming; and the vessel was withdrawn from the market on 29 September.

Topeka was recommissioned again on 2 July 1923 and was turned over to the

4th Naval District
as a training ship for Philadelphia units of the Naval Reserve Forces.

Final decommissioning and sale

Topeka was decommissioned for the last time on 2 December 1929. On 2 January 1930, her name was struck from the

Baltimore, Maryland. The bell currently sits on the parade deck of the Marine Corps Security Force Company Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
and one of her 4-inch guns is mounted in Dahlgren Park in the Washington Navy Yard.

References

External links

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