Jump to content

USS Wilkes (TB-35)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USS Wilkes (TB-35), trnning trials before installation of armament, about 1901.
USS Wilkes (TB-35), trnning trials before installation of armament, about 1901.
History
United States
NameWilkes
NamesakeRear admiral Charles Wilkes
BuilderGas Engine & Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company, Morris Heights, New York
Laid down3 June 1899
Launched28 September 1901
Sponsored byMiss Harriet E. Rankin
Commissioned18 September 1902
Decommissioned14 November 1913
Stricken15 November 1913
FateSunk as a target, 1914
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeBlakely-class torpedo boat
Displacement165 long tons (168 t)[2]
Length175 ft (53 m)
Beam17 ft 7 in (5.36 m)
Draft4 ft 8 in (1.42 m) (mean)[2]
Installed powernot known
Propulsionnot known
Speed25.99 kn (29.91 mph; 48.13 km/h) (Speed on Trial)[2]
Complement28 officers and enlisted
Armament3 × 1-pounder, 3 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes

The first USS Wilkes (TB-35) was a Blakely-class torpedo boat in the United States Navy.

Built in New York

[edit]

Wilkes was laid down on 3 June 1899 at Morris Heights, New York, by the Gas Engine and Power Company and the Charles L. Seabury & Co.; launched on 28 September 1901; sponsored by Miss Harriet E. Rankin; and commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 18 September 1902, Lt. (jg.) Dudley Wright Knox in command.

U.S. Navy service

[edit]

Wilkes spent the bulk of her career in reserve. Soon after her commissioning, she was assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla based at Norfolk, Virginia. There, she remained until the winter of 1906 and 1907 when she briefly returned to full commission for service with the 3rd Torpedo Flotilla.

On 30 May 1907, she was again placed in reserve with the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Norfolk. There, she remained until 23 November 1908 when she was recommissioned and assigned to duty with the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet based at Charleston, South Carolina.

Decommissioning

[edit]

On 22 December 1909, she went back into reserve, this time at the Charleston Navy Yard. Apparently in commission, in reserve, while at Charleston, Wilkes was decommissioned there on 14 November 1913, and her name was struck from the Navy list on the following day. She was sunk as a target in the summer or fall of 1914.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "USS Thornton (TB-33)". Navsource.org. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Table 10 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 714. 1921.

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]