User:Jordanroderick/sandbox
 USAT Burnside
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
  United Kingdom | |
| Name | Yeoman (1882-1891) |
| Operator | Blue Anchor Line |
| Builder | Campbell, Macintosh, Bowstead |
| Launched | 25 March 1882 |
| Homeport | London, England |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sold |
 Spain | |
| Name | Rita (1891-1898) |
| Operator | Linea de Vapores Serra |
| Homeport | Bilbao |
| Fate | Captured by USS Yale |
  United States | |
| Name |
|
| Operator | Army Transport Service |
| Homeport | San Francisco, California |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage |
|
| Displacement | 7,271 tons |
| Length | 445.5 ft (135.8 m) |
| Beam | 49 ft 3 in (15.01 m) |
| Draft | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Depth of hold | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Decks | 5 |
| Installed power | 1,200 horsepower |
| Propulsion | 2 x triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 13.5 knots |
The steamship Mobile was steel-hulled freighter built for the Atlantic Transport Line in 1891. She carried live cattle and frozen beef from the United States to England until the advent of the Spanish-American War. In 1898 she was purchased by the United States Army for use as an ocean-going troopship. During the Spanish-American War she carried troops and supplies between the U.S. mainland, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
Construction and characteristics
[edit]Yeoman was ordered by Wilhelm Lund for his steamship company, the Blue Anchor Line. She was built by Campbell, Macintosh, and Bowstead at the Scotswood Shipyard in Newcastle, England and launched on 25 March 1882.[1]
Yeoman's hull was built of steel plates. She was 285.2 feet (86.9 m) long, with a beam of 36.7 feet (11.2 m) and a depth of hold of 23.5 feet (7.2 m). Her gross register tonnage was 2,226, and her net register tonnage was 1,427.[2]
Her propeller was originally powered by a double-expansion steam engine which was built by T. Clark and Company of Newcastle. It had high, and low-pressure cylinders with diameters of 35 inches, and 68 inches, respectively, with a stroke of 48 inches. The engine was rated at 300 horsepower.[2] This was replaced in 1887 by a triple-expansion engine with cylinders of 25, 38.5 and 63 inches with a stroke of 44 inches. This second engine was built by Wigham Richardson and Company of Newcastle. This more modern engine gave the ship a cruising speed of 12 knots.[3]
Blue Anchor Line (1882–1891)
[edit]The Blue Anchor Line pioneered regularly scheduled cargo and passenger service between London and Australia. Yeoman sailed this route, via the Suez Canal, stopping for coal and water a several points along her route.[4] She carried as many as 400 immigrants to Australia on a single trip, and general cargo. Her cargo included livestock,[5] musical instruments, china, furniture, stationary, cutlery, dolls, toys, purses, vases, and more.[6] She made port calls in Adelaide,[7] Fremantle, Albany, Hobart, Launceston, and Sydney.[3]
Linea de Vapores Serra (1891–1898)
[edit]Sometime in 1891 Lund sold Yeoman to a Spanish steamship company, Linea de Vapores Serra. Her name was changed to Rita, and her homeport became Bilbao.[8]
The ship hauled general cargos between ports in North America across the Atlantic to Europe. North American port calls include Boston,[9] Galveston,[10] Norfolk,[11] Pensacola,[12] Puerto Rico,[13] and St John.[14] European port calls included Liverpool, and Havre.[15]
In October 1892 the ship caught fire outside of Galveston while bound for Liverpool. The fire was extinguished, but 123 bales of cotton were damaged.[10]
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US Army Service (1898–1923)
[edit]Spanish-American War
[edit]On 25 April 1898, Congress declared war on Spain, beginning the Spanish-American War.[16] An immediate objective was to defeat Spain in the Caribbean, taking Cuba and Puerto Rico. The US Navy began patrolling off the islands. On 8 May 1898 Rita was sailing from Liverpool to Puerto Rico with a cargo of coal. She encountered USS Yale off Culebra Island. A chase ensued, but Yale was somewhat faster, and armed with 6-inch guns. Several warning shots were fired which Rita ignored, but when a shell exploded over the head of her captain, the ship was surrendered. A nine-man prize crew, under the command of Yale's first officer, W. B. Porter, took her in to Charleston, South Carolina.[17][18]
Rita was purchased by the US Army Quartermaster's Department from the U.S. Prize Court on 9 July 1898 for $125,000 and assigned to the Army Transport Service. The Army reckoned her capacity at 15 officers and 700 men[19][20] The day after her purchase she began her new career as an troop Transport.
On 10 July 1898 Rita sailed for Cuba with reinforcements for the American campaign. She was filled to capacity with the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 6th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, less Companies D and M.[21] She sailed from Tampa to Puerto Rico on 14 August 1898 laden with food, medical supplies, and other equipment for the Army.[22]
Having taken Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, the Army had a permanent need for transport to overseas bases. The annexation of Hawaii in 1898 also required new ocean transport. The Army Transport Service chose the best vessels acquired during the war to become a permanent sealift capability. Rita was retained for this purpose. To mark their transition to permanent military service, they were renamed in February 1899. Rita became United States Army Transport Burnside, named for Civil War General Ambrose Burnside.[23]
Cable ship in the Philippines
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When Commodore Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on 1 May 1898, there were two undersea cables which landed in Manila. One provided telegraph communication from the Philippines to the rest of the world via Hong Kong, and the other connected the city to the major islands of the archipelago. Both belonged to the British firm Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Telegraph Company (Limited). The day after his victory, Dewey approached the British Consul in Manila to arrange for American use of the telegraph service. The Spanish, who still controlled Manila, refused to allow the Americans to send telegrams. Dewey replied by cutting the cables in Manila Bay. The link to Hong Kong was cut on 2 May 1898, and Capiz on 23 May 1898, isolating Luzon from the rest of the world.[24]
Undersea cables became a military priority for the Army commanders in the Philippines, with General Otis, and General MacArthur complaining of communication difficulties. The Army in the Philippines was dependent on slow, ship-borne mail for communications.[25] In hope of building its own inter-island telegraph system, the Army sent the cable ship USAT Hooker to Manila. She was wrecked on Corregidor in August 1899 before she was able to commence her work.
On 30 June 1900, the Army contracted with the Morse Iron Works shipyard in Brooklyn, New York to convert Burnside into a cable ship. The reported cost of this conversion was $130,000.[26] Burnside was chosen as Hooker's replacement because of her relatively shallow draft for her size. Three large copper tanks were built in her cargo holds in which submarine cable could be coiled. The tanks were 25 feet (7.6 m) in diameter and 15 feet (4.6 m) deep. Each had an iron core at its center to hold the cable in position while it was unspooled. Each tank had capacity to hold 250 miles of cable.[25][27]
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Burnside departed 26 September 1900 with 559 miles of deep-sea cable aboard.[28][29] She had a crew of 104 men aboard to run the ship, and a 25-man Signal Corps detachment led by Captain George O. Squier who were in charge of laying the cable.[30] As she was sailing into a war zone, she was armed with three 6-pounder and four 1-pounder rapid-fire guns.[31]
References
[edit]- ^ "Launch Of A Steamer". Newcastle Weekly Chronicle. 25 March 1882. p. 8.
- ^ a b Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1884. Lloyd's Register. 1884. pp. YAR.
- ^ a b "Shipping Reports". Sydney Morning Herald. 21 July 1887. p. 8.
- ^ "Arrival Of The Steamers". This Week. 26 August 1882. p. 5.
- ^ "Queensland". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 July 1886. p. 8.
- ^ "Order Of Auction Sales". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 May 1884. p. 10.
- ^ "Shipping Facilities At Port Adelaide". Observer. 17 November 1888. p. 30.
- ^ Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1892 Steamers. Lloyd's Register. 1892.
- ^ "Late Shipping News". Times-Picayune. 18 July 1895. p. 2.
- ^ a b "Maritime Miscellany". New York Herald. 23 October 1892. p. 28.
- ^ "Movement Of Galveston Vessels". Galveston Daily News. 9 January 1896. p. 6.
- ^ "Foreign Ports - Arrivals And Sailings". Times-Picayune. 22 September 1893. p. 2.
- ^ "Domestic Ports". Baltimore Sun. 30 August 1897. p. 9.
- ^ "Marine Tidings". Telegraph-Journal. 25 June 1892. p. 3.
- ^ "Movements Of Ocean Vessels". Times Democrat. 24 May 1895. p. 1.
- ^ "The Declaration Of War". The New York Times. 26 April 1898. p. 3.
- ^ "General War News". Buffalo Courier Express. 14 May 1898. p. 2.
- ^ "Prisoners Of War Here". Times Union. 3 June 1898. p. 8.
- ^ Clay, Steven E. (2010). U.S. Army Order Of Battle, 1919-1941 (PDF). Vol. 4. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 2144.
- ^ United States Commission Appointed by the President to Investigate the Conduct of the War Department in the War with Spain. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1900. p. 136.
- ^ "More Troops Sail Away". Sun. 11 July 1898. p. 1.
- ^ "Business Rush To Havana". Sun. 15 August 1898. p. 3.
- ^ "Steamer Burnside Returns". The New York Times. 26 February 1889. p. 4.
- ^ REPORTS OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRAL AWARDS (PDF). United Nations. 9 November 1923.
- ^ a b "A Philippine Cable". Fort Riley Guidon. 25 November 1900. p. 1.
- ^ "Cable Ship For Manila". The New York Times. 1 July 1900. p. 6.
- ^ "Interisland Cable". Evansville Journal. 24 March 1901. p. 15.
- ^ Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1900 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1900. p. 989.
- ^ "Cable Ship Leaves". Brooklyn Eagle. 27 September 1900. p. 13.
- ^ "The Cable Ship Burnside". New York Tribune. 16 September 1900. p. 34.
- ^ "From the "Rita" to the "Burnside"". Times Union. 26 September 1900. p. 2.
- ^ Telegraphs (PDF).