THE GREAT WHITE FLEET

 

Navy marks 'Great White' launch

http://www.upi. com/NewsTrack/ Top_News/ 2007/12/17/ navy_marks_ great_white_ launch/6071/
Published: Dec. 17, 2007

NORFOLK, Va., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy celebrated the centennial of
the launching of the 16 battleships of the Great White Fleet in Norfolk,
Va
.

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt pushed for the creation of the fleet,
which he intended as a show of U.S. maritime power, the Newport News (Va.)
Daily Press reported Sunday.

Saturday was the 100th anniversary of the day the ships -- and their more
than 14,000 sailors -- set off on a 43,000-mile odyssey to six continents
to impress potential rivals and allies with American naval might.

At an event Saturday commemorating the launch, Navy Secretary Donald Winter
and chief of naval operations Adm. Gary Roughead praised Roosevelt for his
foresight in launching the fleet.

"It's not possible to improvise a Navy after war breaks out," Roughead
said.

Great White Fleet celebrates 100th anniversary

http://www.wvec. com/news/ topstories/ stories/wvec_ local_121107_ great_white_ fleet.6395a59. html

Tuesday, December 11, 2007


Associated Press


NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The Navy's Great White Fleet is celebrating its 100th
anniversary.

Sixteen battleships departed Hampton Roads on December 16th 1907 for a
14-month global naval voyage.

The deployment included about 14,000 sailors, covered 43,000 miles and made
20 port calls on six continents. The ships that took part were later be
dubbed the Great White Fleet because each was painted white.

Naval history says the trip was supposed to be a "grand pageant of American
sea power."


Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter will be in Norfolk Saturday for a
ceremony marking the anniversary. The ceremony will take place on board the
Naval Station Norfolk-based USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier.

Leaders pay homage to Roosevelt's vision for Navy


http://hamptonroads .com/node/ 447102

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"It was first and foremost a demonstration of U.S. Navy strength. America
was a nation eager to be recognized as a respected actor on the world
stage." - Navy Secretary Donald Winter .


By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 16, 2007


ABOARD THE ROOSEVELT


There was an ice sculpture in the shape of an aircraft carrier, and another
depicting a fighter jet.
Teddy Roosevelt himself – well, an impersonator of the 26th president,
anyway – roamed among about 600 guests at Saturday night’s gala aboard the
carrier Roosevelt at Norfolk Naval Station.


There was even a message from the president on White House stationery.

All the fanfare marked the 100th anniversary of the Great White Fleet’s
departure from Hampton Roads.

The Navy’s top officials, Secretary Donald Winter and Adm. Gary Roughead,
the Chief of Naval Operations, paid homage to Roosevelt’s ambitious vision
of the Navy. The Great White Fleet’s 14-month voyage symbolized the Navy’s
evolution from a continental force that patrolled America’s shores to a
global power that could take its might – and its fight – anywhere in the
world.

“It was first and foremost a demonstration of U.S. Navy strength,” Winter
said during a ceremony in the carrier’s hangar bay. “America was a nation
eager to be recognized as a respected actor on the world stage.”

But the party was more than just a chance to look back. It was also an
opportunity for Roughead and Winter to talk about the Navy’s future – and
the importance of investing in ships, planes and technology that cost
billions.

A brief video that played after the speeches interspersed pictures of Navy
helicopters and F/A-18 Hornets with reasons why the U.S. Coast Guard,
Marine Corps and Navy are crucial: Seventy percent of the Earth is covered
in water. Eighty percent of the world’s population lives within a few hours
of the coast. And 90 percent of global commerce – from crude oil to
Christmas wrap – travels via the ocean.

Those themes are familiar to Navy observers: They reiterate the tenets of
the maritime security strategy the Navy unveiled this fall.

Even as the Army and Marine Corps fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Navy
is defining itself as a military branch that projects power through
strength, defends the world’s sea lanes and responds to natural disasters
and offers humanitarian assistance.

The message is one that Roosevelt would likely have supported, and that was
another reason to toast Teddy on Saturday night.

“America has been, is, and always will be a maritime nation with maritime
interests,” Winter said. “Those interests must be and can only be defended
by a strong navy, a branch of service which – by its very nature –
encourages an international perspective.”


TR's Big Stick: The Great White Fleet's Voyage
http://www.strategy page.com/ on_point/ 2007121213318. aspx

by Austin Bay
December 12, 2007


When the fleet sailed out of Norfolk, Va., on Dec. 16, 1907, it was simply
the Atlantic Fleet beginning a globe-circling voyage. But trust writers to
coin a flashy marquee name: the Great White Fleet.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of that peacetime
naval expedition -- which still has historic resonance.

President Theodore Roosevelt sent the fleet of 16 white-painted battleships
on the 14-month cruise for a number of reasons. I doubt the headline "TR
PR" appeared in 1907, but it would have been accurate, as well as succinct.
The Great White Fleet's journey certainly served as a global public
relations event.

In a recent interview, naval historian Dr. A.A. Nofi agreed with that
assessment. "The voyage was an announcement, " Nofi said. "America had been
quietly building up the second-largest navy in the world, and no one was
paying attention. The Great White Fleet said, 'Hey, we're here.'"

Nofi said, however, there was another reason to send the fleet, one that
had less to do with showoff bravado and more to do with calculated
geostrategic signaling in the wake of Japan's victory over Russia in the
Russo-Japanese War in 1905. An Asian power had defeated a European power in
a major naval engagement that featured the movement of the Russian fleet
from European waters to East Asia. "In the immediate political context (of
the early 20th century)," Nofi said, "the fleet's voyage was a message to
Japan that said that unlike Russia, if America has to cross the ocean to
fight you, its navy will be there in force and ready."

Having mediated the peace negotiations between Japan and Russia, Roosevelt
was acutely aware of Japan's military capabilities. In 1906, TR received
the Nobel Peace Prize for his successful mediation. The Great White Fleet
embodied TR's dictum, "Talk softly and carry a big stick." The fleet was a
"big stick" behind a man with a peace prize.

A big stick indeed -- peace through strength, a later generation would call
it -- "but the Great White Fleet also garnered an extraordinary amount of
good will for the U.S.," Nofi added, a different kind of publicity payoff.
The fleet generated positive buzz; its arrival in a port of call was good
PR for the port. Elements of the fleet also assisted in the Messina
(Sicily) earthquake of 1908. "Some of the fleet's ships were in the
vicinity," Nofi said, "and responded, similar to the way U.S. military
forces aided victims of the terrible tsunami of 2005 (which smashed
Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka)."

The voyage provided the U.S. Navy with operational insights that would
prove useful during the next 100 years, especially in terms of exposing
U.S. Navy planners to the problem of truly global logistics. A huge
battleship squadron steaming around the planet in peacetime is impressive,
however, wartime combat requires sustaining the fleet with fuel and
ammunition.

The Navy hired private colliers from around the world to support the
voyage. "In effect," Nofi said, "the USN was using contractors for global
support. So using contractors like KBR isn't a new idea." However, Nofi
pointed out, the Navy ultimately decided it was a bad idea, or at least an
inadequate answer. "It took the Navy until the 1930s to convince Congress
to purchase sufficient support ships -- fleet auxiliaries so the Navy could
support its warships" in transoceanic combat operations.

The Great White Fleet's voyage took place in peacetime, when contractors
(the privately owned colliers) were eager and available. "Upon analyzing
extended naval movements (such as the Great White Fleet)," Nofi said, "the
question the Navy faced was would these privately owned support ships be
available in wartime? Moreover, would their crews be willing to sail with
battle fleets in hostile waters?" The Navy concluded if it had to fight a
global war, it needed its own auxiliaries manned by Navy personnel who knew
that fighting in wars was their job.

The same question confronts contemporary war planners. In the 1990s, the
Pentagon decided to cut military support structure and hire private
contractors.

The Great White Fleet returned to Norfolk on Feb. 22, 1909, after a journey
of 43,000 miles. Go to www.history.
navy.mil/ library/online and click on
"gwf cruise" for a detailed article on the voyage, as well as an excellent
bibliography.

Navy salutes a history-making tour


http://hamptonroads .com/node/ 446949


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The Great White Fleet, consisting of 16 coal-powered battleships painted
white, steams off Hampton Roads in 1907


By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 14, 2007


NORFOLK

When 16 battleships steamed out of Hampton Roads on Dec. 16, 1907, there
was no doubt something momentous was unfolding.

Crowds gathered at Fort Monroe in Hampton to watch the ships pass by.
Thousands more viewed the naval parade from Cape Henry.

As the gleaming, coal-powered ships passed before the presidential yacht
Mayflower, each offered a thunderous 21-gun salute to the man who’d ordered
them to sea: Theodore Roosevelt.

Pacing the deck, Roosevelt could hardly contain his excitement, according
to the next day’s edition of The Virginian-Pilot: “To the Secretary of the
Navy Metcalf and to others of his guests on board he was constantly
exclaiming upon the beauty and grandeur of the surrounding scenes. 'Did you
ever see such a fleet? And such a day! Isn’t it magnificent? Oughtn’t we
all to feel proud?’”

Roosevelt made no speech that day. He didn’t have to. For the man who
uttered the phrase “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” the fleet’s
departure said it all.

Its circumnavigation of the globe, with stops in 20 cities on six
continents, marked the debut of the modern, mobile U.S. Navy.

Saturday, the Navy will celebrate the 100th anniversary of what came to be
called the Great White Fleet aboard the aircraft carrier that bears
Roosevelt’s name.

Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter will host the pier-side party at
Norfolk Naval Station. Like Roosevelt, Winter grew up on Long Island.
Roosevelt served as an assistant secretary of the Navy, and a portrait of
him hangs in Winter’s Pentagon office, above a “standing desk” that
reportedly belonged to the 26th president.

“When we take a look at the history of the Navy, one of the seminal events
in the evolution of the Navy really was the Great White Fleet,” Winter
said. “He brought the U.S. Navy out of a level of almost obscurity, through
a period of tremendous technological change and political change.”

Painted bright white, the warships were easily visible from foreign shores.
The color made them vulnerable, but no amount of paint could disguise the
reality of the 12-inch guns, capable of launching an 850-pound projectile
almost three miles.

Among the 14,000 sailors aboard were old men who’d served on wooden ships
during the Civil War – and young officers named Nimitz, Spruance and
Halsey, whose defining battles would come during World War II.

Roosevelt passed good wishes to officers and enlisted alike, according to
news accounts.

“In parting with the officers of the fleet, president Roosevelt was wholly
informal and to each he had a cordial hand-clasp, a grasp of the uniformed
shoulder and a hearty 'Good bye, old fellow, and good luck,’ spoken in his
characteristic manner,” The Virginian-Pilot reported on Dec. 17, 1907.

The president summoned a young seaman from the battleship Louisiana onto
the Mayflower and introduced him to the first lady and other guests, then
sent him back to his ship with greetings for the rest of the crew.

“I tell you our enlisted men are everything. They are perfectly bully and
they are up to everything required of them,” Roosevelt said as the sailor
departed, according to the Pilot. “This is indeed a great fleet and a great
day.”

The 14-month deployment was a great adventure. The crews visited Rio de
Janeiro
, San Francisco, Honolulu and Melbourne, Australia, on the first two
legs of the journey. A crowd of 250,000 Australians welcomed them to
Sydney. Festive banquets awaited them in Amoy, China, and Yokohama, Japan.
On the final leg of the trip, sailors explored what’s now Sri Lanka, rode
camels in Egypt, and posed for pictures in front of the Sphinx.

But the cruise was more than an adventure. The fleet spent a month doing
gunnery exercises off the Baja peninsula and again in the Philippines.

Roosevelt’s decision to test the fleet was born out of his understanding of
naval history. As a young man, he wrote an analysis of the naval battles of
War of 1812 that is still considered a classic. He was a devotee of Alfred
Thayer Mahan, the great naval strategist of the time. Before resigning to
serve with the Rough Riders in Cuba during the Spanish-American War,
Roosevelt had, during his stint as assistant Navy secretary, battled for
money to build modern, steel-hulled ships. As president, Roosevelt had
noted the Japanese navy’s defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of
1905. The Russian ships had sailed successfully from Europe around the tip
of Africa and into Asian waters, but they weren’t ready for battle when
they arrived.

“I want all failures, blunders and shortcomings to be made apparent in time
of peace and not in time of war,” Roosevelt said before the fleet departed,
according to the Naval Historical Center.

Outwardly, Roosevelt emphasized the fleet’s message of diplomacy and
friendship.

“The warships of America exist for no other purpose than to protect peace
against possible aggression, and justice against possible oppression,” he
wrote in a 1908 letter to President Alfonso Penna of Brazil.

Winter will emphasize a similar message this weekend in Norfolk, when an
expected crowd of 500 people will gather on the Theodore Roosevelt.


“I love the quote from his 1902 message to Congress,” Winter said this week
in a phone interview. “'A good navy is not a provocation to war, it is a
guarantor of peace.’ He viewed investment in a navy as being part of what
we would now refer to as having 'deterrence and dissuasive capability.’”

The Navy secretary’s voice rises when he talks about the service’s rapid
transition from sail to steam, from wooden hulls to steel. “The technical
transformation was incredible,” said Winter, who has a doctorate in
physics.

“The old Navy was more focused on coastal defense, river operations, the
Mississippi. These were battleships intended for use wherever, whenever.”

Winter noted that in 1909, the Great White Fleet was in the Mediterranean
when an earthquake struck Sicily. Several ships were dispatched to the city
of Messina to help search for survivors – a decision echoed in recent years
by the Navy’s response to the tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004, Hurricane
Katrina
in 2005 and in Bangladesh last month after a cyclone.

“A lot of what we talk about now as humanitarian assistance and disaster
relief finds its antecedent in what transpired in Messina with the Great
White Fleet,” Winter said.

Roosevelt was a lame duck by the time the fleet returned to Hampton Roads
on Feb. 22, 1909. He had only two weeks left in office when he came down on
the Mayflower for the homecoming.

“The battleship fleet is the topic on every tongue for miles around,” The
Virginian-Pilot
reported on Feb. 20. “No other subject is worthy of
consideration as compared to the importance of the 'boys in blue.’”

Later, Roosevelt declared the cruise of the Great White Fleet “the most
important service that I rendered for peace.” Bill Stewart, a retired naval
officer who owns a massive collection of Great White Fleet memorabilia and
runs an extensive Web site about it, sees a lot of parallels between
Roosevelt’s era and the modern Navy.

“We’re going to peacefully coexist with the rest of the planet, but they
understand we deal from a position of strength. It’s the same thing we
operate on today,” Stewart said. “I think Roosevelt understood the impact
it had on the rest of the world.”

 

The Great White Fleet was a United States Navy force that completed a circumnavigation of the world from December 16, 1907, to February 22, 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of four squadrons of four battleships each, with their escorts. Roosevelt sought to demonstrate growing American military power and blue-water navy capability.

Contents

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[edit] Background

The fleet was put to sea on the voyage of more than 43,000 miles by order of President Theodore Roosevelt, who wished to demonstrate to his country and the world that the U.S. Navy was capable of operating globally, particularly in the Pacific. This was extraordinarily important at a time when Japanese-American relations were becoming more tense. The Japanese Imperial Navy had recently shown its competence in defeating the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War, while at the same time the U.S. Navy fleet in the Pacific was relatively small.

In the twilight of Roosevelt's administration, the president dispatched a fleet consisting of four U.S. Navy battleship squadrons and their escorts, on a world-wide voyage of circumnavigation from December 16, 1907, to February 22, 1909. With their hulls painted white except for the gilded scrollwork with a red, white, and blue banner on their bows, these ships would later come to be known as the Great White Fleet.

[edit] The voyage

The journey was not without risk. As the Panama Canal was not yet complete, the fleet would pass through the Straits of Magellan. The scope of such an operation was unprecedented in U.S. history, as ships had to sail from all points of the compass to rendezvous points and proceed according to a carefully-orchestrated, well-thought out plan. It would involve almost the entire operational capability of the Navy. Unlike the badly coordinated moves of the Russian fleet from the Baltic to the Pacific that led to its destruction by the Japanese, the U.S. effort would be well coordinated, and would eventually set world records in almost all aspects of the voyage.

The fleet was greeted with excitement around the world. In port after port, citizens in the thousands turned out to see and greet the fleet. In Sicily, the sailors helped in recovery operations after a serious earthquake. When the fleet sailed into Yokohama, the Japanese went to extraordinary lengths to show that their country desired peace with the U.S.; thousands of Japanese schoolchildren waved American flags to greet Navy officials as they came ashore.[citation needed]

President Theodore Roosevelt (on the 12" gun turret at right) addresses officers and crewmen on USS Connecticut (BB-18), in Hampton Roads, Virginia, upon her return from the Fleet's cruise around the World, 22 February 1909.

In February 1909, Roosevelt was in Hampton Roads, Virginia, to witness the triumphant return of the fleet and indicating that he saw the fleet's long voyage as a fitting finish for his administration. To the officers and men of the fleet Roosevelt said, "Other nations may do what you have done, but they'll have to follow you." This parting act of Grand Strategy by Roosevelt greatly expanded the respect for as well as the role of the United States in the international arena.[citation needed]

[edit] Fleet composition

The fourteen-month long voyage was a grand pageant of American seapower. The squadrons were manned by 14,000 sailors. They covered some 43,000 miles and made twenty port calls on six continents. The fleet was impressive, but technically outdated, as the first few dreadnought battleships had already entered service, and the U.S. Navy's first dreadnought, South Carolina, was fitting out. The two oldest ships in the fleet, USS Kearsarge and USS Kentucky, were obsolete and unfit for battle; and two others, USS Maine and USS Alabama, had to be detached at San Francisco, California because of mechanical troubles. (After repairs, Alabama and Maine completed their "own, more direct, circumnavigation of the globe" via Honolulu, Guam, Manila, Singapore, Colombo, Suez, Naples, Gibraltar, the Azores, and finally back to the United States, arriving on October 20, 1908, long before the remainder the fleet that had taken a more circuitous route.)

The battleships were accompanied during the first leg of their voyage by a "Torpedo Flotilla" of six early destroyers, as well as by several auxiliary ships. The destroyers and their tender did not actually steam in company with the battleships, but followed their own itinerary from Hampton Roads, Virginia to San Francisco, California. Two battleships were detached from the fleet at San Francisco, and two others substituted.

[edit] Fleet's leaders were Civil War era sailors

When the fleet left Hampton Roads there were four senior officers who had served during the Civil War. While, in modern times, only such men as Admiral Hyman Rickover have been allowed to serve more than 40 years on active duty, in 1908 the mandatory retirement age was 62. For the fleet this meant Admiral Robley D. Evans, Rear Admiral Thomas, and Rear Admiral Emory needed to retire before the cruise would end. Admiral Sperry started his naval training in 1862 and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1866. Admiral "Fighting Bob" Evans, was wounded four times on January 15, 1865, when, as a leader of company of Marines, he landed from Admiral David Dixon Porter's squadron attacking Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Evans continued to fight even after his fourth wound, drawing his pistol and threatened to kill any man who attempted to amputate his leg in surgery when he was evacuated.[citation needed]

[edit] General fleet itinerary

With the USS Connecticut (BB-18) as flagship under the command of Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, the fleet sailed from Hampton Roads on December 16, 1907, for Trinidad, British West Indies, thence to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Punta Arenas, Chile; Callao, Peru; Magdalena Bay, Mexico, and up the West Coast, arriving at San Francisco, May 6, 1908.

The Great White Fleet arriving to a crowd at the Port of Los Angeles, 1908

After the arrival of the fleet off the west coast, the USS Glacier was detached and later became the supply ship of the Pacific Fleet. At this time also, the USS Nebraska, Captain Reginald F. Nicholson, and the USS Wisconsin, Captain Frank E. Beatty, were substituted for the USS Maine and USS Alabama. In San Francisco, USS Minnesota was brought forward into First Squadron, First Division and USS Louisiana took her place as flagship, Second Squadron.

At San Francisco, Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry assumed command of the Fleet, owing to the poor health of Admiral Evans. Also at San Francisco, the squadrons were slightly rearranged, bringing the newest and best ships in the fleet up to the First Squadron. Leaving that port on July 7, 1908, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet visited Honolulu; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Manila, Philippines; Yokohama, Japan; Colombo, Ceylon; arriving at Suez, Egypt, on January 3, 1909.

As mentioned earlier, in Egypt, word was received of an earthquake in Sicily, thus affording an opportunity for the United States to show its friendship to Italy by offering aid to the sufferers. Connecticut, Illinois, Culgoa, and Yankton were dispatched to Messina, Italy at once. The crew of Illinois recovered the bodies of the American consul and his wife, entombed in the ruins.

USS Scorpion, the Fleet's station ship at Constantinople, and USS Celtic, a refrigerator ship fitted out in New York, were hurried to Messina, relieving Connecticut and Illinois, so that they could continue on the cruise.

Leaving Messina on January 9, 1909, the Fleet stopped at Naples, Italy, thence to Gibraltar, arriving at Hampton Roads on February 22, 1909. There President Roosevelt reviewed the Fleet as it passed into the roadstead.

[edit] The First Leg

from Hampton Roads to San Francisco, 14,556 miles

[edit] Itinerary

Port Arrival Departure Distance to Next Port
Hampton Roads, Virginia   1907-12-16 1803 miles
Port of Spain, Trinidad 1907-12-23 1907-12-29 3399 miles
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1908-01-12 1908-01-21 2374 miles
Punta Arenas, Chile 1908-02-01 1908-02-07 2838 miles
Callao, Peru 1908-02-20 1908-02-29 3010 miles
Magdalena Bay, Mexico 1908-03-12 1908-04-11 1132 miles
San Francisco, California 1908-05-06    

[edit] Ships

The Fleet, First Squadron and First Division, were commanded by Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans. First Division consisted of USS Connecticut (BB-18), the Fleet's flagship, Captain Hugo Osterhaus, USS Kansas (BB-21), Captain Charles E. Vreeland, USS Vermont (BB-20), Captain William P. Potter, and USS Louisiana (BB-19), Captain Richard Wainwright.

Second Division was commanded by Rear Admiral William H. Emory. Second Division consisted of USS Georgia (BB-15), the Division flagship, Captain Henry McCrea, USS New Jersey (BB-16), Captain William H. H. Southerland, USS Rhode Island (BB-17), Captain Joseph B. Murdock, and USS Virginia (BB-13), Captain Seaton Schroeder.

Second Squadron and Third Division were commanded by Rear Admiral Charles M. Thomas. Third Division consisted of USS Minnesota (BB-22), the Squadron flagship, Captain John Hubbard, USS Maine (BB-10), Captain Giles B. Harber, USS Missouri (BB-11), Captain Greenlief A. Merriam, and USS Ohio (BB-12), Captain Charles W. Bartlett.

Fourth Division was commanded by Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry. Fourth Division consisted of USS Alabama (BB-8), the Division flagship, Captain Ten Eyck De Witt Veeder, USS Illinois (BB-7), Captain John M. Bowyer, USS Kearsarge (BB-5), Captain Hamilton Hutchins, and USS Kentucky (BB-6), Captain Walter C. Cowles.

The Fleet Auxiliaries consisted of USS Culgoa (a storeship), Lieutenant Commander John B. Patton, USS Glacier (a storeship), Commander William S. Hogg, USS Panther (a repair ship), Commander Valentine S. Nelson, USS Yankton (a tender), Lieutenant Walter R. Gherardi, and USS Relief (a hospital ship).

The "Torpedo Flotilla" of destroyers consisted of USS Hopkins, Lieutenant Alfred G. Howe, USS Stewart, Lieutenant Julius F. Hellweg, USS Hull, Lieutenant Frank McCommon, USS Truxton, Lieutenant Charles S. Kerrick, USS Lawrence, Lieutenant Ernest Friedrick, USS Whipple, Lieutenant Hutch I. Cone, and USS Arethusa (a tender), Commander Albert W. Grant.

[edit] Second Leg

The second leg of the voyage was from San Francisco to Puget Sound and back

The Fleet, First Squadron, and First Division were commanded by Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry. First Division consisted of USS Connecticut (BB-18), the Fleet's flagship, Captain Hugo Osterhaus USS Kansas (BB-21), Captain Charles E. Vreeland USS Minnesota (BB-22), Captain John Hubbard USS Vermont (BB-20), Captain William P. Potter

Second Division was commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright. Second Division consisted of USS Georgia (BB-15), the Division flagship, Captain Edward F. Qualtrough, USS Nebraska (BB-14), Captain Reginald F. Nicholson, USS New Jersey (BB-16), Captain William H.H. Southerland, and USS Rhode Island (BB-17), Captain Joseph B. Murdock.

Second Squadron and Third Division were commanded by Rear Admiral William H. Emory. Third Division consisted of USS Louisiana (BB-19), the Squadron's flagship, Captain Kossuth Niles, USS Virginia (BB-13), Captain Alexander Sharp, USS Missouri (BB-11), Captain Robert M. Doyle, and USS Ohio (BB-12), Captain Thomas B. Howard.

Fourth Division was commanded by Rear Admiral Seaton Schroeder. Fourth Division consisted of USS Wisconsin (BB-9), the Division flagship, Captain Frank E. Beatty, USS Illinois (BB-7), Captain John M. Bowyer, USS Kearsarge (BB-5), Captain Hamilton Hutchins, and USS Kentucky (BB-6), Captain Walter C. Cowles.

The Fleet Auxiliaries were USS Culgoa (a storeship), Lieutenant Commander John B. Patton, USS Yankton (a tender), Lieutenant Commander Charles B. McVay, USS Glacier (a storeship), Commander William S. Hogg, USS Relief (a hospital ship), Surgeon Charles F. Stokes, and USS Panther (a repair ship), Commander Valentine S. Nelson.

[edit] Third Leg

from San Francisco to Manila, 16,336 miles

[edit] Itinerary

Port Arrival Departure Distance to Next Port
San Francisco, California   1908-07-07 2126 miles
Honolulu, Hawaii 1908-07-16 1908-07-22 3870 miles
Auckland, New Zealand 1908-08-09 1908-08-15 1307 miles
Sydney, Australia 1908-08-20 1908-08-28   601 miles
Melbourne, Australia 1908-08-29 1908-09-05 1368 miles
Albany, Australia 1908-09-11 1908-09-18 3458 miles
Manilla, Philippine Islands 1908-10-02 1908-10-09 1795 miles
Yokohama, Japan 1908-10-18 1908-10-25 1811 miles
Amoy, China
(Second Squadron)
1908-10-29 1908-11-05  
Manila, Philippine Islands
(First Squadron)
1908-10-31    
Manila, Philippine Islands
(Second Squadron)
1908-11-07    

[edit] Ships

The Fleet, First Squadron, and First Division were commanded by Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry. First Division consisted of USS Connecticut (BB-18), the Fleet's flagship, Captain Hugo Osterhaus, USS Kansas (BB-21), Captain Charles E. Vreeland, USS Minnesota (BB-22), Captain John Hubbard, and USS Vermont (BB-20), Captain William P. Potter.

Second Division consisted of USS Georgia (BB-15), the Division flagship, Captain Edward F. Qualtrough, USS Nebraska (BB-14), Captain Reginald F. Nicholson, USS New Jersey (BB-16), Captain William H.H. Southerland, and USS Rhode Island (BB-17), Captain Joseph B. Murdock.

The Second Squadron and Third Division were commanded by Rear Admiral William H. Emory. Third Division consisted of USS Louisiana (BB-19), the Squadron flagship, Captain Kossuth Niles, USS Virginia (BB-13), Captain Alexander Sharp, USS Missouri (BB-11), Captain Robert M. Doyle, and USS Ohio (BB-12), Captain Thomas B. Howard.

Fourth Division was commanded by Rear Admiral Seaton Schroeder. Fourth Division consisted of USS Wisconsin (BB-9), the Division flagship, Captain Frank E. Beatty, USS Illinois (BB-7), Captain John M. Bowyer, USS Kearsarge (BB-5), Captain Hamilton Hutchins, and USS Kentucky (BB-6), Captain Walter C. Cowles.

The Fleet Auxiliaries were USS Culgoa (a storeship), Lieutenant Commander John B. Patton, USS Yankton (a tender), Lieutenant Commander Charles B. McVay, USS Glacier (a storeship), Commander William S. Hogg, USS Relief (a hospital ship), Surgeon Charles F. Stokes, and USS Panther (a repair ship), Commander Valentine S. Nelson.

[edit] Final Leg

from Manila to Hampton Roads, 12,455 miles

[edit] Itinerary

Port Arrival Departure Distance to Next Port
Manila, Philippine Islands   1908-12-01 2985 miles
Colombo, Ceylon 1908-12-13 1908-12-20 3448 miles
Suez, Egypt 1909-01-03 1909-01-04
1909-01-06
2443 miles
Gibraltar 1909-01-31
1909-02-01
1909-02-06 3579 miles
Hampton Roads, Virginia 1909-02-22    

.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

 

 

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