Old Navy

[Brian James]

Taken from the Oiling Wharf at Haulbowline in Cork Harbour,County Cork in 1917.Destroyers pictured are,foreground Modified Paulding Class USS Warrington alongside Wickes Class USS Walker,with Tucker Class Destroyer USS Porter out in the bay.

[Brian James]

USS Saratoga pictured as she transits the Gaillard Cut,Panama Canal,February 7th 1928.

[Brian James]

Pennsylvania Class Super Dreadnought Battleship USS Arizona pictured at the South end of Gaillard Cut,with the Pedro Miguel Lock in the distance,February 23rd 1921.
During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, Arizona was bombed. After a bomb detonated in a powder magazine, the Battleship exploded violently and sank, with the loss of 1,177 officers and crewmen. Unlike many of the other ships sunk or damaged that day, Arizona was irreparably damaged by the force of the magazine explosion, though the Navy removed parts of the ship for reuse. Her wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor,the USS Arizona Memorial. dedicated on May 30th 1962 to all those who died during the attack, straddles but does not touch the ship's hull. R.I.P Lest We Forget.

[Brian James]

New York Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Texas pictured from the Brooklyn Bridge on the East River c1912.

[Brian James]

The Great White Fleet pictured in San Francisco Harbour, 1908.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship,Iron-hulled Screw Steamer Gunboat USS Alert pictured at Mare Island Navy Yard in 1890.
Alert was destined for a long naval career, serving from 1875 to 1922, a period of 47 years, including service as a Submarine Tender in World War I. Toward the end of her career she received the designation AS-4.
Alert was laid down in 1873 by John Roach & Sons Shipyard at Chester, Pennsylvania in 1873. Launched on September 18th 1874, Alert was commissioned for the first time on May 27th 1875.

[Brian James]

The first Battleship to dock at Puget Sound,Indiana Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship USS Oregon pictured aground at the entrance to Port Orchard dry dock, Washington, May 1897.

[Brian James]

Gunboat USS Newport pictured at Mare Island Navy Yard receiving new copper hull sheathing,with Maine Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship USS Ohio astern in 1914.Newport was laid down at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine in March 1896, launched on December 5th 1896. After fitting out in Boston, Newport sailed for duty in the Caribbean on October 15th 1897. Between December 1897 and August 1898, she patrolled off the West Indies and Central America, During the Spanish–American War, she received credit for assisting in the capture of nine Spanish vessels. She returned to the United States and decommissioned on September 7th 1898.
Recommissioned on May 1st 1900, Newport served as Training Ship at the United States Naval Academy and at the Naval Training Station at Newport, Rhode Island, until decommissioning at Boston on December 1st 1902. Recommissioned on May 15th 1903, she operated with the Atlantic Fleet along the eastern seaboard and in the West Indies until decommissioned on November 17th 1906.

[Brian James]

Yangtze River Patrol Gunboat USS Elcano pictured in dry dock at Shanghai in 1917.
She was captured from the Spanish Navy during the Battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish–American War. She was officially commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1902. She served for many years in the Yangtze Patrol where she saw action against pirates and warlords. She served until decommissioning in 1928, when she was sunk for target practice.She was fitted out at the Cavite Naval Yard, Philippines, for use as a Gunboat,Elcano left Manila on December 26th 1902 for service with what would become the U.S. Yangtze Patrol. She sailed with another ex-Spanish Gunboat—Villalobos—and the Collier Pompey; the little Flotilla arrived in Shanghai in February 1903.The gunboats task was primarily to protect American lives and property in China, especially American-flagged vessels operating on the Yangtze River. The U.S. had sent Gunboats to China in the past, but this Flotilla was the first that the U.S. Navy had created specifically to patrol the Yangtze. However, they were not well-suited to river patrol because of their deep (ocean-going) draft and their weak power.Still, Elcano remained based in Shanghai until October 20th 1907. She then returned to Cavite where the U.S. Navy decommissioned her on November1st.
She was recommissioned on December 5th 1910 and she returned to China in March 1911. There she was based at Amoy until the start of World War I. She returned to Manila in April 1917, and then patrolled off Mariveles, Bataan, and Corregidor Island until the end of the war.
Elcano returned to Shanghai on February 3rd 1920 where she rejoined the Yangtze Patrol.
As a member of the Yangtze River Patrol Elcano was involved in numerous skirmishes with Chinese warlords and pirates. In July 1921, she assisted in the landing of U.S. Marines at Ichang, where she remained until September 1922. During the Chinese revolution of 1926–1927, Elcano brought refugees back to the coast from deep inland. On March 24th 1927, Elcano shelled the base of Socony Hill in Nanking to protect the American Consul General and others who were being besieged there. Eventually, American sailors rescued the American civilians.In November 1927, Elcano became a Receiving Ship at Shanghai for American sailors arriving to man the new Gunboats that the Navy was building for service with the Patrol.She was finally decommissioned June 30th 1928. She sank on October 4th as a result of having been used for target practice.

[Brian James]

Part of the USN June 1927 Naval Review off Hampton Roads.
1..USS Arizona..2 USS Arkansas..3 USS California..4 USS Idaho..5 USS Maryland..6 USS Mississippi..7 USS Nevada..8 USS Oklahoma..9 USS Pennsylvania..10 USS Texas..11 USS West Virginia.