The fifth USS Boston was a United States Navy protected cruiser and one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s. In some references she is combined with as the Atlanta class, in others as the Boston class.

Construction and commissioning

Boston was ordered as one of the steel-hulled "ABCD" ships, the others being the protected cruisers and and the dispatch vessel . All were ordered from the same shipyard, John Roach & Sons of Chester, Pennsylvania. Boston was laid down on 15 November 1883 by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania, and launched on 4 December 1884. However, when United States Secretary of the Navy William C. Whitney initially refused to accept Dolphin, claiming her design was defective, the Roach yard went bankrupt and Boston was completed at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, which had little experience with steel-hulled ships. She was commissioned on 2 May 1887 at the New York Navy Yard with Captain Francis M. Ramsay in command. six /30 caliber Mark 2 guns, two 6-pounder () guns, two 3-pounder () Hotchkiss revolving cannon, two 1-pounder () Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two .45 caliber (11.4 mm) Gatling guns.

Armor protection was light, with 2-inch (50.8 mm) gun shields and conning tower, and a 1.5-inch (38.1 mm) deck extending over the machinery spaces.

The engineering plant included eight coal-fired cylindrical boilers producing steam and a horizontal compound engine producing driving one shaft.

Refits

In 1900–01 Boston was rebuilt and the 6-inch guns were converted to rapid firing with brass case ammunition replacing powder bags. During her service with the Oregon Naval Militia 1911-16 she retained her original pair of 8"/30 guns and three of the 6"/30 guns, with a single /40 caliber gun added. All armament was removed prior to her conversion to a freighter in 1917. She joined the Squadron of Evolution on 30 September 1889 and cruised to the Mediterranean and South America from 7 December 1889 to 29 July 1890, and along the east coast in 1891. Boston departed New York on 24 October 1891 for the Pacific via Cape Horn, arriving at San Francisco on 2 May 1892. Except for a prospective Pacific Squadron commanding officer's cruise to the Hawaiian Islands from 11 August 1892 to 10 October 1893 (in which she provided a shore party in January 1893 that bolstered the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy), she remained on the West Coast until laid up at Mare Island Navy Yard on 4 November 1893.

Boston returned to San Francisco on 9 August 1899 and went out of commission at Mare Island Navy Yard on 15 September 1899. She remained out of commission until 11 August 1902 and then rejoined the Pacific Squadron. On 7 November 1903, Boston was the first ship of the Pacific Squadron to arrive near Panama to support that country's newly declared independence; a key event in the creation of the Panama Canal. She then cruised in South America, Hawaii, and the US West Coast. From 16 to 25 June 1905, she helped represent the Navy at the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition at Portland, Oregon, and from 23 April – 10 May 1906 she helped care for the victims of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. In April 1907 she carried a Honduran peace delegation that ended the Honduran–Nicaraguan War. She went out of commission again at Puget Sound Navy Yard on 10 June 1907. From 15 June 1911 to September 1916, she served as a training vessel with the Oregon Naval Militia. However, county records do not indicate when the guns were placed in the park or why it was done. Of the two guns displayed at Hamlin Park, the easternmost gun bears a plaque which states that the gun fired the first shot of the Battle of Manila Bay. The other bears a plaque crediting the gun with the dismounting of three guns at the Spanish fort of Cavite.

Awards

right|thumb|Despatch at [[Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay in 1946.]]

Boston/Despatch earned the following awards in her career, spanning six decades:

  • 106px Battle of Manila Bay Commemorative Medal (also known as the "Dewey Medal")
  • Navy Expeditionary Medal (two awards)
  • 106px Spanish Campaign Medal
  • 106px Philippine Campaign Medal
  • 106px World War I Victory Medal
  • 106px American Defense Service Medal
  • 106px American Campaign Medal
  • 106px World War II Victory Medal

Notes

Bibliography

  • Burr, Lawrence. US Cruisers 1883–1904: The Birth of the Steel Navy. Oxford: Osprey, 2008.
  • Rentfrow, James C. Home Squadron: The U.S. Navy on the North Atlantic Station. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2014.
  • Spears, John Randolph. A History of the United States Navy. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1908.
  • The White Squadron. Toledo, Ohio: Woolson Spice Co., 1891.
  • The White Squadron: Armed Cruisers, U.S.N. New York: International Art Publ. Co, 1800.
  • The White Squadron of the U S Navy. New York: James Clarke Publisher, 1894.
  • Naval History and Heritage Command: USS Boston (1887–1946) photos
  • USS Boston photo gallery at NavSource
  • USS Boston at SpanAmWar.com