The third USS Charleston (C-22/CA-19) was a United States Navy protected cruiser. She was launched 23 January 1904 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, sponsored by Miss Helen Whaley Rhett, and commissioned on 17 October 1905, Captain Cameron McRae Winslow in command. She was reclassified CA-19 on 17 July 1920.
Service history
Pre-World War I
Charleston cruised to South American ports in the summer of 1906 with Secretary of State Elihu Root on board for good-will visits, and after disembarking the official party at Panama in September, returned to the west coast for overhaul. She cleared San Francisco on 6 December 1906 to begin service with the Pacific Squadron, sailing along the west coast from Magdalena Bay, Mexico, to Esquimalt, British Columbia, on exercises and fleet maneuvers until 10 June 1908, when she entered the Puget Sound Navy Yard to prepare for the long passage to the Asiatic Squadron. During this time, Charleston stopped in Portland, Oregon in June 1907 for the annual Portland Rose Festival. Charleston was the first U.S. Navy ship to attend the event, a tradition the Navy continues participate in to this day.
thumb|left|The U.S.S. Charleston is seen in this real photo postcard from the 1910s at dry dock in Panama.
Leaving Puget Sound on 28 October 1908, Charleston served in the Far East until 11 September 1910, first as flagship of 3rd Squadron, Pacific Fleet, and later, as flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. Based on Cavite, Philippines in the winter, the Fleet moved north each summer to Yantai, China, to continue exercises and visits to ports of China, Japan, Manchuria, and Russia, presenting a powerful reminder of American interest in the Far East. Returning to Bremerton, Washington, Charleston was decommissioned on 8 October 1910 at Puget Sound.
Silver service
On 1 January 1905, the city of Charleston, South Carolina gave a silver punch service to the ship. The service included a silver bowl with an diameter that weighed nearly . The set was designed and made by Carrington, Thomas & Co. in Charleston and included panels showing Fort Sumter, St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Fort Moultrie, City Hall, and a view of the Battery. The set included a bowl, tray, and ladle that all included the seal of the city. When the ship was decommissioned, the service was returned to Charleston where it was displayed, for a period, at the Charleston Museum; it was again given to the next USS Charleston in 1936 and again returned to the city when that ship was itself decommissioned.