The first USS ''Talbot'' (Torpedo Boat No. 15/TB-15/YFB-3) was a

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Namesake

John Gunnell Talbot was born on 16 August 1844 at

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which include ...

. He was appointed a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Af ...

in 1862 and graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

on 12 June 1866. Commissioned

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on 12 March 1868, he attained the rank of master on 26 March 1869 and

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 21 March 1870. He was serving as executive officer of when that steamer grounded on a reef off Ocean Island in the mid-Pacific on 29 October 1870 and broke up. Talbot and four men volunteered to go to

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, the nearest port, away, for help. The men began the voyage in an open boat on 18 November and reached Kauai,

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, on 19 December. However, as the party attempted to get through the heavy surf to shore, their boat capsized. Talbot and three others drowned while attempting to swim through the rough breakers to shore. The lone survivor,

William Halford William Halford (August 18, 1841 – February 7, 1919) was a sailor, and later an officer, in the United States Navy. He also received the Medal of Honor. Biography Born in Gloucestershire, England, Halford enlisted in the United States Navy ...

, reported the wreck of ''Saginaw'', and her crew was saved.

Construction and commissioning

''Talbot'' was laid down on 8 April 1897 at

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, by the

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; launched on 14 November 1897; and commissioned on 4 April 1898. ''Talbot'' cruised down the coast, making calls in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

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, and

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before arriving at

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, on 2 August. She reported to the flagship and received mail for the blockading squadron. At 2100 hours that evening, while en route to

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for coal, she sighted the dark hull of a ship off the port bow. ''Talbot'' signalled and stopped her engines, but was still rammed by the tug . The bow of the tug penetrated one foot into the torpedo boat's coal bunker, bending in two frames and crushing the side plating to below the water line. The tug towed ''Talbot'' to Piedras Cay where temporary repairs were made the next day to enable the damaged ship to proceed to Key West. ''Talbot'' reached Key West on the 5th and got underway 10 days later for

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. She arrived at the New York Navy Yard on 6 September and was ready for sea again in early October. The torpedo boat was then assigned to the

US Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...

for duty supporting midshipmen training, mooring at

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on 10 October. On 11 June 1899, ''Talbot'' moved to

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

to participate in a one-year evaluation of experimental fuel oils. At the completion of this test program, she resumed her duties at the Naval Academy. ''Talbot'' was decommissioned on 20 February 1904 and attached to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Norfolk. She was recommissioned on 31 August 1906 and assigned to special duty between Norfolk and Annapolis. From early 1908 to September 1911, she served at the Torpedo Station, Newport, R.I. On 22 September 1911, ''Talbot'' was reassigned to Indian Head, Maryland, for service as a tender. Before assuming the new duty, she proceeded to Norfolk for her annual inspection and was found to be unfit for further naval use. ''Talbot'' was inactivated on 1 May 1912 but retained, "in service," as a ferryboat to be operated between the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administra ...

and the naval facilities at Indian Head. When she arrived at Washington, she was manned by a civilian crew and made an average of three trips a week between the two points. ''Talbot'' was renamed ''Berceau'' on 11 April 1918 and reclassified a ferry boat. On 17 July 1920, she was designated ''YFB-3''. She remained on ferry duty until 18 June 1940 when she was placed out of service and towed to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. ''Berceau'' was struck from the Navy list on 18 July 1944 and sold for scrap.

References

* *''Additional technical data from''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot (TB-15) Torpedo boats of the United States Navy Ships built in Bristol, Rhode Island 1897 ships Talbot-class torpedo boats