USS ''Ranger'', later USS ''Rockport'' and USS ''Nantucket'' (PG-23/IX-18), was a

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. A screw steamer with full-rig auxiliary sail, ''Ranger'' was destined for a very long 65-year career, serving first as a U.S. Navy gunboat from 1876 to 1920, and later as a training ship with the

Massachusetts Maritime Academy Massachusetts Maritime Academy (Mass Maritime, MMA) is a public university in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, focused on maritime-related fields. It was established in 1891 and is the second oldest state maritime academy in the United States. Orig ...

from 1909 to 1941. The ship was finally scrapped in 1958, but her engine, which is the only one of its type known to be still in existence, was preserved and is on display at the American Merchant Marine Museum of

Kings Point, New York Kings Point is a village located on the Great Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 5,619 at the time of the 2020 census. History T ...

Design and construction

''Ranger'' was built by

Harlan and Hollingsworth Harlan & Hollingsworth was a Wilmington, Delaware, manufacturing firm that built railroad cars and became one of the first iron shipyards in the United States. It operated under various names from 1837 to 1904, when it was purchased by Bethlehem ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. She was laid down in 1873, and launched in 1876. ''Ranger''s engine was designed by the

Bureau of Steam Engineering The Bureau of Steam Engineering was a bureau of the United States Navy, created by the act of 5 July 1862, receiving some of the duties of the former Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repair. It became, by the Naval Appropriation Act of 4 June ...

and built by

John Roach & Sons John Roach & Sons was a major 19th-century American shipbuilding and manufacturing firm founded in 1864 by Irish-American immigrant John Roach. Between 1871 and 1885, the company was the largest shipbuilding firm in the United States, building mo ...

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

. The engine is of the compound back-acting type, with cylinders of 28½ and 42½ inches respectively, and a 42-inch stroke. The pistons, cylinder liners and bearings are constructed of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

. At 64

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

, the 560 ihp engine drove the ship at a speed of 10 knots. Four coal-burning

Scotch boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a short horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler ...

s supplied steam at a pressure of 80

psi Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to: Alphabetic letters * Psi (Greek) (Ψ or ψ), the twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet * Psi (Cyrillic), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek Arts and entertainment * "Psi" as an abbreviat ...

.Emery Rice T.V. Engine (1873)
, American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Service history

''Ranger'' was commissioned at League Island Naval Shipyard,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, 27 November 1876. After completion of fitting out, ''Ranger'' was assigned to the Atlantic Station, but remained in the Gosport (Portsmouth) Navy Yard and

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

until 8 March 1877, when she was assigned to the Asiatic Fleet. Following a special fitting out for her new duty, ''Ranger'' left

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

21 May 1877, arriving

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

24 August 1877, via

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

, and Malacca Straits. The ship served on the Asiatic Station until the fall of 1879, protecting American interests and national policy in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

. Arriving at

Mare Island Navy Yard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY or MINS) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean and was in service 142 years from 1854 to 1996. It is located on Mare Island, northeast of San Francisco, in Vallejo, Califor ...

24 February 1880, she was converted into a survey vessel. From 1881 to 1889, she was engaged in hydrographic survey work off

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, and the northern Pacific; except when protecting American national interests in the politically turbulent Central American nations. On 12 October 1885 one of her boats was almost run over by steamer () off

Mare Island Mare Island (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait junc ...

, some of the 10 crewmen aboard jumped overboard and one drowned. While off

Ensenada Ensenada ("inlet") is a city in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Located on Bahía de Todos Santos, the city had a population of 279,765 in 2018, making it the third-largest city in Baja Californ ...

, Mexico, on 18 January 1886, Landsman John Enright rescued two shipmates from drowning, for which he was awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

. In 1890, ''Ranger'', now commanded by Commander George Cook Reiter, became nationally known as the result of the ''Barrundia Affair''.Tracy, B.F. Executive Documents of the Senate of the United States: Conduct of Commander Reiter, 51st Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 2818, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1891), pp. 1-14 Reiter was the senior U.S. naval officer present at the port of San José de Guatemala during the attempted arrest of General J. Martín Barrundia, a rebel Guatemalan general who had unsuccessfully attempted to take over the government during a military insurrection, and was forced into exile by the Guatemalan government. Barrundia had boarded the ''SS Acapulco'', an American-flag ship, and requested political asylum in the United States, when the ship stopped at a Guatemalan port. Rather than place a guard on the ''SS Acapulco'' for General Barrundia or offer him political asylum, Reiter delayed the General's asylum request several hours in order to gain the permission of the Guatemalan government, which never came. The ''SS Acapulco'' was later boarded by Guatemalan officers, and Barrundia killed while resisting arrest in a gunfight aboard the ''SS Acapulco''. During the occupation of the ship, the U.S. flag was taken down, arms and supplies were seized, and the Guatemalan flag was raised in its place. The Secretary of the Navy, at the personal direction of President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

, ordered Lt. Commander Reiter's conduct to be investigated; the Secretary later censured Reiter and relieved him of command. ''Ranger'' was decommissioned from 14 September 1891 to 26 August 1892 at

. Upon reactivation, she was assigned to protect American seal fisheries with the Bering Sea Squadron in 1891. On 31 January 1894, she relieved ''Alliance'' in protecting American interests in Central America, where she remained until placed out of commission 26 November 1895, except for temporary duty in the Bering Sea in May 1894. Recommissioned 1 November 1899, she was a survey ship for two years off Mexico and Baja California, then operated with off Central America, protecting American national interests. She was again decommissioned from 11 June 1903 to 30 March 1905 at

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

. She departed

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

16 April 1905, for the Asiatic Station, arriving Cavite 30 May. Due to recurring maintenance problems, she was decommissioned again at Cavite from 21 June 1905 to 10 August 1908. Departing Cavite 16 August, she arrived Boston 12 December via the

, and was decommissioned immediately on 10 November 1908.NavSource Online: Gunboat Photo Archive Nantucket (IX 18) ex-Nantucket (PG 23) ex-Rockport ex-Ranger
/ref> On 26 April 1909, she was loaned to the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

as a

school ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old Hulk (ship type), hulks us ...

to replace ''

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

'' at the Massachusetts Nautical Training School. Her name was changed to ''Rockport'' 30 October 1917 and then to ''Nantucket'' 20 February 1918. As ''Nantucket'', she operated as a gunboat in the First Naval District during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, as well as a training ship for Navy midshipmen. Designated PG-23 in 1920, ''Nantucket'' was redesignated IX-18 on 1 July 1921. On 11 November 1940, she was transferred to the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...

for final disposition, to be used as a school ship for the Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, N.Y. On 30 November 1940, she was struck from the Navy list and was returned to the state of Massachusetts as a school ship. In 1942, she was returned to the US Merchant Marine Academy, renamed TV ''Emery Rice'', and used once more as a training ship. She was retired in 1944 and subsequently served as a museum ship until being scrapped in 1958. Though the ship itself was scrapped, the engine—the only back-acting type known to be still in existence—was saved from destruction by the efforts of Admiral Richard R. McNulty. The engine, which weighs 61 tons and has dimensions of 20 × 10 ft × 6 ft high, now features as the centerpiece of a display at the American Merchant Marine Museum in Kings Point, New York.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nantucket (IX-18) Alert-class gunboats Ships built by Harlan and Hollingsworth 1876 ships Unclassified miscellaneous vessels of the United States Navy Ships of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy