USS Tacoma (C-18)

USS ''Tacoma'' (C-18/PG-32/CL-20) was a protected cruiser in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the second Navy ship named after the city of Tacoma, Washington.

Construction and commissioning

''Tacoma'' was laid down on 27 September 1900 at Mare Island, California, by the Union Iron Works. She was launched on 2 June 1903, sponsored by Miss Julia M. Harris, and commissioned on 30 January 1904, Commander Reginald Fairfax Nicholson in command.

Service history

Pre-World War I

Following a post-commissioning visit to her namesake city, Tacoma, Washington, the protected cruiser voyaged to Hawaii in April and May. She returned to San Francisco on 2 June and, a month later, sailed for Cape Horn. During the voyage, she participated in the search for merchant ship SS ''Conemaugh'', which had departed from Valparaíso, Chile, and vanished. After rounding the Horn and steaming up the Atlantic coast of South and North America, ''Tacoma'' entered New York Harbor on 5 November and remained there until joining the North Atlantic Fleet on 1 January 1905.

Following the completion of maneuvers off Culebra Island on 25 January, ''Tacoma'' sailed for Hispaniola where she performed special duty protecting American interests during one of the many periods of turmoil that have troubled that island. Following that assignment, ''Tacoma'' conducted target practice off the Florida coast between 27 March and 25 April. She returned to New York on 19 May to prepare for a voyage to Europe.

On 18 June, she sailed for France and arrived at Cherbourg on 30 June. She remained there while a battalion of sailors went to Paris to participate in ceremonies honoring the remains of John Paul Jones which were being returned to the United States. On 8 July, ''Tacoma'' departed Cherbourg to escort the remains, aboard , to their final resting place at Annapolis, Maryland. After the ceremony at the United States Naval Academy on 24 July, the warship proceeded to Tompkinsville, New York. On 5 August, she embarked Japanese diplomats at New York and transported them to Sagamore Hill, President Theodore Roosevelt's summer home at Oyster Bay, New York. There, they first met the Russian commissioners for the peace negotiations which were later held at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and resulted in the termination of the Russo-Japanese War. ''Tacoma'' returned to Philadelphia on the 8th and conducted training for the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts naval militias before rejoining the North Atlantic Fleet for operations in the Caribbean Sea.

Deployed to the Mediterranean for the first five months of 1906, the ship visited Tangier, Algiers, Ville-Franche, Naples, and Genoa. After a trip to Grand Canary Island, she returned to the Mediterranean and visited Alexandria and Port Said before returning to the U.S. in June.

For the next ten years, except for an eight-month period in reserve at Philadelphia in 1911 and 1912, ''Tacoma'' alternated service along the east coast with cruises to the Caribbean and West Indies protecting American citizens and interests there during this turbulent period.

In late 1906 and early 1907, Cuba was the major trouble spot; and the cruiser operated along her coasts from late September until mid-November and again from late December until June, visiting Havana

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases