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_off_Tsingtao.jpg) USSSacramento steaming off Tsingtao, China. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSSacramento |
| Namesake | Sacramento, California |
| Builder | William Cramp & Sons,Philadelphia |
| Yard number | 403 |
| Launched | 21 February 1914 |
| Commissioned | 26 April 1914 |
| Decommissioned | 6 February 1946 |
| Reclassified | PG-19, 17 July 1920 |
| Honors and awards | 2battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate | Sold for mercantile service, 23 August 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Gunboat |
| Displacement | 1,425 long tons (1,448 t) |
| Length | 226 ft 2 in (68.94 m) |
| Beam | 40 ft 10.5 in (12.459 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft 6.5 in (3.823 m) |
| Speed | 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h) |
| Complement | 171 officers and enlisted |
| Armament | |
The secondUSSSacramento (PG-19) was agunboat in theUnited States Navy.
Sacramento was launched on 21 February 1914 by theWilliam Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company,Philadelphia; sponsored by Miss Phebe Briggs; andcommissioned on 26 April 1914 at thePhiladelphia Navy Yard under the command ofCommanderLuke McNamee.
In 1911, it was decided to order a new gunboat as a cheaper alternative to the US Navy'sDenver-class cruisers, designed to patrol in the Caribbean. The new ship would carry much less armament and not be able to carry troops, allowing a much smaller ship.[1][2] Construction of the ship was authorized by Act of Congress on 4 March 1911,[3] but no shipyard was willing to build the Navy's design for the target cost of $500,000, and the Navy was forced to further reduce the design, cutting speed and range, before it could be ordered.[2]
The final design was 226 feet 2 inches (68.94 m)long overall and 210 feet (64.01 m) longbetween perpendiculars, with abeam of 40 feet 10 inches (12.45 m) and adraft of 11 feet 6 inches (3.51 m). The ship was offlush decked design and was made of steel.[4]Displacement was 1,425 long tons (1,448 t) normal and 1,592 long tons (1,618 t) full load.[1] A single three-cylindertriple expansion engine, rated at 950 indicated horsepower (710 kW), drove a single shaft, and were supplied with twoBabcock & Wilcox coal-firedwater-tube boilers feeding steam at 215 pounds per square inch (1,480 kPa).[5] This gave a contract speed of 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph). 428 t of coal were carried, giving a range of 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi).[1]
The ship was armed with three4-inch 50 calibre guns, with two 3-pounder saluting guns and two1-pounder guns. The ship had a complement of 163 officers and men.[1]
Sacramento (or Gunboat No. 19) was ordered fromWilliam Cramp & Sons at a contract price of $492,500,[3] and waslaid down at Cramp'sPhiladelphia shipyard on 30 April 1913. She waslaunched on 21 February 1914,[6][7] and successfully met her contracted speed duringsea trials on 31 March–1 April, reaching a maximum speed of 13.260 knots (24.558 km/h; 15.259 mph) and an average speed of 12.781 knots (23.670 km/h; 14.708 mph) on a 4-hour speed run.[8] She wascommissioned on 26 April 1914.[6][7]
Sacramento's first duty was inMexican andCaribbean waters, and she arrived offVera Cruz on 14 May 1914.Sacramento visitedDominican,[9] Mexican,Nicaraguan, andHonduran ports repeatedly into 1916, protecting U.S. interests and observing uneasy local political conditions. Arriving atNew Orleans on 17 March 1917,Sacramento's crew assistedU.S. Customs authorities in taking over the interned German merchant vesselsBreslau,Andromeda,Anna,Louise, andTeresa after the U.S. enteredWorld War I.
Departing New Orleans on 15 April,Sacramento proceeded toNewport, Rhode Island, to commence patrol and escort duty off theNew England coast. She rescued the crew of the burning British motor shipSebastian on 8 May and vainly attempted to tow her to Newport, receiving commendation from the British government for her efforts. In late June, she took part in refloating the groundedcruiserOlympia.
Assigned to European waters,Sacramento departed New York on 22 July in company with a British mercantile convoy bound forGibraltar, arriving on 6 August. As a unit of the U.S. Patrol Force based at Gibraltar, she performed continuous convoy escort duty to theBritish Isles with additional service along the North African and Italian coasts into 1918. Following the Armistice,Sacramento was ordered back to the U.S. She departed Gibraltar on 11 December 1918 for New Orleans.
After completing repairs there, the gunboat steamed to New York prior to her next assignment with the U.S. Naval Forces, NorthernRussia.Sacramento arrived atMurmansk on 22 May 1919; and, through July, served as a dispatch ship, distributed food and clothing, provided medical help, and assisted in the withdrawal of American forces from areas bordering theWhite Sea. Subsequently, sailing southward,Sacramento called atNorwegian, British, and French ports before arriving at Gibraltar on 20 September to assist in demobilizing the naval forces there. She returned toHampton Roads, on 15 February 1920 to join theAtlantic Patrol Force andSpecial Service Squadron.
DesignatedPG-19 on 17 July 1920, Sacramento's new assignment took her back to Caribbean waters where she spent considerable time cruising off troubledHonduras.
She was reassigned to theAsiatic Squadron in 1922, and departedCharleston, South Carolina, on 12 Juneen route for thePhilippine Islands. Passing through the Mediterranean and transiting theSuez Canal,Sacramento called atBombay,Colombo, and Singapore while progressing eastward toManila. HerAsiatic Fleet service was spent largely in Chinese and Japanese ports but included a visit toVladivostok, Russia from 11 September-24 November 1922. She remained on station until 21 December 1928, when she departedCavite for Caribbean duty.
She sailed first toMare Island, California, then joined the Special Service Squadron and cruised the Caribbean, calling at Central American andWest Indies ports, into 1932. She departedBalboa, Canal Zone, on 11 January 1932 bound forSan Diego and San Francisco, preparatory to crossing thePacific for duty with the Asiatic Fleet. She arrived at Shanghai, China, on 1 April 1932 and remained in adjacent waters throughout the gradually worsening crisis, just short of war, during the rest of the 1930s. With other U.S. forces, she helped to protect national interests during this period. Ordered home toward the end of the decade, the veteran gunboat departed Cavite on 12 January 1939 for New York, via the Mediterranean. She earned the nickname "the Galloping Ghost of the China Coast".
Sacramento served as a training ship for9th Naval District Reservists, on theGreat Lakes, from 20 November 1939 into 1940. Returning to theBoston Navy Yard for refitting, she subsequently departed theNorfolk Navy Yarden route to her next assignment in theHawaiian Islands.
EnteringPearl Harbor on 15 August 1941, she was assigned to the Naval Coastal Force of the14th Naval District, with fellow gunboatNiagara andU.S. Coast Guardpatrol boatsReliance andTiger. At the time of theJapanese attack on 7 December 1941,Sacramento was berthed in the Navy Yard's repair berth B-6, with destroyersMugford andJarvis nested beside her.Sacramento's battle stations were manned by 08:00; two minutes later, her gun crews opened fire on Japanese aircraft attacking "Battleship Row" offFord Island. Her batteries assisted in destroying one enemy plane which crossed her bow 200 yd (180 m) ahead and later helped down another which was pressing home an attack onNevada. Her boat crews participated in rescue and salvage operations throughout the aftermath of the battle.
Sacramento patrolled the Hawaiian Sea Frontier out of Pearl Harbor until 27 September 1942, when she commenced service as a tender for Torpedo Boat Unit 6, Division 2, of MTBRon 1, atPalmyra Island, south of Hawaii; with additional duty as air-sea rescue vessel for the Naval Air Station. She departed Palmyra on 25 November forSan Diego and duty with the Western Sea Frontier patrol force. There she trained gun crews from December of that year to March 1945. Based at San Francisco thereafter,Sacramento operated on weather patrol and plane guard station for the remainder ofWorld War II.
Sacramento was decommissioned on 6 February 1946 atSuisun Bay, California, and simultaneously transferred to theWar Shipping Administration for disposal. She was sold on 23 August 1947 for mercantile service, initially operating under Italian registry asFermina.
Media related toUSS Sacramento (ship, 1914) at Wikimedia Commons
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.