|
Later Classes of Monitors:
USS Amphitrite
|
USS Amphitrite
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
|
A double-turreted, twin screw coastal
monitor built by Harlan and Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware
and launched on June 7, 1883. The Amphitrite was assigned
to the North Atlantic Squadron and in the summer of 1895 she
operated on the eastern seaboard. There is where flaws were
discovered with the design, one example is the lack of ventilation
in the boiler room, especially in southern heat. Alterations
and repairs were made at Norfolk Navy Yard and the Amphitrite
was reassigned to dills off of Hampton Roads and headed for
Key West arriving there on January 9, 1896. For six months she
participated in militia drills and returned to Norfolk June
29, 1896. She served in militia instruction until July 9 when
she accompanied the Atlantic Squadron on drills off of Tolchester
Beach, MD.
Detached from the Atlantic Squadron
on May 7, 1897, the Amphitrite served as a training ship
for the instruction of gun captains. She was recommissioned
October 2, 1897 and visited a variety of ports on the east coast
finally stopping at Port Royal, South Carolina for three months.
As the Spanish-American War broke out, the Amphitrite
was sent to Key West on April 8, 1898.
On May 1, 1898 the Amphitrite
and her sister ship the Terror joined Admiral William
T. Sampson's fleet coming east from Cuba. The smaller ships
were towed and the Captain of the Iowa disliked the duty
of towing the Amphitrite. They arrived at San Juan, Puerto
Rico on May 11. The Amphitrite participated in the shelling
of San Juan, during the action the gunner's mate in the turret
died of the heat. Toward the end of the battle the Amphitrite
lost half of her main battery the aft turret was disabled and
an armored hose on the exhaust pipe exploded. The Amphitrite
returned to Key West for repairs.
The Amphitrite operated blockade
duty out of Key West for two and half months. She then returned
to San Juan on August 2, 1898. The Americans took the lighthouse
on August 6 and the Amphitrite sent a relief party on
shore August 9 and then leaving Porto Rico. Eventually arriving
in Boston where she remained from September 29, 1898 to February
25, 1899.
|
USS Amphitrite as a floating hotel in Georgetown,
South Carolina
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
|
The Amphitrite was chosen for
gunnery work and received two classes a year of 60 men. She
continued this duty at various ports until decommissioned November
30, 1901 for repairs at the Boston Naval Yard. Recommissioned
December 1, 1902 and was assigned to the Naval Training Station
at Newport and served there until early 1904. The Amphitrite
was then sent to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba for station duty until
June 19, 1907 when she was placed out of commission at League
Island.
Back in commission on June 14, 1910,
the Amphitrite served training reservists at St. Louis,
Missouri then to New Orleans and finally to New Haven, Connecticut
in May 1916. She was assigned to the Connecticut Naval Militia
until being moved to New York to help in laying submarine net
in the Narrows. Returning the Connecticut Naval Militia on March18,
1917, she carried out training duty with drafts of men from
Yale and Harvard.
At the outbreak of World War I, the
Amphitrite returned to the Narrows to guard the submarine
nets under the 3rd Naval District. She was assigned
to examine all ships entering or leaving the New York Harbor
and help American submarines pass through the nets. June 13,
1917, the steamship Manchuria was outside of the New
York Harbor in a thick fog when she collided with the Amphitrite
and causing damage below the water line. The Manchuria
also scraped the Amphitrite's bow and her propeller caught
a cable and held the Amphitrite for 20 minutes. The Manchuria
abandoned ship and was beached and the Amphitrite continued
her duty. On December 14, 1917 another accident occurred when
the British steamship the British Isle ran into her in
a snow squall doing damage to the Amphitrite and the
torpedo nets.
Following repairs she left for Hampton
Roads on October 24, 1918 and began running target practice
and was sent back to the Narrows on November 8, 1918. The Amphitrite
was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on May 31,
1919. She was sold to A.L.D. Bucksten of Elizabeth City, NC
on January 3, 1920.
|
USS Amphitrite as a hotel ship in Sandy Point, Maryland
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
|
The Amphitrite was stripped of
her superstructure and the ship was towed to Beaufort, South
Carolina, where she was converted into a floating hotel. Then
towed to Florida for the same purpose where it is rumored that
gambling was carried out and Al Capone's name mentioned with
ownership. She was then chartered by the government in 1943
and towed to Elizabeth City, NC. The ship was used as housing
for workers building a new naval air station. In the spring
of 1950, the Amphitrite was towed to Baltimore, MD and
was to be used as a restaurant and hotel at the new Chesapeake
Bridge at Sandy Point. Business was slow and she was sold in
1951 and taken back to Baltimore to be refitted as a support
ship for oil exploration in Venezuela, the project was never
started. The Amphitrite was sold for scrap and by the
spring of 1952 it was complete.
Displacement: 3,990 tons
Length: 262 feet 9 inches
Beam: 55 feet 10 inches
Draft: 14 feet 6 inches
Go to Main Category:
Historic Legacy of the Monitor
Go to other documents in this category:
Introduction: Later Classes of
Monitors
Timeline of Later Monitors
|
![[ Navigation Bar ]](../../resources/navigation.gif){kind=small}