Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Gunboat Photo Archive

Dubuque (PG 17)



Call sign:
Nan - Able - King - Peter

ex-Dubuque (IX 9)
ex-Dubuque (AG 6)



Call sign (1919):
George - Quack - King - Fox

ex-Dubuque (Gunboat No. 17)



Call sign (1912):
Nan - Easy - Unit


Dubuque served both the U. S. Navy and the Illinois State Militia

Patrol Gunboat:

  • The first Dubuque was laid down 22 September 1903 by the Gas Engine and Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury and Co., Morris Heights, Long Island, NY
  • Launched 15 August 1904
  • Completed 29 November 1904
  • Commissioned USS Dubuque, Gunboat No. 17, 3 June 1905
  • Decommissioned 22 July 1911 and transferred to the Illinois Naval Militia for use as a training vessel
  • Recommissioned 4 August 1914
  • Placed in commission, in reserve 3 October 1914
  • Fitted out as a mine-training ship and placed in full commission 30 July 1915
  • Reclassified as a Miscellaneous Auxiliary, AG-6 in 1919
  • Decommissioned 27 May 1919
    1921 edition of Ships Data, U.S. Naval Vessels lists decommissioning date as 27 July 1919
  • Reclassified as an Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary, IX-9, 24 April 1922
  • Recommissioned 25 May 1922 for service as a Naval Reserve mine training ship
  • Placed in reduced commission 1 November 1940
  • Reclassified as a Patrol Gunboat, PG-17, 4 November 1940
  • Recommissioned 1 July 1941
  • Decommissioned 7 September 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register 17 September 1945
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 19 December 1946
  • Sold for scrap in January 1947.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,237 t.
  • Length 200' 5
  • Length between perpendiculars 174'
  • Beam 35'
  • Draft 12' 3"
  • Speed 12 kts.
    1921 - 12.9 kts.
  • Complement 162
    1914 - 172
    1921 - 161
  • Armament: Six 4" mounts, four 6-pounders and two 1-pounders
    1905 - Six 4" rapid fire mounts, four 6-pounder rapid fire mounts, two 1-pounder rapid fire mounts and one .30 cal. Colt machine gun
    1914 - .30 cal. machine guns removed
    1921 - Four 4/50 mounts and one 3"/23 mount
    World War II - One 5"/38 dual purpose mount, two 4"/50 gun mounts and one 3"/50 dual purpose mount
  • Propulsion: Two 235psi Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 500ihp Gas Engine Power Co. vertical triple-expansion engines, two shafts
    1921 - Two 596.5ihp vertical triple-expansion engines.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Dubuque (Gunboat No. 17)
    Dubuque 116k Courtesy U.S. Warships of World War I Mike Green
    Dubuque 40k . Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    Dubuque 88k . David Buell
    Dubuque 143k World War I post card showing sailors sleeping on deck Tommy Trampp
    Dubuque 141k c. 1905
    Photo 062864 from the Detroit Publishing Co.
    Library of Congress photo LC-D4-62864    		 Robert Hurst
    Dubuque 104k c. 1905/1915
    Library of Congress photo LC-D4-39963    		 Mike Green
    Dubuque 92k c. 1911
    While serving as an Illinois Militia training vessel
    Detroit Photographic Co. photo 022656
    Library of Congress photo LC-D4-22656
    Dubuque 81k Photo probably taken while serving with the Illinois State Naval Militia.
    Photo from the 1914 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships    		 Robert Hurst
    Dubuque 252k c. 1917
    Norfolk, VA
    Photo album of a veteran who served from 1917 to 1919    		 Tommy Trampp
    Dubuque 227k c. Late 1930's
    From the collection of Chief Pharmacist Mate Gene Smith    		 Randy Smith
    Dubuque 215k
    Dubuque 784k
    USS Dubuque (PG 17)
    Dubuque 70k 12 December 1941
    Norfolk, VA
    Photo caption: "Looking down from the crows nest toward the bow of the U.S.S. Dubuque, which is now being used to train gun crews for U.S. Armed Merchant ships. In foreground, is rangefinder, while crews move about two slim, deadly looking guns similar to those being used on merchantmen."
    International News Sound photo    		 Tommy Trampp
    Dubuque 123k c. 1943
    U.S. Navy photo.    		 Joe Radigan
    Dubuque 73k 15 June 1943 .
    - USNA Class of 1878 - USNA Class of 1878
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Augustus Francis Fechteler, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral3 June 1905 - 22 December 1906
    02CDR Thomas Slidell Rodgers, USN22 December 1906 - 1907
    03CDR John Eccleston Craven, USN3 July 1908
    04CDR Casey Bruce Morgan, USN - USNA Class of 1888
    Awarded both the Army and the Navy Distinguished Service Medals (World War I)
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		24 December 1910 - 22 July 1911
    05LCDR Leonard Rundlett Sargent, USNR - USNA Class of 18974 August 1914
    06LCDR Damon Earhart Cummings, USN - USNA Class of 1907
    Received a Navy Commendation (1917), Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) and the Legion of Merit (1947)- Retired as Captain    		25 May 1915
    07CDR Thomas Lee Johnson, USN - USNA Class of 189810 June 1916
    08CDR Victor Stuart Houston, USN - USNA Class of 189710 May 1918
    09CDR Clarence Eddy Wood, USN4 January 1919 - 27 May 1919
    10LCDR Richard Thomas Brodhead, USNRF25 April 1922
    11LCDR Ola Fred Heslar, USNR - Retired as Captain1937 - 1939
    12CAPT Richard Thomas Brodhead, USNR1939
    13CDR Milton R. Wortley, USNR1 July 1941
    14LCDR Leon J. Jacobi, USNRMarch 1942
    15LCDR Elmer Calvin Powell, USNRSeptember 1942
    16LT Donald H. Johnson, USNRFebruary 1943
    17LT Sylvester Cunningham, USNR1 December 1943
    18LCDR Leo J. Perry, USNR1 April 1944 - 6 September 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View Dubuque (PG-17) Library of Congress Images
    View the Dubuque (PG 17)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the Patrol Gunboat (PG) Photo Index
    Back to the Auxiliary Ship Index Back to the Miscellaneous Auxiliary Ship (AG) Photo Index Back to the Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary Ship (IX) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History