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Gunboat Photo Archive

Dubuque (PG 17)



Call sign:
Nan - Able - King - Peter

ex-IX-9
ex-AG-6
ex-Gunboat No. 17


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

  • 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
  • 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
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 19 December 1946
  • Sold for scrap.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,237 t.
  • Length 200' 5
  • Beam 35'
  • Draft 12' 3"
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 162
    1914 - 172
  • 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
    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 1,000ihp Gas Engine Power Co. verticle triple-expansion engines, two shafts.
    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 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
    USS Dubuque (PG 17)
    Dubuque 123k c. 1943
    U.S. Navy photo.    		 Joe Radigan
    Dubuque 73k 15 June 1943 .
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Augustus F. Fechteler, USN3 June 1905
    04CDR Casey Bruce Morgan, USN - Awarded both the Army and the Navy Distinguished Service Medals (World War I)
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		24 December 1910
    ??LCDR O. F. Heslar, USNR1937
    ??CAPT Richard T. Brodhead, USNR1940
    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 Historical Center website
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joe Radigan
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