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NavSource Online:
Gunboat Photo Archive

Nantucket (IX 18)
ex-PG-23
ex-Rockport
ex-Ranger


Nantucket served the United States Navy, and the States of Massachusetts and New York.
Patrol Gunboat: Laid down in 1873 by Harlan and Hollingsworth, Wilmington, DE.; Launched in 1876; Commissioned USS Ranger 27 November 1876 at the League Island Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA; Decommissioned, 14 September 1891 at Mare Island Navy Yard, CA; Recommissioned, 26 August 1892; Decommissioned, 26 November 1895; Recommissioned, 1 November 1899; Decommissioned, 11 June 1903 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, CA; Recommissioned, 30 March 1905; Decommissioned, 21 June 1905 at Cavite, Philippine Islands; Recommissioned, 10 August 1908; Decommissioned, 12 November 1908 at Boston, MA; Loaned to the State of Massachusetts as a school ship, 26 April 1909; Renamed Rockport 30 October 1917; Renamed Nantucket 20 February 1918; Designated PG-23 in 1920; Reclassified as an Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary, IX-18, 1 July 1921 and returned to the State of Massachusetts as a school ship; Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 11 November 1940 to be used as a school ship at the Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY; Struck from the Navy Register 30 November 1940. Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 1,020 t; Length 177' 4"; Beam 32'; Draft 12' 9"; Speed 10 kts; Complement 138; Armament one 11" smooth bore, two 9" smooth bores, and one 60-pounder; Propulsion steam and full rig auxiliary sail.

Click on thumbnail
for full size image		 Size Image Description Source
USS Ranger
Ranger 134k c. 1899
Ranger is moored in mid-channel, at the far left. The Hospital Ship USS Solace, with white hull, and Collier USS Scindia, (later renamed Ajax) at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California
Courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, San Francisco, California, 1970.
U.S. Navy photo NH 71719		 Naval Historical Center
Ranger 743k c. 1909
Oil painting of USS Ranger by T.G. Purvis, London, England
There were two paintings made. One was commissioned by the ship's captain and the other was put up in a drawing for the crew. Samuel J. Miller won the drawing and later passed the painting on to James McGihon, his grandson.		 The family of Samuel J. Miller, Lt. Commander, USCG
via James R. McGihon
Ranger 85k 6 July 1913
Algiers
Photo from Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860 - 1905		 Robert Hurst
USS Nantucket (IX 18)
Ranger 76k c. 1933
Nantucket with the Massachusetts Nautical School.		 DANFS
View the Nantucket (PG 23) DANFS History
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
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This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
© 2005 Joseph M. Radigan © 1996 - 2005 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.