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NavSource Online:
Patrol Yacht Photo Archive

Hist

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Spanish Campaign Medal

Patrol Yacht/Submarine Tender:

  • Built in 1895 as the yacht Thespia by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, PA
  • Purchased 22 April 1898 from her owner David Dows, Jr. of Norfolk, VA
  • Commissioned USS Hist 13 May 1898 at New York
  • Decommissioned 2 February 1899 at Key West, FL
  • Recommissioned 18 July 1902 at Newport, RI
  • Assigned as a Submarine Tender 27 June 1903
  • Decommissioned 3 May 1907 at Newport, RI
  • Recommissioned 16 October 1907
  • Decommissioned 24 July 1911 at Portsmouth, VA
  • Struck from the Naval Register 27 July 1911
  • Sold 20 November 1911
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 472 t.
  • Length 174'
  • Beam 23'
  • Draft 9' 10"
  • Speed 14.5 kts.
  • Complement 56
    1905 - 64
  • Armament: Three 3-pounders, four 1-pounders and two Colt machine guns
  • Propulsion: One 1,000ihp vertical compound steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Hist
    Hist 71k Chief Petty Officer demonstrates the operation of a Maxim 1-pounder machine gun, circa May 1898. USS Topeka is fitting out in the background
    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.
    National Archives photo 19-N-14187    		 Naval Historical Center
    Viking/Hist 32k USS Viking, at left, and Hist at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, while being prepared for Spanish-American War service, 12 May 1898
    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives
    National Archives photo 19-N-19-16-12
    Hist 47k Photographed on 7 June 1898, prior to her departure from the U.S. east coast for war service off Cuba
    U.S. Navy photo NH 53539
    Hist 136k Scene looking aft on the main deck, with crewmen relaxing as water keeps the deck awash, during the Spanish-American War, 1898
    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 1004    		 Robert Hurst
    Hist 594k Sailors from Hist in the late 19th century
    Photo UA 466.04 David E. Gross Collection at the Naval History and Heritage Command    		 Douglas Davis
    Photo added 4 April 2020
    Hist 269k Sampson Medal awarded to an unknown crew member
    The Sampson Medal is a commemorative medal of the United States Navy for service in the Spanish–American War. The medal was authorized by an Act of Congress in 1901. The medal was awarded to those personnel who served on ships in the fleet of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson during combat operations in the waters of the West Indies and Cuba. The Sampson Medal was also known as the Medal Commemorating Naval Engagements in the West Indies or West Indies Naval Campaign Medal, not to be confused with the West Indies Campaign Medal which was a separate award    		 Tommy Trampp
    Hist 313k
    Hist 100k c. May 1901
    Courtesy U.S. Warships of World War I    		 Mike Green
    Hist
    Hist 61k Probably photographed when the ship was inspected for possible Naval use on 31 May 1917. But she was judged unsuitable for Navy use
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 105611    		 Mike Green
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
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