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NavSource Online: Cruiser Photo Archive

USS CHESTER Scout Cruiser 1 / (CL 1)

CLASS - CHESTER
Displacement 3,750 Tons, Dimensions, 423' 1" (oa) x 47' 1" x 19' 3" (Max)
Armament 2 x 5"/50, 6 x 3"/50 2 x 21" tt.
Armor, 2" Belt.
Machinery, 23,000 SHP; Direct Drive Turbines, 4 screws
Speed, 26.52 (trial) Knots, Crew 356.
Operational and Building Data
Keel laid at Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME
Launched 26 JUN 1907
Commissioned 25 APR 1908
Decommissioned 15 DEC 1911
Commissioned 05 NOV 1913
Decommissioned 12 DEC 1914
Commissioned 04 APR 1915
Decommissioned 10 MAY 1916
Commissioned 24 MAR 1917
Decommissioned 10 JUN 1921
Renamed USS YORK on 10 JUL 1928
Fate: Sold for scrap 13 MAY 1930


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Mexican Service Medal - World War I Victory Medal w/ESCORT Clasp


Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Chester
0400112
214k

Stern view while in drydock on 18 February 1908.

Historic New England Nathaniel L. Stebbins Collection, Photo No. PC047.02.4500.18469

Mike Green
Chester
0400110
161k

Starboard side view while underway, probably during builders trials, 28 February 1908.

Historic New England Nathaniel L. Stebbins Collection, Photo No. PC047.02.4500.18489

Mike Green
Chester
0400111
166k

Port bow view while underway, probably during builders trials, 28 February 1908.

Historic New England Nathaniel L. Stebbins Collection, Photo No. PC047.02.4500.18486

Mike Green
Chester
0400105
224k Starboard side view while moored at Bath Iron Works, Bath ME, 2 March 1908 (just prior to her commissioning). Robert M. Cieri
Chester 86k Port view underway, Undated. Phil Paone
Chester 122k Port view underway, Undated. Fairly good details. USN
Chester 106k Starboard view underway passing the US Naval Prison at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine. The ship is heading eastward in the Piscataqua River and is about a mile upriver from passing between Fort Foster in Kittery and Fort Constitution in New Castle, New Hampshire., Undated. Fairly good details. (caption updated by Mike Pedersen) USN
Chester
0400109
 

USS Chester (Scout Cruiser #1) Underway while running trials, circa 1908.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Photo #NH 61700.

Robert Hurst
Chester 155k Port view underway. 1908. Tom Daly
Chester
0400106
156k

USS Chester (CL 1) underway in New York Harbor on 14 February 1909.

Source: Imperial War Museum, American First World War Official Exchange Commission, Photo No. IWM (Q 68551)

Mike Green
Salem
0400312
NR Uncle Sam to Race Three Ocean Greyhounds Across Ocean
At Top: Cruiser Chester in Center: Cruiser Birmingham, and at Bottom Cruiser Salem, three Scout Boats from the Navy Department Which Are to Negotiate a 5,000-Mile Race.
The navy department is about to institute a naval race unprecedented in naval history.
To the Azores and back, a distance of some 5,000 miles, three scout cruisers are to be sent away on a record defying trip for the purpose of settling the much mooted question of superiority of different types of engines used in American naval construction.
Image and text provided by State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Photo from The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 17 March 1909, Image 7, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Titanic Tragedy
Salem
0400310
NR Millionaires Perish Among 1,300 Lost in Sea Tragedy
MAP SHOWING APPROXIMATE LOCATION OF THE TITANIC'S DISASTER AND THE POSITIONS OF THE RESCUE SHIP AND OTHER VESSELS MENTIONED IN THE DISPATCHES.
Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA.
Photo from The San Francisco Call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 17 April 1912, Image 2, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Salem
0400315
NR CRUISER CHESTER CONVOYING THE CARPATHIA. MANY BODIES OF THE TITANIC'S PASSENGERS BEING TAKEN TO BOSTON BY THE CALIFORNIAN
CHESTER TO REACH THE CARPATHIA IN NEXT FEW HOURS
Scout Cruiser Salem Transmits Wireless Message Here, Thus Establishing Chain of Communication
An unbroken chain of wireless communication between the steamship Carpathia, bearing the survivors of the lost Titanic, and the Navy Department, was established shortly before noon today.
The first official message coming through addressed to the Secretary of the Navy gave information that the scout cruiser Chester was about to pick up the Carpathia, and start the convoy to port. The message was received at the radio station at the Washington Navy Yard from the scout cruiser Salem, which is making good speed in a northeasterly course from Hampton Roads to pick up the Carpathia and the Chester.
Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from The Washington Times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 17 April 1912, LAST EDITION, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Salem
0400316
NR WASHINGTON AROUSED TO ORDER RIGID INVESTIGATION OF TITANIC TRAGEDY
Sketch of Titanic After Crash, Showing Work of Loading Passengers Into Lifeboats

The scout cruiser Chester won a thrilling race over her sister ship, the Salem, up the New England coast today and established communication with the steamer Carpathia which has on board the survivors from the steamship Titanic. The names of all the first and second-class passengers who had been aboard the Titanic have been sent to shore by the Carpathia, and the lists as transmitted are complet and accurate, the message reads.
Image and text provided by Rutgers University Libraries.
Photo from Newark Evening Star and Newark Advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 17 April 1912, HOME EDITION, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Salem
0400313
NR ABANDON ALL HOPE FOR THOSE NOT ON CARPATHIA
"GRAVEYARD OF THE SEAS" IS STORM CENTER OF BATTLE FOR NEWS OF DISASTER
Image and text provided by University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL.
Photo from The Birmingham Age-Herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 17 April 1912, Image 11, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Salem
0400317
NR No Definite Information Can Be Had From the Carpathia, Even When Asked for in the Name of the President of the United States, J. Bruce Ismay, a Director of the White Star Line Holds Strict Sensorship Over Carpathian Wireless Operator. Image and text provided by University of Nevada Las Vegas University Libraries.
Photo from Tonopah Daily Bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 18 April 1912, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Salem
0400314
NR PRESIDENT TAFT SENT FAST SCOUT CRUISERS TO MEET THE CARPATHIA HOPING TO LEARN DEFINITE NEWS OF MAJOR ARCHIBALD BUTT Image and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library.
Photo from The Evening Standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1910-1913, 22 April 1912, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Salem
0400318
NR SECRETARY MEYER TO INVESTIGATE
Commanders of Cruisers Are Told to Produce Their Log Books.
The log books of the scout cruisers Salem and Chester, two ships dispatched by President Taft to get the official report of the sinking of the Tltanic from the Carpathia and which failed in their mission, to-night were ordered sent here for examination by Secretary of Navy Meyer. Oparators of the Cunard line have stated that there was failure because the navy operators were inefficient.
Image and text provided by Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA.
Photo from The Times Dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 21 April 1912, Image 37, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Chester
0400107
1.6m Anchored in Barcelona, Spain, June 1915. Jaume Cifre Sanchez
Chester
0400108
157k

Bringing a paravane aboard the USS Chester in 1918.

Photo by Lt Harold B. Phelps Sr., Radioman aboard USS Chester.

Robert Hurst
Chester
0400113
75k

April 1918, location unknown..

National Archives item #165-WW-335D-5

National Archives

Commanding Officers
Name/Rank Class Final Rank Dates
Wilson, Henry Braid, CDR 1881 ADM 04/25/1908 -
Shoemaker, William Rawle, CDR 1884 RADM 12/02/1909 - 07/22/1910
Decker, Benton Clark, CDR 1887   07/22/1910
Decommissioned     12/15/1911 - 11/05/1913
McCauley Jr., Edward, LCDR     12/03/1912
Trurnbull, Archibald Douglas, LTJG (temporary) 1907   11/02/1913 - 11/05/1913
Moffett, William Adger, CAPT 1890 ADM 11/05/1913 - 09/15/1914
Blakely, John Russell Young, CDR 1892 RADM 09/15/1914 - 11/09/1914
Belknap, Reginald Rowan, CDR 1981   11/09/1914 - 12/19/1914
Decommissioned     12/12/1914 - 04/04/1915
Wallace, Levin James, LCDR     12/19/1914 - 01/06/1915
Christy, Harley Hannibal, CDR 1891 VADM 01/06/1915 - 04/10/1915
Twining, Nathan Crook, CDR 1889 RADM 04/10/1915 - 05/08/1915
Schofield, Frank Herman, CDR 1890 RADM 05/08-1915 - 12/03/1915
Kessler, Robert Wood, LT     12/03/1915 - 05/10/1916
Decommissioned     05/10/1916 - 03/24/1917
McSheehy, Edward Lloyd, LT 1905   05/15/1916 - 03/17/1917
Williams, Yancey Sullivan, LCDR 1898 RADM 02/05/1917 - 03/17/1917
Williams, Philip, CAPT 1889   03/17/1917 -
Baughman, Cortlandt Chesterfield, LT 1907   03/24/1917 - 01/24/1919
Howe, Alfred Graham, CAPT 1901 RADM 01/24/1919 - 06/15/1919
Neal, George Franklin, CDR 1901 RADM 06/15/1919 - 10/13/1919
Babbitt, Herbert Stephens, CDR 1907   10/13/1919 - 09/10/1920
Wait, Dallas, LT     09/10/1920 - 06/10/1921

(Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves - Photos courtesy of Bill Gonyo)


USS CHESTER Scout Cruiser 1/(CL 1) History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry on the U.S. Navy Historical Center website.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable To This Ship

Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Cruiser Pages By Andrew Toppan.
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