USS Bennington (PG-4)

The Bennington, photographed circa 1898 by William H. Rau
History
Name:	USS Bennington (PG-4)
Namesake:	Bennington, Vermont, site of the Battle of Bennington
Awarded:	15 November 1887
Builder:	N. F. Palmer & Co. Hull: Delaware River Shipbuilding
Cost:	$490,000
Yard number:	250
Laid down:	June 1888
Launched:	3 June 1890
Sponsored by:	Miss Anne Ashton
Commissioned:	20 June 1891
Decommissioned:	5 September 1901
Recommissioned:	2 March 1903
Decommissioned:	31 October 1905
Struck:	10 September 1910
Fate:	scuttled off Oahu, 1924
General characteristics
Class and type:	Yorktown-class gunboat
Displacement:	1,710 long tons (1,740 t) 1,910 long tons (1,940 t) (fully loaded)
Length:	244 ft 5 in (74.50 m) (oa) 230 ft (70 m) (wl) 226 feet (69 m) (lpp)
Beam:	36 ft (11 m)
Draft:	14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion:	2 × horizontally mounted triple-expansion steam engines, 3,400 ihp (2,500 kW) 2 × screw propellers 4 × railroad boilers
Sail plan:	three-masted schooner rig with a total sail area of 6,300 sq ft (590 m2)
Speed:	17.5 knots (32.4 km/h)
Endurance:	4,262 nautical miles @ 10 knots (7,893 km @ 19 km/h)
Complement:	197 officers and enlisted
Armament:	1902: 6 × 6-inch (152 mm)/30 caliber Mark 3 guns 4 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.24 in)) guns 4 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.46 in)) guns 2 × .45 in (11 mm) Gatling guns
Armor:	deck: 0.375 inches (9.5 mm) conning tower: 2 inches (51 mm)

USS Bennington (Gunboat No. 4/PG-43) was a member of the Yorktown class of steel-hulled, twin-screw gunboats in the United States Navy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was the first U.S. Navy ship named in honor of the town of Bennington, Vermont, site of the Battle of Bennington in the American Revolutionary War.

The contract to build Bennington was awarded to N. F. Palmer & Co. of Philadelphia in November 1887. Her hull was subcontracted to the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works which laid down Bennington's keel in June 1888. Bennington was launched in June 1890. She was just over 244 feet (74 m) long and 36 feet (11 m) abeam and displaced 1,710 long tons (1,740 t). She was equipped with two steam engines which were supplemented with three schooner-rigged masts. The ship's main battery consisted of six 6-inch (15.2 cm) guns and was augmented by an assortment of smaller caliber guns.

After her June 1891 commissioning, Bennington was attached to the Squadron of Evolution and for its cruise to South America. The gunboat made two Mediterranean tours between 1892 and 1894, after which she was assigned to the duties in the Pacific. She sailed the Pacific coasts of North and Central America and spent time in the Hawaiian Islands to protect American interests there. On her way to support United States Army operations of the Philippine–American War, Bennington claimed Wake Island for the United States. After two years in the Philippines, she returned to the United States and was decommissioned for 18 months of repairs and refitting. After her March 1903 re-commissioning, most of the next two years were spent patrolling the Pacific coasts of North and South America.