USS Brutus (AC-15)

USS Brutus (1898–1922) Being repainted into wartime grey, off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 28 May 1898. She had been commissioned on the previous day.
History
United States
Name:	USS Brutus
Namesake:	Marcus Junius Brutus
Builder:	John Readhead & Sons
Launched:	1894
Acquired:	1898
Commissioned:	27 May 1898
Decommissioned:	17 August 1921
Struck:	29 July 1922
Fate:	Sold
General characteristics
Displacement:	6,550 tons
Length:	332 ft 6 in (101.35 m)
Beam:	41 ft 6 in (12.65 m)
Draft:	23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Speed:	10 knots
Complement:	63
Armament:	2 × 6 pounders

USS Brutus, formerly the steamer Peter Jebsen, was a collier in the United States Navy. She was built in 1894 at South Shields-on-Tyne, England, by John Readhead & Sons and was acquired by the U.S. Navy early in 1898 from L. F. Chapman & Company. She was renamed Brutus and commissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 27 May 1898, with Lieutenant Vincendon L. Cottman, commanding officer and Lieutenant Randolph H. Miner, executive officer.

With the Spanish–American War underway, in June 1898 Brutus departed San Diego, California, towing the monitor USS Monterey bound for Manila Bay in the Philippines to reinforce Admiral George Dewey's Asiatic Fleet. Following a voyage of over 3,700 miles during which they made several stops, the two ships entered Manila Bay on 4 August 1898. She remained at Manila until 20 December, at which time she headed back to the United States. After repeating stops at Guam and Hawaii, Brutus arrived in San Francisco, California, on 7 March 1899.

The collier stayed in the San Francisco area until 10 April when she got underway for the South Pacific. Brutus arrived in Samoa on 29 April and operated among the islands until early July. On the 5th, she shaped a course for Hawaii. After a 10-day stopover at Honolulu between 16 and 26 July, the collier put to sea bound for the Marianas. She entered Apra Harbor on 13 August and remained there as station ship through the end of the year. During her sojourn at Guam, Brutus was out of commission between 20 October and 24 December. On 6 January 1900, the ship got underway for Japan, via Manila in the Philippines. She arrived at Nagasaki, Japan, on 17 January and underwent repairs. On 1 February, she shaped a course back to Guam, arriving in Apra Harbor on the 9th. She resumed duties as station ship at Guam and, on 16 February, was placed out of commission there. The collier underwent a drydock period while at Guam and went back into commission in the fall of 1900.