USS Hudson (1898)
USRC Hudson
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| History | |
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  United States
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| Namesake: | Hudson River |
| Operator: |
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| Awarded: | 18 February 1892 |
| Builder: | John H. Dialogue and Sons, Camden, New Jersey |
| Cost: | US$36,500 |
| Completed: | 17 August 1893 |
| Commissioned: | 15 September 1893 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 May 1935 |
| Fate: | Sold |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 128 tons |
| Length: | 94 ft 6.25 in (28.8100 m) |
| Beam: | 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) |
| Height: | 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) |
| Draft: | 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) |
| Propulsion: | Triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine,13 in (0.33 m), 20 in (0.51 m), 31.5 in (0.80 m) diameter X 24 in (0.61 m) stroke, single screw |
| Speed: | 12 knots maximum |
| Complement: | 11 |
| Armament: |
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USRC Hudson, known for her service during the Battle of Cárdenas, was the United States Revenue Cutter Service's first vessel to have a steel hull and triple-expansion steam engine.
Hudson was built in the Camden, New Jersey shipyards of John H. Dialogue and Sons and was one of the first Revenue Cutter Service vessels to be completely designed by the service's recently established office of Superintendent of Construction. All of the blueprints and specifications for Hudson were turned over to the shipyard contractor and they were expected to build the vessel according to plan. Prior to establishment of the Superintendent's office by Commandant Leonard G. Shepard, the general layout of the vessel was left to the contractor.Hudson was the first revenue cutter designed with an all steel hull and triple expansion steam engines. Precise metallurgical specifications were used to construct the boiler plates, allowing a 160-pound boiler pressure that allowed the vessel the power to operate very successfully as a tug. Shepard's successor, Charles F. Shoemaker, noted in his Revenue Cutter Service annual report of 1897 that this was "the first and only effort at modern cutter construction up to 1895." When commissioned on 15 September 1893, Hudson was named for the Hudson River which empties into New York harbor.
The crew of the decommissioned New York harbor tug USRC Washington was sent to Hudson as the crew and she immediately sailed for New York to assume the duties of a harbor tug after commissioning on 15 September 1893. Those duties included customs enforcement, checking ship documentation, quarantine enforcement, assistance to merchant ships, and search and rescue.
Hudson was assigned on 24 March 1898 to duty with the U.S. Navy for the Spanish–American War. On 3 April she arrived at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard at Norfolk, Virginia and was outfitted with two six-pound rapid-fire guns and a Colt automatic machine gun. Additionally, the pilothouse was armored with 5/8 inch (16 millimeter) steel plate. On 11 May 1898 Hudson, along with the U.S. Navy warships USS Winslow, USS Machias, and USS Wilmington, had pursued three Spanish gunboats into the Bay of Cardenas, Cuba. There, shore batteries fired on the U.S. vessels and disabled Winslow, knocking out her steering and a boiler, thereby putting Winslow adrift. The accurate Spanish fire wounded Winslow's commanding officer and killed Ensign Worth Bagley and three crewmen. Although under fire from the Spanish guns for over thirty minutes, the Hudson, commanded by First Lieutenant Frank H. Newcomb, sailed into the bay to save the disabled Winslow. Newcomb kept Hudson positioned in shoal waters near the Winslow, until a line was passed to Winslow and made fast. Hudson then towed the Winslow out of danger. During the time in the bay, both vessels continually fired on the Spanish positions. Hudson carried the bodies of those killed as well as the wounded, along with the dispatches of the squadron off Cardenas, to Havana, Cuba, arriving there on 14 May 1898. She remained there on blockade duty for a short time before departing to Key West, Florida. Another period of patrol ended 10 July as she returned to the blockading fleet with further dispatches. Hudson captured two fishing vessels that attempted to run the blockade off Havana. On 17 August Hudson was returned to Treasury Department control and she then departed for Norfolk, via Key West and Savannah, and arrived there on 21 August 1898.
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