USS Petrel (PG-2)
 |
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Laid down: | 27 August 1887 |
| Launched: | 13 October 1888 |
| Commissioned: | 10 December 1889 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 July 1919 |
| Struck: | 16 April 1920 |
| Homeport: | various |
| Fate: | sold 1 November 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 867 tons |
| Length: | 188 ft (57 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Draft: | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
| Speed: | 11.4 kts |
| Complement: | 138 |
| Armament: |
|
The third USS Petrel (PG-2) was a 4th rate gunboat in the United States Navy during the Spanish–American War. She was named for a sea bird.
Petrel was laid down on 27 August 1887, built by the Columbia Iron Works and Dry Dock Company in Baltimore, Maryland; launched on 13 October 1888; and commissioned 10 December 1889, with Lieutenant Commander W. H. Bronson in command.
Assigned to the North Atlantic Station, Petrel continued with it until September 1891, when ordered to the Asiatic Squadron where she was to serve until 1911. Steaming north in May 1894, she reported at Unalaska, in July to operate with the Bering Sea patrol to discourage seal poaching. In July, she operated off the Pribilof Islands; and in August she returned to the Asiatic station.
Withdrawing from Hong Kong in April 1898, Petrel became part of George Dewey's fleet in the campaign against Manila. On 1 May, after Dewey's squadron had defeated the heavy Spanish ships in the first engagement of the Spanish–American War, Petrel entered the inner harbor and lowered a boat to destroy six Spanish ships there. (For more detailed information, see Battle of Manila Bay.) Petrel then steamed to the navy yard at Cavite and forced its surrender. Sent into Cavite to destroy any Spanish ships seeking refuge there on 2 May, Petrel sent a party ashore which seized the arsenal at Cavite and returned with 2 tugs, Rapido and Hercules, plus 3 additional launches.
...
Wikipedia