USS Rainbow
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| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | USS Rainbow |
| Builder: | James Laing, Sunderland, England |
| Launched: | 1890, as Norse King |
| Acquired: | by purchase, 29 June 1898 |
| Commissioned: | 2 December 1901 |
| Decommissioned: | 24 December 1914 |
| Recommissioned: | 29 January 1916 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 July 1925 |
| Reclassified: | AS-7, 17 July 1920 |
| Struck: | 26 June 1928 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 13 September 1928 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Distilling ship / Submarine tender |
| Displacement: | 4,360 long tons (4,430 t) |
| Length: | 325 ft 9 in (99.29 m) |
| Beam: | 41 ft 1 in (12.52 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft 8 in (5.38 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 coal-fired boilers, 1 triple-expansion engine, single shaft |
| Speed: | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 55 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Rainbow (AS-7) was the only ship in the United States Navy by that name. The ship was originally converted to a distilling ship in 1898, and then converted again in 1917 to a submarine tender.
Rainbow was built in 1890 as the merchant ship Norse King by James Laing at Sunderland, England. She was purchased by the U.S. Navy on 29 June 1898, placed in reduced commission on 18 July, and transferred to the New York Navy Yard for fitting out for use as a distilling and station ship in the Philippines.
Rainbow was commissioned in full on 2 December 1901, Comdr. S. A. Stanton in command, and was assigned to the Asiatic Fleet. En route to the Philippines, she sailed via Gibraltar for the Suez Canal, calling at Palermo, Sicily; Port Said, Egypt; Colombo, Ceylon; and Singapore before arriving at Cavite on 3 April 1902.
Rainbow, as flagship of the Philippine Squadron, remained in the Philippines, with only periodic runs to Hong Kong for repairs, until 1906. Her range was then expanded from an annual circuit among Philippine ports to include visits to various Japanese ports, and in November 1907, a call at Vladivostok with Secretary of War Taft embarked.
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Wikipedia