USS Wilmington (PG-8)
USS Wilmington
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | Wilmington |
| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia |
| Laid down: | 8 October 1894 |
| Launched: | 19 October 1895 |
| Commissioned: | 13 May 1897 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 December 1945 |
| Struck: | 8 January 1946 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap on 30 December 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Wilmington-class gunboat |
| Displacement: | 1,571 long tons (1,596 t) |
| Length: | 251 ft 10 in (76.8 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft 8 in (12.1 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft (2.7 m) (mean) |
| Installed power: | 1,988 ihp (1,482 kW) |
| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Range: | 2,200 nmi (4,074 km; 2,532 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 212 |
| Armament: |
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USS Wilmington (PG-8) was the lead ship in a class of two United States Navy gunboats. She was laid down on 8 October 1894 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding Company; launched on 19 October 1895; sponsored by Mrs. Anne B. Gray; and commissioned on 13 May 1897 with Commander Chapman C. Todd in command.
After conducting sea trials and training off the east coast and joined the North Atlantic Squadron at Key West, Wilmington trained and underwent exercises in gunnery and tactics in late 1897 and early 1898 as tension between the United States and Spain was rising steadily closer to open hostilities.
On 21 April 1898, two months after the sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor, Cuba, the U.S. declared war on Spain. Meanwhile, the Navy had moved its warships into position to attack Spanish possessions in the Far East and in the Caribbean. In May, she participated in the Second Battle of Cardenas and was defeated but at the Bombardment of Cárdenas the next morning, she sank two Spanish gunboats and two schooners without a fight. On 15 July 1898, Wilmington arrived off Cape Cruz, near Manzanillo, Cuba, and joined Wompatuck on station with the blockading forces.
The following day, Wilmington overhauled two small charcoal-burning fishing boats off the harbor mouth and questioned their Cuban crews. From the brief interrogation, the Americans learned that a submarine cable connected Santa Cruz and Jucaro. The gunboat then proceeded to the spot mentioned by the fishermen and lowered a grappling hook. Finding the cable, Wilmington cut it and made for Cuarto Reales to join Helena, Wompatuck, and Hist.
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