USS Yorktown (PG-1)

History of USS Yorktown (PG-1)

USS Yorktown (PG-1) or "Patrol Gunboat" (also considered a "Tier 3" cruiser) is the capital ship of her Yorktown class, serving 32 years and the second ship named after the battle from Yorktown of the American Revolution. The USS Yorktown proved to be a steel-hulled gunboat, a logical and evolutionary step between the wood-hulled USS Yorktown of 1839 and the first true destroyer USS Bainbridge (DD-1) of 1903. Gunboats are blue and tan watercraft, meaning deep and shallow well operations, and became a symbol of the colonial imperialist era known as "gunboat diplomacy".

European powers would intimidate other nations, such as China and Japan, into offering these ships trade concessions or naval bases on their shoresweaker nations have little objection to foreign gunboats patrolling their rivers and ports.

The U.S. Department of the Navy also considers the USS Yorktown a "conveyor" when it is assigned to a fleet to carry cargo or mail to larger ships or to and from shore posts. Smaller, faster ships in the fleet, such as the Yorktown, behaved very similarly to the way the Army used runners to deliver land-based cargo, as ship-to-ship or ship-to-ground communications at the time were via semaphores, bells, and The lights are carried by flashes, but these are of course limited to line of sight (LoS) in clear weather or to nearby vessels.

Wireless telegraphy wasn't invented until the second half of the 1890s, and by the turn of the century, all major navies were adopting this improved form of shipboard communications to reduce the need to dispatch ships.

Yorktown's hull is made of steel and measures 244 ft 5 in (74.50 m) long with a beam 36 ft (11 m) wide. It is believed to have a shallow draft, with only 14 feet (4.3 m) of water under the keel, and even with a standard displacement of 1,710 tons, it was able to navigate large rivers and get close to the shoreline.

Her main source of power is two sets of triple expansion boilers that produce 3,200 horsepower and produce a maximum water speed of 17 knots through twin screw rotation under the hull. Her internal storage capacity holds 400 tons of coal, enough to keep the ship at sea for about 36 days with steam power (sails supplemented with steam propulsion) and a range of 8,500 miles at 10 knots.

The second form of propulsion at Yorktown is the tried and true method of sailing. She was maneuvered into a three-masted schooner, which allowed her to deploy up to 6,000 square feet of canvas. Yorktown will use her sailing power to increase her coal consumption and extend her fuel considerably when cruising east. The practice would allow Yorktown to stay at sea for weeks beyond the ship's actual coal supply. Only when the coal supply runs out will she be sent back to the port for supplies, relinquishing her power at sea and allowing enemy navies to track her whereabouts.

The Navy paid $445,000 per ship for this class.

The Yorktown's primary design function was as an artillery platform, with its primary armament being a 6 x 6" /30 cal (15.2 cm / 152 mm) main gun carrying 47.6 kg (105 lb) shells with a muzzle velocity of approximately 1,950 to 590 Velocity in m/s (feet per second). A 6" shell has a maximum range of approximately 8,200 m (9,000 yd) when fired at maximum altitude. Armor-piercing projectiles (AP) can penetrate up to 13" iron plate, especially at close range. Two 6" batteries are in the front and two aft, one running on the port side and the other running on the starboard side near the midship.

All six batteries were fitted with steel shields to protect the gunner crew. Secondary armament consists of 2 x 6 lb (2.7 kg) guns, 2 3 lb (1.4 kg) guns, 2 1 lb (0.45 kg) guns and 2 0.30 in (7.6 mm) machine guns for protection against border crossers.

Her weapons naturally changed over time, becoming more consolidated with overhauls in 1905, 1910, 1911, 1914, and 1918.

Yorktown was one of the first ships to have a steel hull and deck. The design is to place a 0.5" steel deck from bow to stern on the hull below the waterline.

This steel deck strengthens the hull and protects the internal engine room, shell and powder magazines, as well as crew quarters and steering gear. Her conning tower manages 2 inches of armor protection.

Following sea trials, Yorktown was assigned to Evolution Squadron ("White Squadron"), which consisted of the US Navy's newest steel-hulled steam-propelled ships. She participated in the Baltimore Crisis of 1891, when the sailors of the USS Baltimore were attacked by Chilean citizens - two sailors were killed and eighteen were wounded. President Benjamin Harrison and the U.S.

Congress pressured the Chilean government to pay $75,000 in gold to compensate sailors' families.

Yorktown was then transferred to the Asia Squadron to help British ships trying to stop seal slaughter in the North Pacific. Yorktown arrived in Port Townsend, Washington, in late April 1892, and after replenishment and coal loading, the gunboats sailed near ice streams in the Pribilof Islands seal colony. More than a hundred sailboats were involved in the killing of the seals for their precious skins.

Yorktown guarded the passage to the Bering Sea from sealing and did not return to the United States until 1898.

Due to the rigors of operation in Arctic waters, she was in desperate need of repairs, during which she retired for a year. After gaining crew and supplies, she sailed to Bale Bay in the Philippines during the Philippine-American War in 1899. On April 11, 1899, she arrived on the mainland on the west coast of Luzon. From there, Yorktown left Manila for China during the Boxer Rebellion in early April 1900 to support the Chinese Relief Expeditionary Force in the area. In 1903, she returned to the United States for repairs and was not out of service until 1906.

In 1907, she returned to Alaskan waters, continued to serve as a SEAL patrol during seal season, and patrolled the west coast of Latin America until 1912.

Yorktown was recalled again for repairs, this time in July 1912, and returned to sea in April 1913. She returned to patrol the west coasts of Central and South America in 1918, with the main ports being Santiago and Mare Island. She was ordered to travel through the Panama Canal to New York Harbor in April 1918 and arrived in New York on August 20. Yorktown patrols the east coast and provides security for convoys from New York Harbor to Halifax.

This service continued until the end of the First World War (1914-1918). Near the end of her useful life, Yorktown was ordered to return to San Diego, California via the Panama Canal, arriving in February 1919. She retired in June and was scrapped in 1921.

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