Captain Frank Friday Fletcher, in command of the USS Vermont from Manila for the remainder of the cruise.

In 1914, Rear Admiral Fletcher, commanding the naval force off the Mexican coast, received instructions from President Wilson directing him to land a force at Veracruz and to seize the costoms house there in retaliation for the celebrated "Tampico Incident." That action was carried out on the 21st and 22nd. His flagship was the reciently commissioned battleship USS New York.