| Act of 30 June 1890: |
"._._. The President
is hereby authorized to have constructed by contract three sea-going coast-line
battle ships designed to carry the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance
upon a displacement of about eight thousand five hundred tons, with a coal
endurance of about five thousand knots on the total coal capacity at the
most economical rate of speed, and to have the highest practicable speed
for vessels of their class, to cost, exclusive of armament
._._. not exceeding
four million dollars each;
._._. in all
their parts said vessels shall bo of domestic manufacture
._._. such provisions
for minimum speed and penalties for deficient speed may be made subject to
the penalties for deficient speed may be made subject to the terms of this
bill, as in the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy may be deemed advisable.
._._. One of
such vessels shall be built on or near the coast of the Pacific Ocean
._._. one of
them on or near the Gulf of Mexico.
._._. Provided,
That if it shall appear
._._. that said
vessels cannot be constructed at a fair cost on ore near the coast of the
Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, he shall authorize the construction
of said vessels, or either of them, elsewhere in the United States;
._._." |
| Oregon (Battleship No. 3) was laid down 19 November 1891
by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California; launched 26 October 1893;
sponsored by Miss Daisy Ainsworth; and commissioned 15 July 1896, Capt. Henry
L. Howison in command. |
| After commissioning, Oregon was fitted out for duty on
the Pacific Station, where she served for a short time. Leaving drydock on
16 February 1898, she received news that
Maine
had blown up in Havana harbor the previous day. As tensions with Spain grew,
on 9 March Oregon arrived in San Francisco and loaded ammunition.
Three days later she was ordered on what was to become one of the most historic
voyages ever undertaken by a Navy ship. |
| Oregon departed San Francisco on 19 March for Callao Peru,
the first coaling stop on her trip around South America to the East Coast
for action in the impending war with Spain. Arriving at Callao 4 April and
departing several days later, her commanding officer, Capt. Charles E. Clark,
elected not to stop at Valparaiso, Chile, for coal but to continue on through
the Straits of Magellan. On 16 April Oregon entered the Straits and
ran into a terrific gale which obscured the perilously close rocky coastline.
For a time she was in great danger, but just after dark she let go her anchors
on a rocky shelf fringed by islets and reef, and safely weathered the night.
Before dawn on the 17th, the gale moderated and Oregon proceeded around
Cape Forward to Punta Arenas, where she was joined by gunboat
Marietta, also sailing to the East Coast. |
| Both ships coaled and departed on the 21st for Rio de Janeiro,
keeping their guns manned all the while for a Spanish torpedo boat rumored
to be in the area. Head seas and winds delayed them, and they did not reach
Rio until 30 April. There Oregon received news of the declaration
of war against Spain, and on 4 May she left on the next leg of her remarkable
journey. With a brief stop in Bahia, Brazil, she arrived at Barbados for
coal on 18 May, and, on the 24th, anchored off Jupiter Inlet, Florida, reporting
ready for battle. Altogether, Oregon had sailed over 14,000 miles
since leaving San Francisco 66 days earlier. On one hand the feat had
demonstrated the many capabilities of a heavy battleship in all conditions
of wind and sea. On the other it swept away all opposition for the construction
of the Panama Canal, for it was then made clear that the country could not
afford to take two months to send warships from one cast to the other each
time and emergency arose. |
| On 26 May Oregon proceeded to the Navy Base at Key West,
joined Admiral Sampson's fleet two days later, and on 1 June arrived off
Santiago, Cuba, to shell military installations and to help in the destruction
of Admiral Cervera's fleet on 3 July. Oregon then went to the New
York Navy Yard for a refit, and in October sailed for the Asiatic
Station. |
| She arrived at Manila on 18 March 1899 and remained in the area
until the following February. In cooperation with the Army during the Philippine
insurrection, the battleship performed blockade duty in Manila Bay and off
Lingayen Gulf, served as a station ship, and aided in the capture of
Vigan. |
| Departing Cavite 13 February 1900, Oregon cruised in Japanese
waters until May when she went to Hong Kong. Under orders then to proceed
to Taku on account of the Boxer Rebellion, she departed 23 June for that
northern port; and, on the 28th, while steaming thorough the Straits of Pechili,
she grounded on an uncharted rock. Suffering some damage and taking on water,
the battleship was in a precarious situation for a week. On 5 July
Oregon refloated and the following day was towed to Hope Sound for
temporary repair. Arriving Kure, Japan, on 17 July she was placed in dry
dock at the Naval station there for final repairs. |
| On 29 August 1900 the battleship departed again for the coast
of China and cruised off the Yangtze River and served as station ship at
Woosung. On 5 May 1901 she got underway for the United States. Sailing via
Yokohama and Honolulu, she arrived at San Francisco 12 June and entered Puget
Sound Navy Yard on 6 July for overhaul. |
| Remaining in the Puget Sound area for well over a year, it was
not until 18 March 1903 that Oregon returned to Asiatic waters, and
arrived in Hong Kong on that day. Visiting various Chinese, Japanese, and
Philippine ports, the battleship remained in the Far East until returning
to the West Coast in February 1906. She decommissioned at the Puget Sound
Navy Yard 27 April that year. |
| Oregon recommissioned 29 August 1911, but remained in reserve
until October, when she sailed to San Diego. The following years were ones
of relative inactivity for the aging veteran, as she operated out of West
Coast ports. On 9 April 1913 she was placed in ordinary at Bremerton, Washington,
and on 16 September 1914 went into a reserve status, although she remained
in commission. On 2 January 1915 she was again in full commission and sailed
to San Francisco for the Panama - Pacific International Exposition. From
11 February 1916 to 7 April 1917 she was placed in commission in reserve,
this time at San Francisco. Returned to full commission again on the latter
date, Oregon remained first on the West Coast, then acted as one of
the escorts for transports of the Siberian Expedition. With World War I over,
on 12 June 1919 she decommissioned at Bremerton. From 21 August to 4 October
of that year she recommissioned briefly and was the reviewing ship for President
Woodrow Wilson during the arrival of the Pacific Fleet at Seattle. |
| With the adoption of ship classification symbols on 17 July 1920,
Oregon was redesignated BB-3. In 1921 a movement was begun to preserve
the battleship as an object of historic and sentimental interest, and to
lay her up permanently at some port in Oregon. |
| In accordance with the Washington Navy Treaty, Oregon was
rendered incapable of further warlike service on 4 January 1924, and was
retained on the Navy List as a naval relic with a classification of
"unclassified." In June 1925 she was loaned to the State of Oregon, restored,
and moored at Portland as a floating monument and museum, to be visited by
thousands in the ensuing years. |
| On 17 February 1941, when identifying numbers were assigned to
unclassified vessels, Oregon was redesignated IX-22. With the outbreak
of World War II, it was deemed that the scrap value of the old veteran was
vital and necessary to the war effort of the nation. Accordingly, she was
struck form the Navy List on 2 November 1942 and sold on 7 December. Towed
to Kalima, Washington, the following march for dismantling, the Navy requested
that the scrapping process be halted when progress reached the main deck
and after the ship's interior had been cleared out. She was returned to the
Navy to be used as a storage hulk or breakwater in connection with the reconquest
of Guam, and by July 1944 she had been loaded with dynamite and other types
of ammunition and towed to that island. |
| The hulk of the old battleship remained at Guam for several years;
during a typhoon on 14-15 November 1948, she broke her moorings and drifted
to sea. Finally, on 8 December, the old warrior was located by search planes
some 500 miles southeast of Guam and towed back. She was sold on 15 March
1956 to the Massey Supply Corp.; resold to the Iwai Sanggo Co.,; towed to
Kawasaki, Japan; and scrapped. |
|
Bibliography
 |
Larry W. Jewell, Who's Who of United States
Battleships, (Internet publication), edition: 30 August, 1993. |
|
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1964), Vol.1 -- A-B, p. 189 |
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1970), Vol.5: N-Q, p. 167-168 |
|
