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NavSource Online: Cruiser Photo Archive

USS YANKEE (Auxiliary Cruiser)


     

Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: Nan - Xray - Able
(Contributed by John Spivey)
CLASS - N/A
Displacement 6,225 Tons, Dimensions, 406' 1.5'' (oa) x 48' 4.5" x 21' 1" (Max)
Armament 10 x 5", 6 x 6-pdrs, 2 Colt Machine Guns.
Armor, n/a
Machinery, n/a
Speed, 14.5 Knots, Crew 282.
Operational and Building Data
Keel laid as EL NORTE - A Steamer in 1892 at Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.
Acquired by the US Navy from Southern Pacific Co. on 6 APR 1898
Commissioned as YANKEE 14 APR 1898
Decommissioned 16 MAR 1899
Commissioned 1 MAY 1903
Decommissioned 25 SEP 1906
Commissioned 15 JUN 1908
Ran Aground 23 SEP 1908
Sank under tow about 4 DEC 1908
Stricken 17 APR 1912
Fate: Sank under tow about 4 DEC 1908
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Expeditionary Medal - Sampson Medal - Spanish Campaign Medal

Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Yankee
yan16
NR Breaking Ocean Becords
The Northern Pacific company (Morgan line) steamer El Norte (Capt. J. W. Hawthorne) which arrived in port today has broken all records, making the run from Sandy Book to South Pass in four days, 10 hours and 43 minutes and from her wharf at New York to New Orleans in four days, 19 hours and 15 minutes, beating the last run of the steamer El Sol, 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Pen and ink drawing by Samuel Ward Stanton.
NHHC photo NH-65472 via history.navy.mil
Image and text provided by University of North Texas; Denton, TX.
Photo from The Austin Weekly Statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 17 November 1892, Image 5, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee 617k

USS Yankee photographed at the New York Navy Yard, 27 April 1898, following conversion to an auxiliary cruiser. Her hull is being repainted from civilian black to wartime Navy gray. Ship outboard of her is probably USS Prairie.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph #NH 43666.

USNHC
Yankee
ac-yan06
1.03k USS Yankee off Tompkinsville in New York Harbor as an auxiliary cruiser circa mid-1898. This ship and her four near sisters were originally fast coastal freighters with low superstructures.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. NH 43667

Mike Green
Yankee
yan1
880k

Photo caption All hands on the boat falls, USS Yankee, between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a05519 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
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918k

USS Yankee pilot house, between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a05512 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
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519k

USS Yankee, the colors, between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a05513 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
yan20
228k

USS Yankee, morning bath, between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a05515 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
yan23
1.16k

USS Yankee, washing down decks, between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a05516 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
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907k

USS Yankee, wash day, between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a05517 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
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961k

USS Yankee, crew after 48 hours coaling, between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a05518 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
yan24
3.23k

USS Yankee between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a14816 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
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2.66k

USS Yankee between 1898 and 1901.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a14817 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
Yankee
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1.82k

USS Yankee between 1898 and 1910.

Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-det-4a16598 via loc.gov

Detroit Publishing Co.
BB-3 OregonNRTHE SQUADRON THAT IS TO ATTACK SPANISH SEAPORTS.
The cruiser Newark (C-1), flagship; the battleships Iowa (BB-4) and Oregon (BB-3), the auxiliary cruisers Yosemite, Yankee and Dixie (AD-1) and the colliers Scindia, Abarenda,and Alexander compose the squadron under Commodore John Crittenden Watson that is to bombard Spanish cities and capture the Canary islands. Commodore Watson's command is to be known as the eastern squadron, and its best all around ship is undoubtedly the battleship Iowa..... Commodore Watson was the gallant young officer who lashed Admiral Farragut to the rigging during the battle of Mobile Bay.
Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside;
Photo from The Record-Union.(Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 04 July 1898, Image 7, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan00
NR WITH THE MEN OF THE UNITED STATES AUXILIARY CRUISER YANKEE Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from New-York Tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 17 July 1898, Image 27, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan06
NR SHOT AND SHELLS BEING HURRIED TO WATSON'S SQUADRON
Magazines of Every Ship Will Be Filled in Anticipation of Long Absence

Commander Brownson of the auxiliary cruiser Yankee was in conference with Secretary Long today, arranging for the trip of his ship with a large cargo of ammunition for Commodore Watson's squadron in its attack on the coast of Spain. The Yankee is at Norfolk, and will sail tomorrow for Santiago.
Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside;
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 17 July 1898, Image 3, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan07
NR A Chase Without a Prize
Explosion of a Faulty Cartridge
A Burial at Sea.
Image and text provided by Digital Library of Georgia, a project of GALILEO located at the University of Georgia Libraries.
Photo from The Morning News. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 25 September 1898, Image 17, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
ac-yan05
3.94k USS Yankee rearmed and re-rigged after the Spanish-American War, probably for service in the Atlantic training squadron circa 1903.


NHHC photo NH-43668 via history.navy.mil

NHHC photo
Yankee
yan13
NR TAKES NAVAL MILITIA ON SUMMER CRUISE
AUXILIARY CRUISER YANKEE Which Will Be the Flagship of Fleet On Its Maneuvers In the Chesapeake
Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from The Washington Times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 16 July 1908, Last Edition, Image 3, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan17
NR THE YANKEE ATTACKED BY FIVE SUBMARINES
The cruiser Yankee, which was sunk by five submarine torpedo boats during mimic war in Buzzard’s Bay, is shown at the top. Below is a diagram sketch showing how a flotilla of submarines "sank" the Yankee.
Image and text provided by Rhode Island Digital Newspaper Project.
Photo from The News-Democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 18 September 1908, Image 1, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan09
NR CRUISER YANKEE, SCENE OF ACCIDENT, AND HER CAPTAIN Image and text provided by Rutgers University Libraries.
Photo from The Star and Newark Advertiser. [ [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 30 September 1908, EVENING EDITION, Image 4, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan08
NR BELIEVE CRUISER YANKEE CAN ONCE MORE BE SAVED
After having been raised after nearly ten weeks work from Spindle Rock in Buzzards Bay, and while on the way to this city for repairs, the cruiser Yankee sank in six fathoms of water. The sinking of the cruiser occurred exactly twelve hours after she was floated from the ledge. In spite of the discouraging situation it is believed that the vessel can be raised, and work to that end will be begun.
Image and text provided by University of Delaware Library, Newark, DE.
Photo from Evening Journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 07 December 1908, Image 8, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan12
NR COMPRESSED AIR TO RAISE CRUISER YANKEE
Image and text provided by University of Delaware Library, Newark, DE.
Photo from Evening Journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 08 December 1908, Image 9, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan15
NR TRIUMPH FOR THE MODERN WRECKER
FLOATING OF THE U.S. CRUISER YANKEE
SYSTEM OF LIFE SAVING SERVICE OFFERED TO THE GOVERNMENT BY JOHN ARBUCKLE
THE UNITED STATES STEAMSHIP YANKEE ON THE HEN AND CHICKENS REEF NEAR BUZZARDS BAY.

John Arbuckle's engineers succeeded in floating the vessel through the use of compressed air after three wrecking companies had given her up. That she sank again after being towed home was due to an accident and is not held to detract anything from the credit of the system used to take her off the reef.
Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from New-York Tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 13 December 1908, Image 53, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
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1.05k U.S.S. YANKEE Aground on Hens and Chickens Reef as seen from Horseneck Beach Image and text provided by Westport Historical Society
Yankee
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1.24k Wrecked U.S.S. Yankee on Hen and Chicken Reef, Horse Neck Beach, Mass. Image and text provided by digitalcommonwealth.org via Robert Hurst.
Yankee
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NR INQUIRY OPENS
OVER SINKING OF
CRUISER YANKEE
Image and text provided by Rhode Island Digital Newspaper Project.
Photo from The News-Democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 21 December 1908, Image 2, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
yan14
NR LOSS OF THE YANKEE
Commander C. G. Marsh Faces Allegation of Negligence.
Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from Evening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 05 January 1909, Image 5, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Yankee
ac-yan03
1.23k A sonar image of the wreck of USS Yankee in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts.
Image from USS Yankee Buzzards Bay
Robert Hurst

Commanding Officers
Name/Rank Final Rank Dates
Brownson, Willard Herbert, CAPT   03/18/1898
Decommissioned   03/16/1899 - 05/01/1903
Decommissioned   09/25/1906 - 06/15/1908

USS YANKEE History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry on the U.S. Navy Historical Center website.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable To This Ship

Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Cruiser Pages By Andrew Toppan.
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