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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Vulcan (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Spanish Campaign Medal
Screw-Steamer:
  • Completed in 1884 as SS Chatham, an iron-hulled, schooner-rigged screw steamship, by American Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, PA.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 2 May 1898, from Merchants' & Miners' Transportation Co., Baltimore, MD.
  • Renamed Vulcan and converted to the US Navy's first Repair Ship
  • Commissioned, 31 May 1898, as USS Vulcan, LCDR. Ira Harris, in command
  • Vulcan served in Cuban waters during the Spanish-American War
  • Decommissioned, 12 January 1899, at the League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Sold, 3 July 1899, back to Merchant's & Miner's Transportation Co., renamed SS Chatham
  • Final Disposition, Sank, 4 January 1910. Struck north jetty at entrance to St. Johns River, Florida, hulk abandoned.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,909 t.
    Length 265' 4"
    Beam 40'
    Draft 15' 6"
    Speed unknown
    Complement 197
    Armamenttwo 6-pdrs
    Propulsion steam, single screw
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Contributed By
    Vulcan
    09250531    		 98k
    Namesake
    Vulcan - The god of fire including the fire of volcanoes, deserts, metalworking, and the forge in ancient Roman religion and myth. He is often depicted with a blacksmith's hammer.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Medusa 62k USS Vulcan at sea, during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Copied from the book of letters kept by Assistant Surgeon William S. Thomas, 1898.
    US Navy photo # NH 45237 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Robert Hurst
    View the USS Vulcan
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 6 December 2024