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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Gopher (IX-11)
ex
USS Fern (II) (1891 - 1905)
USLHT Fern (II) (1871 - 1891)

1912 International Radio Call Sign:
Nan - George - King NGK

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Expeditionary Service Medal - Spanish Campaign Medal - World War I Victory Medal

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Final Disposition, lost 21 September 1923 due to a storm

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Specifications:
Displacement 548 t.
Length 160'
Beam 27'4
Draft 13'
Speed 9 kts
Complement 12
Armament five 3-pdrs, four 1-pdrs
Propulsion steam, single propeller

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
USS Fern
098650502	352k	Namesake Fern - A member of a group of vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. Photo - Fern Diversity, Kingfiser via Wikimedia Commons		Tommy Trampp
	85k	USS Fern moored at a navy yard during the 1890's. US National Archives, RG-19-N-A-1. photo # 19-N-19-2-2 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. Courtesy Shipscribe.com.		Mike Green
	84k	USS Fern at anchor, date and location unknown. Library of Congress, LC-D4-32278		Mike Green
	75k	USS Fern at anchor, date and location unknown. Photo is similar to above Library of Congress photo.		Ron Reeves
	202k	This post card identifies the ship as the Minnesota Naval Militia training ship Gopher circa 1914. This is probably Fern mislabeled as Gopher note the changes to configuration in the below photos, this image is probably prior to 1905.		Tommy Trampp
094601113	85k	Model of USLHT Fern US Lighthouse Service Digital Archives		John Spivey
USS Gopher
094601114	190k	Namesake Gopher - Burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 species are all endemic to North and Central America. They are commonly known for their extensive tunneling activities and their ability to destroy farms and gardens. Photo - Pocket Gopher photographed at Ano Nuevo State Park in California. The species is Thomomys bottae, the only pocket gopher in that part of California. The ungrooved upper incisors are characteristic of Thomomys. Photo by Leonardo Weiss via Wikimedia Commons		Tommy Trampp
	128k	Gopher shown after further modifications while serving with the Minnesota Naval Militia. Her bridge has been moved forward of the foremast, the deckhouse behind it has been extended forward, and the deckhouse below it has been extended forward nearly to the bow. The bow gun is still a 6-pounder. US Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo No. NH 61559. Courtesy Shipscribe.com		Robert Hurst
	108k	Minnesota Naval Militia Naval training ship Gopher probably shown in her original configuration after her repairs at Detroit in 1906 for duty with the Minnesota Naval Militia. A regular navigating bridge has been fitted, complete with bridge wings and a semaphore. She has a new smokestack and has probably been re-boilerd. The gun on the bow is a 6-pounder and there may be two more behind the bulwarks just forward of the foremast. A few 1-pounders may be on the stern. The radio antennas swung from the topmasts are of a pattern that came into general use in the fleet in 1906-1907. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 73675. Courtesy Shipscribe.com		Mike Green
	56k	Minnesota Naval Militia training ship Gopher moored pierside, date and location unknown. US Navy photo # NH-068794		US Naval History and Heritage Command
	67k	Minnesota Naval Militia training ship Gopher moored pierside, date and location unknown. US Navy photo # NH-068793		US Naval History and Heritage Command
	129k	Minnesota Naval Militia Naval training ship Gopher off the port bow view probably shown in her original configuration after her repairs at Detroit in 1906 for duty with the Minnesota Naval Militia. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 61885. Courtesy Shipscribe.com		Mike Green
	143k	Minnesota Naval Militia Naval training ship Gopher during the Perry Centennial Naval Parade in 1913, possibly at Erie, PA. Her visible armament consists of one 6-pounder on the bow, two probable 3-pounders in side ports on each side just forward of the bridge, and two 1-pounders on the fantail. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 73673. Courtesy Shipscribe.com.		Mike Green
	129k	Minnesota Naval Militia Naval training ship Gopher watching John G. Kaminski fly his Curtiss A-1 Pusher aircraft in an exhibition near Milwaukee in 1912-1914. Kaminski was the first licensed pilot in Wisconsin. The revenue cutter USRC Tuscarora, stationed at Milwaukee, also observed this flight. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # unknown. Courtesy Shipscribe.com.		Mike Green
094601112	54k	Minnesota Naval Militia Naval training ship Gopher underway, date and location unknown US Navy photo from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Digital Library, Donated by Kenneth E. Thro		John Spivey

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USS Fern (II) / USS Gopher (IX-11)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. Iverson, Andrew J.	11 April 1891 - 23 March 1892
02	LCDR. Gibson, William C.	23 March 1892 - 3 November 1893
03	LCDR. Hemphill, Joseph Newton	3 November 1893 - 1 October 1894
04	LCDR. Bicknell III, George Augustus	1 October 1894 - 11 January 1896
05	LCDR. Mansfield, Henry Buckingham	11 January 1896 - 6 September 1898

Courtesy Bill Gonyo

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 10 March 2023