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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive
USS Wasp VII
Call sign:
Nuts - Sugar - Vinegar
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons
Precedence of awards is from left to right
Spanish Campaign Medal - World War I Victory Medal (with Patrol clasp)
Armed Steam Yacht:
Built in 1898 as the steam yacht Columbia by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
Launched, in 1898
Acquired by the Navy from Mr. J. H. Ladew in 1898, renamed Wasp
Commissioned USS Wasp, 11 April 1898, at New York, LT. Aaron Ward in command
USS Wasp departed New York, 26 April 1898, and headed south for duty blockading Cuba
On 12 May, Wasp joined a small convoy consisting of the revenue cutter USRC Manning and
merchantman Gussie and tugs Triton and Dewey, Gussie carried two companies of Army troops scheduled to land at Bahia Honda while
Triton and Dewey carried representatives of the press.
Gussie put some of her troops ashore near Cabanas that afternoon and Spanish forces counterattacked the American troops and opened fire on the ships in the bay
The heavily outnumbered and outflanked Americans were forced to disengage and reembark in Gussie
During that operation, Wasp joined Manning and recently arrived dispatch vessel
USS Dolphin in providing covering gunfire for the evacuation. The
following day she resumed her patrol station off the coast
On 14 May Wasp departed the Cuban coast to return to Key West that same day and remained in the Keys, either at Key West or Sand Key, almost until the end of May 1898
During June, the yacht moved from blockade station to blockade station, returning periodically to the Florida Keys for resupplying
On the 19 July Wasp cleared Guantanamo Bay for Nipe Bay on Cuba's northeastern coast arriving the morning of the 21st
Wasp and tug USS Leyden on orders to reconnoiter the bay started in toward Port Nipe
Upon entering the bay, Wasp sighted a Spanish warship at anchor some four miles up the bay
The Spanish ship opened fire at extreme range, and Wasp returned fire immediately. Leyden, followed by
USS Annapolis and USS Topeka
quickly joined in
As the range decreased, American gunfire became more accurate, and all four ships began scoring telling hits on the enemy
Finally the Spaniard's colors disappeared. Wasp and her three colleagues ceased fire and watched their quarry, the Spanish Sloop-of-War
Don Jorge Juan, sink at 1:42.p.m
On 23 July 1898, the ship departed Cuba, bound for Puerto Rico, and arrived off Fajardo that same day
For the next seven weeks, she cruised the coasts of Puerto Rico in company with armed merchant cruiser
Dixie, gunboat Annapolis, and armed yacht Gloucester
Throughout the entire period, only one noteworthy event occurred. On 27 July, the four ships encountered three Spanish brigantines at Ponce but evaluated them as too insignificant
even to take as prizes
On 8 September, Wasp departed San Juan to return to the United States. After a five-day stop at Charleston, she continued her voyage north on the 18th and entered
the Norfolk Navy Yard on the 21st
On 27 September, she was decommissioned there and laid up
On 15 December 1898, the yacht was loaned to the Florida Naval Militia for training purposes. That tour of duty lasted until 21 June 1899 at which time she was returned to the Navy.
She resumed her retirement serving as station ship at Port Royal, S.C.
Decommissioned, 23 July 1902, at Norfolk Navy Yard
On 2 October 1902, she went into commission again and received orders to the Eighth Naval District
During her service there as a district tender, she made infrequent cruises in the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies
In 1906, she moved from the Gulf of Mexico to Newport, R.I., for a tour of duty at the Naval Torpedo Station
In 1907, she visited east coast, gulf, and Mississippi River ports during a cruise to spur enlistments in the Navy
The following year, Wasp began a nine-year assignment, again training naval militiamen, this time on loan to the New York Naval Militia. That duty ended early in
1917, as the U.S. moved closer to war
On 7 April, the day after the American declaration of war on the German Empire, she began patrolling the coast of Long Island
Throughout the first year of the conflict, the yacht cruised the coastal waters of the Third Naval District as a unit of, and later as flagship for, Squadron 8, Patrol Force
In April 1918, Wasp received orders detaching her from the Third Naval District and assigning her to duty at Annapolis, MD. She arrived there on 9 May and, but for
periodic runs to Norfolk, remained there for the remainder of her naval career
Struck from the Navy list, 13 November 1919, Wasp was formally decommissioned at Norfolk, 1 December 1919
On 20 September 1921, she was sold to Mr. Halsted P. Layton of Georgetown, Delaware
Final Disposition, fate unknown
Specifications:
Displacement 630 t.
Length 180'
Beam 23'
Depth of Hold unknown
Draft 12'
Speed 16.5 kts
Complement 55
Armament
four 6-pdrs
two Colt Machine guns
Propulsion
boiler(s)
steam engine(s)
propeller(s)
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Wasp VII
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
This page is created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Michael Junge
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Last Updated 26 May 2023