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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive


USAT Burnside


Cable Repair Ship:
  • Built in 1882 as SS Yeoman by Campbell, Mackintosh & Bowstead, Newcastle upon Tyne as a cargo ship for Lund’s Blue Anchor Line
  • Launched date unknown
  • Fitted with new boilers and engines in 1887 at Swan, Hunter of Wallsend on Tyne
  • Sold to Vapores Serra at Bilboa, Spain in 1891 and reflagged Spain, renamed SS Rita
  • Captured, 8 May 1898, by USS Yale during the Spanish-American War
  • Acquired by the Quartermaster Department 8 July 1898 from the U.S. Prize Court and assigned to the Army Transport Service
  • Renamed USAT Burnside in February 1899 in honor of Maj. Gen. Ambrose P. Burnside, commander of the Army of the Potomac 1862-63
  • Assigned to the A.T.S. Pacific Fleet with homeport at Seattle, WA
  • Converted into a cable ship in 1900 after the loss of USAT Hooker while laying cable in the Philippines, USAT Burnside completed the work
  • In 1903 Burnside began work on the US-Alaska cable, laying the 291 nm section from Sitka to Juneau
  • In 1904 she laid 1070 nm of cable from Sitka to Seattle, and a further 640 nm from Sitka to Valdez
  • These cables were operated by the US Army Signals Corps for the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS)
  • Condemned 17 March 1923 and sold
  • Final Disposition sold for scrapping to General Metals Co., Oakland CA. in June 1924
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,226 gross tons
    Length 276'8"
    Beam 36'7"
    Draft 17.8'
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Cruise Radius unknown
    Fuel Capacities unknown
    Propulsion
    one triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
    single shaft

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service
    Burnside
    30040315
    56k SS British Yeoman date and location unknown.
    John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. StateLibQld 1 127255
    Robert Hurst
    USAT Burnside
    General Burnside
    098627501
    310k
    Namesake

    General Ambrose Everett Burnside, U.S. Army, was born 1824 at Liberty, Ind. He graduated from West Point in 1847. In the Civil War he commanded a brigade in the First Battle of Bull Run; led troops in Army Navy expeditions against Roanoke Island, New Bern, Beaufort, and Fort Macon. He next commanded the Army of the Potomac through the Battle of Fredericksburg. After that defeat, he was replaced by General Hooker. Thereafter, he was commander of the Department of Ohio (March-December 1963). He occupied East Tennessee, took Knoxville, and repulsed Longstreet's attempt to recapture the town. In 1864 he served under Meade and Grant in Virginia. General Burnside was governor of Rhode Island (1866-68). From 1875 to his death in 1881, he served in the United States Senate.
    Tommy Trampp
    Burnside 128k USAT Burnside underway, 28 September 1899, location unknown. Shortly the ship will be converted to a cable ship after the loss of USAT Hooker while she was laying cable in the Philippines, Burnside completed the work originally started by Hooker.
    New England History, Nathaniel L. Stebbins photographic collection, Photo No. PC047.02.5890.10448
    Mike Green
    Burnside 92k USAT Burnside anchored in an unidentified Puget Sound port circa 1900.
    University of Washington, Wilhelm Hester Photographs Collection
    Mike Green
    Burnside 82k
    Burnside
    30040316
    80k USAT Burnside at anchor in Puget Sound circa 1900.
    University of Washington, Wilhelm Hester Photographs Collection
    Robert Hurst
    Burnside
    30040317
    57k USAT Burnside at anchor in Puget Sound circa 1900.
    University of Washington, Wilhelm Hester Photographs Collection
    Robert Hurst
    Burnside 130k USAT Burnside at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US National Archives RG-111 Army Signal Corps. Photo Collection
    US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol.4
    Burnside 75k USAT Burnside moored pierside at Seward, Alaska, date unknown. Burnside visited Seward numerous times beginning in 1903.
    Source: Seward Community Library Association, DC Bronell Photographs, Photo No. SCLA-28-32
    Mike Green
    Burnside 88k USAT Burnside crew members in port, probably Seattle, WA., circa 1899 -1906
    Source: Wilhelm Hester Collection
    Tommy Trampp
    Burnside 59k USAT Burnside at anchor in Valdez Bay, Alaska, October 1916 History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
    Burnside 36k Painting of USAT Burnside courtesy of David Stoff. The painting was commissioned by his great-grandfather, who served on the Burnside laying cable in the Philippines. History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
    Burnside 126k USAT Burnside at Ketchikan, Alaska, 1911. Courtesy of University of Washington Library
    Burnside 81k USAT Burnside in Wright Sound, Alaska.
    US National Archives photo
    US National Archives
    Burnside
    30040318
    141k USAT Burnside at anchor at Kasaan, Alaska, date unknown.
    Photo from www.picryl from www.loc.gov [ Library of Congress ]
    John Spivey
    Burnside 197k USAT Burnside at the Orient Dock, Seattle circa 1912. Courtesy University of Washington Libraries
    Burnside 89k USAT Burnside drydocked in Dry Dock No. 1. at Puget Sound Navy Yard, date unknown.
    US National Archives catalog # NAID 29962.
    US National Archives, Pacific Alaska Region, Seattle, WA.
    Burnside
    30040314
    63k 1909 (AYPE) Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition post card of USAT Burnside moored pierside at Tacoma, WA., date unknown.
    Published by The Portland Post Card Co.
    Tommy Trampp
    Burnside 126k USAT Burnside Spanish American War sailor's hat tally ribbon.
    From the estate of D.C. MINTON , III (USNA 1956)
    Tommy Trampp

    The history for USAT Burnside is from the US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol. 4NavSource
    Master
     Capt. Shears, Robert W., A.T.S.20 April 1912 - 17 March 1923
     Capt. Laffin, A.T.S.no dates

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications - CS Restorer
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The US Army Ship Index Back To The US Army Cable Repair Ship Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 7 June 2024