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USS Wisconsin (BB-9)
Encyclopedia
USS Wisconsin (BB-9), an Illinois-class
battleship
, was the first ship of the United States Navy
to be named for the 30th state
.
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The keel of Battleship No. 9 was laid down on 9 February 1897 at San Francisco, California
, by the Union Iron Works
. She was launched
on 26 November 1898, sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Stephenson, the daughter of Senator Isaac Stephenson
of Marinette, Wisconsin
, and commissioned
on 4 February 1901, Captain
George Cook Reiter in command.
. Reiter had formerly commanded the USS Panther
, a banana-boat freighter converted into a troopship for Marines, during the Guantánamo Bay landings during the Spanish-American War
. In 1905, Reiter would be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and was appointed Chairman of the United States Lighthouse Board
before retiring from active duty.
Departing San Francisco on 12 March 1901, Wisconsin conducted general drills and exercises at Magdalena Bay, Mexico from 17 March-11 April, before she returned to San Francisco on 15 April to be drydocked for repairs. Upon completion of that work, Wisconsin headed north along the Western seaboard, departing San Francisco on 28 May and reaching Port Orchard, Washington
on 1 June. She remained there for nine days before heading back toward San Francisco.
She next made a voyage in company with , , , and to the Pacific Northwest, reaching Port Angeles, Washington
on 29 June. She then shifted to Port Whatcom, Washington on 2 July, and participated in 4 July observances there before she returned to Port Angeles the following day to resume her scheduled. drills and exercises. Those evolutions kept the ship occupied through mid-July. Following repairs and alterations at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington
from 23 July-14 October, Wisconsin sailed for the middle and southern reaches of the Pacific, reaching Honolulu, Hawaii
on 23 October. After coaling there, the battleship then got underway for Samoa
on 26 October and exercised her main and secondary batteries en route to her destination.
Reaching the naval station at Tutuila
on 5 November, Wisconsin remained in that vicinity—along with and —for a little over two weeks. Shifting to Apia, the scene of the disastrous hurricane of 1888, Wisconsin hosted the Governor of German Samoa
before the man-of-war departed that port on 21 November, bound for the coastal waters of Central and South America via Hawaii
.
Wisconsin reached Acapulco
, Mexico
, on Christmas Day 1901, and remained in port for three days. After coaling, the man-of-war twice visited Callao
, Peru
, and also called at Valparaíso
, Chile
, before she returned to Acapulco on 26 February 1902.
Wisconsin exercised in Mexican waters at Pichilinque Bay and Magdalena Bay
from 6-22 March, carrying out an intensive and varied slate of exercises that included small-arms drills, day and night main battery target practices, and landing force maneuvers. She conducted further drills of various kinds as she proceeded up the west coast, touching at Coronado, California
, San Francisco, and Port Angeles before she reached the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 4 June.
The battleship underwent repairs and alterations until 11 August. She then conducted gunnery exercises off Tacoma, Washington
, and Seattle, Washington
, before she returned to the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 29 August for further work. She remained there until 12 September, when she sailed for San Francisco, en route to Panama
.
Wisconsin, as flagship, Pacific Squadron, with Rear Admiral
Silas Casey
embarked, arrived at Panama, Colombia
on 30 September, to protect American interests and to preserve the integrity of transit across the isthmus. Casey offered his services as a mediator in the Thousand Days War
, which had lasted for three years and invited leaders of both factions, Conservatives
and Liberals
, to meet onboard Wisconsin. Over succeeding weeks—through October and into November—prolonged negotiations ensued. Ultimately, however, the warring sides came to an agreement, and signed a treaty on 21 November. The accord came to be honored, in Colombian circles, as "The Peace of Wisconsin". When Rear Admiral Henry Glass, Admiral Casey's successor as Commander in Chief, Pacific Squadron, wrote his report to the Secretary of the Navy for fiscal year 1903, he lauded his predecessor's diplomatic services during the Panama crisis. "The final settlement of the revolutionary disturbance," Glass wrote approvingly, "was largely due to his efforts."
Her task completed, the battleship departed Panama's waters on 22 November and arrived at San Francisco on 6 December to prepare for gunnery exercises. Four days later, Rear Admiral Casey shifted his flag to , thus releasing Wisconsin from flagship duty for the Pacific Squadron. The battleship consequently carried out her firings until 17 December, when she sailed for Bremerton. reaching the Puget Sound Navy Yard five days before 25 December, Wisconsin then underwent repairs and alterations until 19 May 1903, when she sailed for the Asiatic Station.
Proceeding via Honolulu, Wisconsin arrived at Yokohama
, Japan on 12 June, with Rear Admiral Yates Stirling embarked. Three days later, Rear Admiral Stirling exchanged flagships with Rear Admiral P. H. Cooper who broke his two-starred flag at Wisconsins main as Commander of the Asiatic Fleet's Northern Squadron while Admiral Stirling hoisted his in the tender .
Wisconsin operated in the Far East, with the Asiatic Fleet, over the next three years before she returned to the United States in the autumn of 1906. She followed a normal routine of operations in the northern latitudes of the station—China and Japan—in the summer months, because of the oppressive heat of the Philippine Islands that time of year, but in the Philippine Archipelago in the winter. She touched at ports in Japan and China including Kobe
, Yokohama
, Nagasaki, and Yokosuka; Amoy
, Shanghai
, Chefoo, Nanking, and Taku
. In addition, she cruised the Yangtze River
as far as Nanking, the Inland Sea, and Nimrod Sound. The battleship conducted assigned fleet maneuvers and exercises off the Chinese and Philippine coasts intervening those evolutions with regular periods of in-port upkeep and repairs. During that time, she served as Asiatic Fleet flagship, wearing the flag of Rear Admiral Cooper.
The battleship departed Yokohama on 20 September, and after calling at Honolulu en route from 3–8 October, arrived at San Francisco on 18 October. After seven days stay at that port, she headed up the west coast and reached the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 28 October. She was decommissioned there on 16 November 1906.
Recommissioned on 1 April 1908, Captain Henry Morrell in command, Wisconsin was fitted out at the Puget Sound Navy Yard until the end of April. After shifting to Port Angeles from 30 April – 2 May, the battleship proceeded down the western seaboard and reached San Francisco on 6 May to participate in a fleet review at that port. She subsequently returned to Puget Sound to complete the installation of her fire control equipment from 21 May – 22 June.
Soon thereafter, Wisconsin retraced her southward course, returning to San Francisco in early July. There, she joined the battleships of the Atlantic Fleet
in setting out on the transpacific leg of the momentous circumnavigation of the globe. The cruise of the "Great White Fleet
" served as a pointed reminder to Japan of the power of the United States — a dramatic gesture made by President Theodore Roosevelt
as signal evidence of his "big stick" policy. Wisconsin, during the course of her part of the voyage, called at ports in New Zealand
, Australia, the Philippines
, Japan, China, Ceylon, and Egypt
; transited the Suez Canal
; visited Malta
, Algiers
, and Gibraltar
before arriving in Hampton Roads
on Washington's Birthday 1909, and passing in review there before President Roosevelt. The epic voyage had confounded the doom-sayers and critics, having been accomplished without any serious incidents or mishaps.
Wisconsin departed from the Tidewater area on 6 March and arrived at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine
three days later. The pre-dreadnought battleship there underwent repairs and alterations until 23 June, doffing her bright "white and spar color" and donning a more businesslike gray. The man-of-war joined the Atlantic Fleet in Hampton Roads at the end of June, but she remained in those waters only a short time before she sailed north to Portland, Maine
, arriving there on 2 July in time to take part in the Fourth of July
festivities in that port.
The battleship next headed down the eastern seaboard, cruising off Rockport, Massachusetts
and Provincetown, Massachusetts
before she returned, with the fleet, to Hampton Roads on 6 August. Over the ensuing weeks, Wisconsin fired target practices in the southern drill grounds, off the Virginia capes, breaking those underway periods with upkeep in Hampton Roads.
Wisconsin steamed with the fleet to New York City
where she anchored in the North River to take part the Hudson-Fulton Celebration
from 22 September – 5 October before she underwent repairs at the Portsmouth Navy Yard from 7 October – 28 November. She then dropped down to Newport, Rhode Island
, upon the conclusion of that yard period, picking up drafts of men for transportation to the Atlantic Fleet at Hampton Roads.
Wisconsin operated with the fleet off the Virginia capes through mid-December, before she headed for New York for the Christmas holidays in port. Subsequently cruising to Cuban waters in early January 1910, the battleship operated out of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
from 12 January – 19 March.
The pre-dreadnought battleship then visited Tompkinsville, New York, and New Orleans, Louisiana
, before she discharged ammunition at New York City on 22 April. Later that spring, 1910, she moved to the Portsmouth Navy Yard, where she was placed in reserve. She was moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in April 1912 and, that autumn, took part in a naval review
off Yonkers, New York
, before resuming her reserve status until Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Placed "in ordinary" on October 1913, Wisconsin remained in that status until she joined the United States Naval Academy
Practice Squadron the spring of 1915 assuming training duties along with and . With that group, she become the third battleship to transit the Panama Canal
, making that trip in mid-July 1915 en route to the west coast of the United States with her embarked officers-to-be.
. Two days later, members of the Naval Militia began reporting on board the battleship for quarters and subsistence.
On 23 April, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Ohio were placed in full commission and assigned to the Coast Battleship Patrol Squadron. On 2 May, Commander
David F. Sellers
reported onboard and took command. Four days later, the battleship got underway for the Virginia capes; and she arrived at Yorktown, Virginia
on 7 May.
From early May – early August, Wisconsin operated as an engineering school ship on training cruises in the Chesapeake Bay
-York River
area. She trained recruits as oilers, watertenders, and firemen, who, when qualified, were assigned to the formerly interned merchantmen of the enemy taken over by the United States upon the declaration of war, as well as to submarine chasers and the merchant vessels then building in American yards.
Wisconsin then maneuvered and exercised in company with , , , , Ohio, Missouri, and from 13 – 19 August, en route to Port Jefferson, New York
. Over the ensuing weeks, Wisconsin continued training and tactical maneuvers based on Port Jefferson, making various training cruises into Long Island Sound
.
She subsequently returned to the York River region early in October and resumed her training activities in that locale, operating primarily in the Chesapeake Bay area. Wisconsin continued that duty into the spring of 1918, interrupting her training evolutions from 30 October – 18 December for repairs at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
After another stint of repairs at Philadelphia from 13 May – 3 June 1918, Wisconsin got underway for a cruise to Annapolis, Maryland
, but, after passing the Brandywine Shoal Light
, received orders to stick close to shore. Those orders were later modified to send Wisconsin up the Delaware River
as far as Bombay Hook, since an enemy submarine was active off Cape Henlopen
. Postwar examination of German records would show that , the first of six enemy submarines to come to the eastern seaboard in 1918, sank three schooner
s on 23 May and other ships over ensuing days.
Getting underway again on 6 June, Wisconsin arrived at Annapolis on the following day. On the next day, the battleship embarked 176 third-class midshipmen and got underway for the York River. The ship conducted training evolutions in the Chesapeake Bay region until 29 August, when she returned to Annapolis and disembarked midshipmen. Underway for Yorktown on 30 August, Wisconsin there embarked 217 men for training as firemen, water tenders, engineers, steersmen and signalmen, resumed her training duties, and continued the task through the signing of the armistice on 11 November.
Wisconsin cruised with the fleet in Cuban waters that winter, and in the summer of 1919 made a midshipman training cruise to the Caribbean.
Placed out of commission on 15 May 1920, Wisconsin was reclassified BB-9 on 17 July, while awaiting disposition. She was sold for scrap on 26 January 1922 as a result of the Washington Naval Treaty
.
Illinois class battleship
The Illinois-class battleships were pre-dreadnought battleships of the United States Navy commissioned at the beginning of the 20th century. The first ship of its class, the , was commissioned in 1901...
battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, was the first ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for the 30th state
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, by the Union Iron Works
Union Iron Works
Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.-History:...
. She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 26 November 1898, sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Stephenson, the daughter of Senator Isaac Stephenson
Isaac Stephenson
Isaac Stephenson was an American politician of the Republican Party who represented Wisconsin as both a United States Representative and a United States Senator....
of Marinette, Wisconsin
Marinette, Wisconsin
Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 11,749 at the 2000 census.Marinette is the principal city of the Marinette, WI–MI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marinette County, Wisconsin and Menominee...
, and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 4 February 1901, Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
George Cook Reiter in command.
Pre-World War I
In command of the USS Wisconsin from its commissioning was Captain George Cook Reiter, a controversial figure since his days as a Lieutenant Commander in command of the gunboat USS RangerUSS Nantucket (IX-18)
|...
. Reiter had formerly commanded the USS Panther
USS Panther (1889)
The first USS Panther , the former SS Venezuela, was an auxiliary cruiser and naval troop transport in the United States Navy.Panther was built by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pa. in 1889. As the SS Venezuela, a merchant steamship, it was used for several years as a cargo freighter...
, a banana-boat freighter converted into a troopship for Marines, during the Guantánamo Bay landings during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. In 1905, Reiter would be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and was appointed Chairman of the United States Lighthouse Board
United States Lighthouse Board
The United States Lighthouse Board was the agency of the US Federal Government that was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all lighthouses in the United States...
before retiring from active duty.
Departing San Francisco on 12 March 1901, Wisconsin conducted general drills and exercises at Magdalena Bay, Mexico from 17 March-11 April, before she returned to San Francisco on 15 April to be drydocked for repairs. Upon completion of that work, Wisconsin headed north along the Western seaboard, departing San Francisco on 28 May and reaching Port Orchard, Washington
Port Orchard, Washington
Port Orchard is a city in and the county seat of Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located 13 miles due west of West Seattle and connected to Seattle and Vashon Island via the Washington State Ferries run to Southworth...
on 1 June. She remained there for nine days before heading back toward San Francisco.
She next made a voyage in company with , , , and to the Pacific Northwest, reaching Port Angeles, Washington
Port Angeles, Washington
Port Angeles is a city in and the county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,038 at the 2010 census. The area's harbor was dubbed Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles by Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza in 1791, but by the mid-19th century the name had...
on 29 June. She then shifted to Port Whatcom, Washington on 2 July, and participated in 4 July observances there before she returned to Port Angeles the following day to resume her scheduled. drills and exercises. Those evolutions kept the ship occupied through mid-July. Following repairs and alterations at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
from 23 July-14 October, Wisconsin sailed for the middle and southern reaches of the Pacific, reaching Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
on 23 October. After coaling there, the battleship then got underway for Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
on 26 October and exercised her main and secondary batteries en route to her destination.
Reaching the naval station at Tutuila
Tutuila
Tutuila is the largest and the main island of American Samoa in the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Australia and over northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor,...
on 5 November, Wisconsin remained in that vicinity—along with and —for a little over two weeks. Shifting to Apia, the scene of the disastrous hurricane of 1888, Wisconsin hosted the Governor of German Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
before the man-of-war departed that port on 21 November, bound for the coastal waters of Central and South America via Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
Wisconsin reached Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, on Christmas Day 1901, and remained in port for three days. After coaling, the man-of-war twice visited Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, and also called at Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, before she returned to Acapulco on 26 February 1902.
Wisconsin exercised in Mexican waters at Pichilinque Bay and Magdalena Bay
Magdalena Bay
Bahía Magdalena is a 50 km long bay in Comondú Municipality along the western coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is protected from the Pacific Ocean by the sandy barrier islands of Isla Magdalena and Isla Santa Margarita....
from 6-22 March, carrying out an intensive and varied slate of exercises that included small-arms drills, day and night main battery target practices, and landing force maneuvers. She conducted further drills of various kinds as she proceeded up the west coast, touching at Coronado, California
Coronado, California
Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,697 at the 2010 census, up from 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive...
, San Francisco, and Port Angeles before she reached the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 4 June.
The battleship underwent repairs and alterations until 11 August. She then conducted gunnery exercises off Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
, and Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, before she returned to the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 29 August for further work. She remained there until 12 September, when she sailed for San Francisco, en route to Panama
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...
.
Wisconsin, as flagship, Pacific Squadron, with Rear Admiral
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
Silas Casey
Silas Casey
Silas Casey was a career United States Army officer who rose to the rank of Major General during the American Civil War.-Early life and military career:...
embarked, arrived at Panama, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
on 30 September, to protect American interests and to preserve the integrity of transit across the isthmus. Casey offered his services as a mediator in the Thousand Days War
Thousand Days War
The Thousand Days' War , was a civil armed conflict in the newly created Republic of Colombia, between the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and its radical factions. In 1899 the ruling conservatives were accused of maintaining power through fraudulent elections...
, which had lasted for three years and invited leaders of both factions, Conservatives
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party , is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was unofficially founded by a group of Revolutionary Commoners during the Revolutionary War for Independence from the Spanish Monarchy and later formally established during the Greater Colombia...
and Liberals
Colombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party is a center-left party in Colombia that adheres to social democracy and social liberalism.The Party was founded in 1848 and, together with the Colombian Conservative Party, subsequently became one of the two main political forces in the country for over a century.After...
, to meet onboard Wisconsin. Over succeeding weeks—through October and into November—prolonged negotiations ensued. Ultimately, however, the warring sides came to an agreement, and signed a treaty on 21 November. The accord came to be honored, in Colombian circles, as "The Peace of Wisconsin". When Rear Admiral Henry Glass, Admiral Casey's successor as Commander in Chief, Pacific Squadron, wrote his report to the Secretary of the Navy for fiscal year 1903, he lauded his predecessor's diplomatic services during the Panama crisis. "The final settlement of the revolutionary disturbance," Glass wrote approvingly, "was largely due to his efforts."
Her task completed, the battleship departed Panama's waters on 22 November and arrived at San Francisco on 6 December to prepare for gunnery exercises. Four days later, Rear Admiral Casey shifted his flag to , thus releasing Wisconsin from flagship duty for the Pacific Squadron. The battleship consequently carried out her firings until 17 December, when she sailed for Bremerton. reaching the Puget Sound Navy Yard five days before 25 December, Wisconsin then underwent repairs and alterations until 19 May 1903, when she sailed for the Asiatic Station.
Proceeding via Honolulu, Wisconsin arrived at Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Japan on 12 June, with Rear Admiral Yates Stirling embarked. Three days later, Rear Admiral Stirling exchanged flagships with Rear Admiral P. H. Cooper who broke his two-starred flag at Wisconsins main as Commander of the Asiatic Fleet's Northern Squadron while Admiral Stirling hoisted his in the tender .
Wisconsin operated in the Far East, with the Asiatic Fleet, over the next three years before she returned to the United States in the autumn of 1906. She followed a normal routine of operations in the northern latitudes of the station—China and Japan—in the summer months, because of the oppressive heat of the Philippine Islands that time of year, but in the Philippine Archipelago in the winter. She touched at ports in Japan and China including Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Nagasaki, and Yokosuka; Amoy
Amoy
Xiamen, or Amoy, is a city on the southeast coast of China.Amoy may also refer to:*Amoy dialect, a dialect of the Hokkien lects, which are part of the Southern Min group of Chinese languages...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Chefoo, Nanking, and Taku
Taku Forts
The Dagu Forts , also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.-History:The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing...
. In addition, she cruised the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
as far as Nanking, the Inland Sea, and Nimrod Sound. The battleship conducted assigned fleet maneuvers and exercises off the Chinese and Philippine coasts intervening those evolutions with regular periods of in-port upkeep and repairs. During that time, she served as Asiatic Fleet flagship, wearing the flag of Rear Admiral Cooper.
The battleship departed Yokohama on 20 September, and after calling at Honolulu en route from 3–8 October, arrived at San Francisco on 18 October. After seven days stay at that port, she headed up the west coast and reached the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 28 October. She was decommissioned there on 16 November 1906.
Recommissioned on 1 April 1908, Captain Henry Morrell in command, Wisconsin was fitted out at the Puget Sound Navy Yard until the end of April. After shifting to Port Angeles from 30 April – 2 May, the battleship proceeded down the western seaboard and reached San Francisco on 6 May to participate in a fleet review at that port. She subsequently returned to Puget Sound to complete the installation of her fire control equipment from 21 May – 22 June.
Soon thereafter, Wisconsin retraced her southward course, returning to San Francisco in early July. There, she joined the battleships of the Atlantic Fleet
United States Fleet Forces Command
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
in setting out on the transpacific leg of the momentous circumnavigation of the globe. The cruise of the "Great White Fleet
Great White Fleet
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with...
" served as a pointed reminder to Japan of the power of the United States — a dramatic gesture made by President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
as signal evidence of his "big stick" policy. Wisconsin, during the course of her part of the voyage, called at ports in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Australia, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Japan, China, Ceylon, and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
; transited the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
; visited Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, and Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
before arriving in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
on Washington's Birthday 1909, and passing in review there before President Roosevelt. The epic voyage had confounded the doom-sayers and critics, having been accomplished without any serious incidents or mishaps.
Wisconsin departed from the Tidewater area on 6 March and arrived at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine
Kittery, Maine
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...
three days later. The pre-dreadnought battleship there underwent repairs and alterations until 23 June, doffing her bright "white and spar color" and donning a more businesslike gray. The man-of-war joined the Atlantic Fleet in Hampton Roads at the end of June, but she remained in those waters only a short time before she sailed north to Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, arriving there on 2 July in time to take part in the Fourth of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
festivities in that port.
The battleship next headed down the eastern seaboard, cruising off Rockport, Massachusetts
Rockport, Massachusetts
Rockport is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,952 at the 2010 census. Rockport is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula...
and Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
before she returned, with the fleet, to Hampton Roads on 6 August. Over the ensuing weeks, Wisconsin fired target practices in the southern drill grounds, off the Virginia capes, breaking those underway periods with upkeep in Hampton Roads.
Wisconsin steamed with the fleet to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where she anchored in the North River to take part the Hudson-Fulton Celebration
Hudson-Fulton Celebration
The Hudson-Fulton Celebration from September 25 to October 9, 1909 in New York and New Jerseywas an elaborate commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s first successful commercial application of the paddle...
from 22 September – 5 October before she underwent repairs at the Portsmouth Navy Yard from 7 October – 28 November. She then dropped down to Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, upon the conclusion of that yard period, picking up drafts of men for transportation to the Atlantic Fleet at Hampton Roads.
Wisconsin operated with the fleet off the Virginia capes through mid-December, before she headed for New York for the Christmas holidays in port. Subsequently cruising to Cuban waters in early January 1910, the battleship operated out of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
from 12 January – 19 March.
The pre-dreadnought battleship then visited Tompkinsville, New York, and New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, before she discharged ammunition at New York City on 22 April. Later that spring, 1910, she moved to the Portsmouth Navy Yard, where she was placed in reserve. She was moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in April 1912 and, that autumn, took part in a naval review
Naval Review
A Naval Review is an event, where the whole of the US Navy is paraded to be reviewed by the president or the Secretary of the Navy. It often includes delegates from other national navies. It is more regular and frequent than its British equivalent, the Fleet Review, and often occurs on a Navy...
off Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
, before resuming her reserve status until Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Placed "in ordinary" on October 1913, Wisconsin remained in that status until she joined the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
Practice Squadron the spring of 1915 assuming training duties along with and . With that group, she become the third battleship to transit the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, making that trip in mid-July 1915 en route to the west coast of the United States with her embarked officers-to-be.
World War I
Wisconsin discharged her duties as a midshipman's training ship into 1917 and was moored at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 6 April of that year when she received word that the United States had declared war on GermanyWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Two days later, members of the Naval Militia began reporting on board the battleship for quarters and subsistence.
On 23 April, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Ohio were placed in full commission and assigned to the Coast Battleship Patrol Squadron. On 2 May, Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
David F. Sellers
David F. Sellers
David F. Sellers was an Admiral in the United States Navy.-Biography:David Foote Sellers was a native of Austin, Texas. He joined the United States Navy in 1890 and was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy from New Mexico...
reported onboard and took command. Four days later, the battleship got underway for the Virginia capes; and she arrived at Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....
on 7 May.
From early May – early August, Wisconsin operated as an engineering school ship on training cruises in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
-York River
York River (Virginia)
The York River is a navigable estuary, approximately long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from at its head to near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area including portions of 17 counties of the coastal plain of Virginia north...
area. She trained recruits as oilers, watertenders, and firemen, who, when qualified, were assigned to the formerly interned merchantmen of the enemy taken over by the United States upon the declaration of war, as well as to submarine chasers and the merchant vessels then building in American yards.
Wisconsin then maneuvered and exercised in company with , , , , Ohio, Missouri, and from 13 – 19 August, en route to Port Jefferson, New York
Port Jefferson, New York
The Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson is located in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2000 United States Census, the village population was 7,837...
. Over the ensuing weeks, Wisconsin continued training and tactical maneuvers based on Port Jefferson, making various training cruises into Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
.
She subsequently returned to the York River region early in October and resumed her training activities in that locale, operating primarily in the Chesapeake Bay area. Wisconsin continued that duty into the spring of 1918, interrupting her training evolutions from 30 October – 18 December for repairs at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
After another stint of repairs at Philadelphia from 13 May – 3 June 1918, Wisconsin got underway for a cruise to Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, but, after passing the Brandywine Shoal Light
Brandywine Shoal Light
The Brandywine Shoal Light is a lighthouse on the north side of the ship channel in Delaware Bay on the east coast of the United States, west of Cape May, New Jersey...
, received orders to stick close to shore. Those orders were later modified to send Wisconsin up the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
as far as Bombay Hook, since an enemy submarine was active off Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen
Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, Delaware...
. Postwar examination of German records would show that , the first of six enemy submarines to come to the eastern seaboard in 1918, sank three schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s on 23 May and other ships over ensuing days.
Getting underway again on 6 June, Wisconsin arrived at Annapolis on the following day. On the next day, the battleship embarked 176 third-class midshipmen and got underway for the York River. The ship conducted training evolutions in the Chesapeake Bay region until 29 August, when she returned to Annapolis and disembarked midshipmen. Underway for Yorktown on 30 August, Wisconsin there embarked 217 men for training as firemen, water tenders, engineers, steersmen and signalmen, resumed her training duties, and continued the task through the signing of the armistice on 11 November.
Inter-war period
Wisconsin completed her training activities on 20 December, sailed north, and reached New York City three days before Christmas. Wisconsin was among the ships reviewed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels from and by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt from on 26 December.Wisconsin cruised with the fleet in Cuban waters that winter, and in the summer of 1919 made a midshipman training cruise to the Caribbean.
Placed out of commission on 15 May 1920, Wisconsin was reclassified BB-9 on 17 July, while awaiting disposition. She was sold for scrap on 26 January 1922 as a result of the Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
.