by Patrick McSherry
The Patrol Gunboat U.S.S. DuPONT
In the seven months between the commissioning and the outbreak of the
Spanish American War the U.S.S. DuPONT served off the east coast where
it carried naval reservists for training purposes and carrying
dispatches. When the blockade of Cuba
commenced on April 22, 1898, DuPONT was off Havana and then proceeded to
Matanzas where it remained for four days before returning to Key West,
Florida. After two days, the vessel returned to operating off Havana and
Matanzas, taking part in the bombardment of Matanzas on May 6. During
the action, DuPONT and auxiliary Cruiser HORNET went within six hundred
yards of the shore when they came under fire. The vessels returned fire
and destroyed three Spanish blockhouses. DuPONT returned to Key West on
May 7 where it remained until May 20. The vessel next steamed to
Cienfuegoes, Havana and then back to Key West, arriving on May 20. The
torpedo boat next was sent Mobile, Alabama, were it remained until June
13. Returning to the front after stopping briefly at Key West, the
DuPONT took up station on the naval blockade, operating between Santiago
and Guantanamo Bay until July 3 where, following the Battle
of Santiago, DuPONT went as far west as Rio Turquino. Subsequent
to the Battle of Santiago,
DuPONT went back to patrolling between Santiago and Guantanamo Bay, with
the exception of a a mission to the port of Nipe on the western coast of
Cuba. The port of Nipe was to be
taken to be used as a stepping off point for the invasion of Puerto
Rico. The port was attacked, a Spanish gunboat sunk and
fortifications destroyed but the port was not taken. As the battle
ended, DuPONT arrived on the scene with orders from Admiral
William Sampson. Though Nipe's port was not taken, the importance
of the port was nullified when Santiago fell to the Fifth
Corps forces under Major General Shafter,
making Santiago's port available. On August 3 DuPONT was ordered north,
arriving at New York on August 9, 1898 after a brief stop at Brunswick,
Georgia. Just three days after DuPONT's arrival in New York, an
armistice was agreed to between the U.S. and Spain ending the war's
fighting.
On November 4, 1898, DuPONT arrived at Newport, Rhode Island where it would eventually be placed out of commission, ending her service in the Spanish American War. However, prior to decommissioning, DuPONT took part in torpedo practice in Newport Bay on November 17. During the exercises, DuPONT reached a speed of over 30 knots, making her the fastest vessel in the U.S. Navy at the time. Witnesses reported that during this high speed run, her bow rose as much as eight feet out of the water. Interestingly DuPONT was apparently not yet at full speed as all boilers were not yet in use. Shortly afterward, on December 1, DuPONT and fellow torpedo boat MORRIS were caught in a gale just off the Rhode Island coast. Both vessels were damaged, but DuPONT took the greater punishment. Her bow stem was bent, and hull plates dented and knocked loose. She was in need of fairly extensive repairs. The war ended on December 10, 1898 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
DuPONT was recommissioned in September, 1903 to serve as a training vessel at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis until September of 1904 when she was again decommissioned. She was again recommissioned in June, 1905 for one year, serving as part of the "Coast Squadron" in the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. Again, in 1909 DuPONT was recommissioned to serve with the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet until being placed in reserve at the Charleston Navy Yard later in the year. In 1910 and 1911, the vessel served with the Naval Militia of North Carolina. The DuPONT next spent three years in Newport, Rhode Island before being loaned to the Massachusetts Naval Militia in 1914. During World War One the vessel patrolled off of the east coast of the United States. She was eventually redesignated as Coast Torpedo Boat No. 3. In 1919 she was decommissioned for the last time, and was sold on July 19, 1920.
Torpedo boats were a new type of vessel world-wide. They were greatly feared, but were highly ineffective. The theory was that the torpedo boats could advance quickly, because of their high speed, and stealthily, possibly at night, and release their torpedoes at a range of four hundred yards or less. The torpedo would travel just below the waterline, and pierce the enemy vessel's hull just below the main armor belt. By the time the United States commissioned its first torpedo boat, the five major navies in the world already had nine hundred torpedo boats among them.
Several major factors contributed to the actual ineffectiveness of torpedo boats such as the USS DuPONT. First, the vessels had to approach very close to the targeted enemy vessel to fire their torpedoes. The requirement of close approach combined with lack of armor made the vessel subject to rapid damage. The navy had little experience in the operation of torpedo boats and did not use the vessels as they were intended, such as dispatch boats and as patrol boats. The torpedo boat's low coal bunker capacity made the vessels unable to stay at sea for an extended period of time. As a dispatch boat, the vessels were run at higher than the usual cruising speed exacerbating the low bunker capacity issue (doubling speed generally resulted in using coal eight times as fast). Though torpedo boats did not inflict any major damage during the war, the sheer threat of their existence was a weapon. It required the development of counter-measures, caused an alteration of tactics, and was useful as a weapon of terror. Still, by the end of the war, the U.S. Navy generally looked upon the vessels as being ineffective.The vessels had more complicated and compact machinery and, unfortunately there were not enough trained mechanics to maintain this machinery. This led to breakdowns and ongoing issues.
Torpedo boats served well as dispatch boats, though this was a waste of their capabilities. They were also relatively inexpensive to construct.| Classification: | TB-7, Porter Class Torpedo Boat | |
| Launched: | March 30, 1897 | |
|---|---|---|
| Commissioned: | September 23, 1897 | |
| Armament: | Four 1-pdrs. | |
| Three Torpedo Tubes | ||
| Contractor: | Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, Rhode EIsland | |
| Length: | 175 feet | |
| Beam: | 17 feet, 8 1/2 inches | |
| Mean draft: | 4 feet, 8 inches | |
| Max. draft fully loaded: | 7 feet, 5 inches | |
| Displacement: | 165 tons | |
| Complement: | 28 crewmen | |
| Engine type: | Vertical quadruple expansion engines, generating 3,400 hp.; Twin screw | |
| Boiler type: | Modified Normand Tubulous | |
| Speed: | 28.58 knots | |
| Coal bunker capacity: | 43 tons | |
| Endurance @ 10 knots: | 1,247 nautical miles | |
| Armor | None |
Officers (partial roster):
WOOD, Spencer S., Lieutenant (Commanding)Enlisted Men:
Alden, John D., The American Steel Navy. (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1972) 104.
"Attack on Nipe," Chattanooga Daily Times
(Chattanooga, Tennessee). July 24, 1898, p. 3.
Clerk of Joint Committee on Printing, The Abridgement of Message
from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of
Congress. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899). Vol.
2, 1200-1201, 1250-1251.
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Vol. 2 (Washington: Naval Department, 1963) 307.
"Matanzas Again Shelled," Boston Evening
Transcript (Boston, Massachusetts). May 09, 1898, p. 8.
Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1898) 19-20.
"Torpedo Boat DuPont," Fall River Daily Evening News (Fall River, Massachusetts). November 17, 1898, p. 5.
"Weathered Gale off Newport," The Boston Globe
(Boston, Massachusetts). December 2, 1898, p. 7
Weaver, Barry, Col Albert F. Gleim and Danny J. Farak, The West Indies Naval Campaign Medal of 1898 - The Sampson Medal, the Ships and Men. (Arlington, VA: Planchet Press, 1986) (roster contributed by Douglas Davis).