Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page. Return to Online Library listing

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # 19-N-60-10-20:  Waterfront scene at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, Autumn 1907

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- The 1900s

World Cruise of the "Great White Fleet", December 1907 - February 1909 -- Preparations for the Cruise, Autumn 1907

During September and October 1907 all sixteen of Atlantic Fleet's modern battleships steamed to East Coast Navy Yards for repairs and alterations. Boston worked on four: Vermont, New Jersey, Missouri and Illinois. New York did five: Connecticut, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Ohio and Alabama. Four (Kansas, Georgia, Maine and Kearsarge) received the attentions of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, while the Norfolk Navy Yard performed work on Virginia, Minnesota and Kentucky. The three Norfolk ships had to go north to New York (first two) and Boston (Kentucky) for the drydock phases of their overhauls. This shipyard work was finished by early December and the battleships gathered in Hampton Roads, Virginia, to complete preparations for their forthcoming cruise around South America to the Pacific Coast.

Meanwhile, the six torpedo boat destroyers (Whipple, Truxtun, Lawrence, Stewart, Hopkins and Hull), four auxiliaries (Arethusa, Culgoa, Glacier and Panther) and tender (ex-yacht) Yankton fitted out and took on supplies for the long voyage ahead, mainly at Norfolk and New York. The destroyers left Hampton Roads on 2 December, fourteen days in advance of the battleships, and generally proceeded separately from the main fleet, Their limited steaming endurance required them to make more than twice as many port calls than the much larger battleships needed. Similiarly, the auxiliaries joined the battleships and destroyers at their ports of call, but generally maintained independent steaming schedules.

This page features views concerning preparations for the "Great White Fleet"'s World Cruise, during the Autumn of 1907.

For further pictorial coverage of the "Great White Fleet":

  • World Cruise of the "Great White Fleet", December 1907 - February 1909 -- Overview and Special Image Selection.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: 19-N-60-10-17

    Destroyers at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia
    , Autumn 1907

    The destroyers in the foreground basin (from left to right):
    USS Hull (Destroyer # 7);
    USS Lawrence (Destroyer # 8);
    USS Hopkins (Destroyer # 6);
    USS Whipple (Destroyer # 15) and
    USS Truxtun (Destroyer # 14).
    USS Stewart (Destroyer # 13) is at the end of the dock, at right, and USS Talbot (Torpedo Boat # 15) is hauled out on the marine railway at left.
    On the opposite side of the river are several torpedo boats of the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla and their barracks ship, the old cruiser Atlanta.

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 600 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 19-N-60-10-18

    Destroyers at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia
    , Autumn 1907

    These ships are (from left to right):
    USS Hull (Destroyer # 7);
    USS Lawrence (Destroyer # 8);
    USS Hopkins (Destroyer # 6);
    USS Whipple (Destroyer # 15) and
    USS Truxtun (Destroyer # 14).

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 595 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 19-N-60-10-20

    Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia


    Waterfront scene, Autumn 1907. Ships at left are (from front to rear):
    USS Hopkins (Destroyer # 6);
    USS Lawrence (Destroyer # 8);
    USS Hull (Destroyer # 7);
    USS Talbot (Torpedo Boat # 15) and
    USS Moccasin (Submarine # 5).
    The latter two are hauled out on the marine railway.
    USS Stewart (Destroyer # 13) is in the right foreground. Ahead of her are a torpedo boat, a barge and the tug Mohawk. Three battleships are docked beyond them, with USS Iowa (Battleship # 4) furthest to the right.

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 565 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    For further pictorial coverage of the "Great White Fleet":

  • World Cruise of the "Great White Fleet", December 1907 - February 1909 -- Overview and Special Image Selection.


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 21 October 2008
    Coding updated 13 April 2009