USS Gwin, a 46-ton Talbot class torpedo boat, was built at Bristol, Rhode Island. One of four rather small coastal or harbor-defense torpedo boats built during the later 1890s, she was commissioned in April 1898 and arrived in Cuban waters in early August, just as the Spanish-American War came to an end. After returning to the U.S. East Coast, Gwin was employed on training duty at the Naval Academy until mid-1903, when she went into reserve. Five years later, in June 1908, the torpedo boat began experimental service at Newport, Rhode Island, where the Navy's Torpedo Station was located. This assignment lasted until April 1914, when Gwin was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list.
However, she was reinstated on the list in 1915 and converted to a ferry boat, for continued use in the Newport area. Renamed Cyane in April 1918, she received the hull number YFB-4 in July 1920. The former torpedo boat was again stricken from the Navy list at the end of April 1925 and sold for scrapping in September of that year.
USS Gwin was named in honor of Lieutenant Commander William Gwin (1832-1863), who was mortally wounded while commanding USS Benton in action on the Yazoo River.
This page features the only views we have concerning USS Gwin (Torpedo Boat # 16), which was later the ferry boat Cyane (YFB-4).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: 19-N-14-29-2 USS Gwin (Torpedo Boat # 16) Under construction at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1897. USS Talbot (Torpedo Boat # 15) in the right center background, also under construction. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 107KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 92311 Cyane (YFB-4, ex-USS Gwin, Torpedo Boat # 16) Ship's bow undergoing repairs at about the beginning of January 1922, after having accidently rammed the stone sea wall while coming into the Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island. Cyane was repaired by Navy personnel by early March 1922 and returned to service. Note that she still wears her torpedo boat bow number ("16"), despite having been converted to a ferry several years previously. The original print is in National Archives Record Group 19, Entry 105, Box 192, File O-YFB4. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 565 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 92312 Cyane (YFB-4, ex-USS Gwin, Torpedo Boat # 16) Ship's bow undergoing repairs at about the beginning of January 1922, after having accidently rammed the stone sea wall while coming into the Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island. Cyane was repaired by Navy personnel by early March 1922 and returned to service. Note that she still wears her torpedo boat bow number ("16"), despite having been converted to a ferry several years previously. Also note her very light structural framing. The original print is in National Archives Record Group 19, Entry 105, Box 192, File O-YFB4. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 560 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 92313 Cyane (YFB-4, ex-USS Gwin, Torpedo Boat # 16) Forward half of the ship, photographed in March or very early April 1922, following completion of repairs to her bow, damaged in a collision with the stone sea wall at the Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island. Navy Torpedo Test Barge # 2 (built 1916) is in the right background. The original print is in National Archives Record Group 19, Entry 105, Box 192, File O-YFB4. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 530 pixels |
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USS Gwin MAY be one of the torpedo boats seen in the middle distance in the following photograph:
Related image (if only by error): The original source for Photo # NH 99992 erroneously identifies that view as showing USS Gwin. However, the vessel seen is certainly not Gwin, which had only one smokestack, and is probably USS MacKenzie (Torpedo Boat # 17).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 30 January 2005