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This page features the Online Library's June, July and August 2003 "What's New?" entries.
For the more recent entries, and links to previous years'
entries, see:
For earlier entries from the year 2003, see:
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions. | 
  August's final fortnight brings many new ships to the Online
  Library, spanning the years from the late 1850s to nearly the
  end of the Twentieth Century. Leading off is an extensive presentation
  on the light cruiser Oklahoma
  City (CL-91), which didn't serve long in that guise,
  but was subsequently converted to a guided
  missile cruiser (CLG-5, later CG-5) and was Seventh Fleet
  flagship for many years.
  Moving down the ranks to destroyers, we offer two fresh new faces:
  the old "four-piper" Waters
  (DD-115, later APD-8) and USS Everett
  F. Larson (DD-830, later DDR-830), which operated for
  over five decades in the U.S. and South Korean navies. There
  are also two recently added submarines: USS Moccasin
  (Submarine # 5), which was later renamed A-4), and
  USS Tautog (SS-199),
  the highest-scoring U.S. Navy submarine of World War II.
  
  Five Second World War auxiliaries joined the ranks, including
  the electronics repair ship Belle
  Isle (AG-73, later AKS-21), transport Cape
  Johnson (APA-172), and attack transports Catron
  (APA-71), Cleburne
  (APA-73) and Colusa
  (APA-74). Earlier auxiliaries added include the colliers
  Caesar (1898-1922)
  and the relatively short-lived Hector
  (1909-1916), which was wrecked in July 1916.
  Our ongoing efforts with World War I era acquired ships and craft
  produced entries on the transports Artemis
  (ID # 2187) and Santa
  Teresa (ID # 3804) (which also had World War II service
  as USS Kent (AP-28) and the U.S. Army transport and hospital
  ship Ernest
  Hinds), cargo ship Soestdijk
  (ID # 3413), tug Spartan
  (SP-336), and four patrol vessels: Sovereign
  (SP-170), Arcturus
  (SP-182), Sea Gull
  (SP-223) and Sea Gull
  (SP-544).
  Finally, our latest Civil War additions are USS Crusader
  (1858-1865) and Cambridge
  (1861-1865), both very active in enforcing the blockade along
  the U.S. East Coast.
  31 August 2003 
  
  
  Here we are in the middle of August, just in time for another
  report on the latest Online Library doings, in this case only
  about a week's worth due to the "restful" effects of
  a lakeside vacation. New subjects added include an old "four-pipe"
  destroyer, two rather newer submarines and the usual bunch of
  World War I acquired vessels.
  The "tin can" (which destroyers of her day really were)
  is Elliot (DD-146,
  later DMS-4 and AG-104). The subs are both World War II "fleet
  boats" that had long post-war service as modernized "Guppy"
  types: Pomfret (SS-391)
  and Volador (SS-490).
  The "big" news concerning World War I acquired vessels
  is the posting of the beginnings of a special
  list of them, organized by the "SP" and "ID"
  numbers assigned to ships and craft considered for acquisition
  by the Navy from 1916 into the early 1920s. At this point the
  listing is very incomplete, featuring only about ten percent
  of the total, but it will steadily grow in the coming months.
  Newly added vessels in this category include the submarine tender
  Savannah (ID # 3015,
  later AS-8), tug Arctic
  (SP-1158), harbor steamer Sister
  (SP-822), and patrol types Siwash
  (SP-12), Snark
  (SP-1291) and Sultana
  (SP-134).
  18 August 2003 
  
  
  This report will wrap up July's work, of which there has been
  plenty, among it presentations on four early 18th Century events
  and a related ship. For the 1801-05 war with Tripoli, we offer
  the capture of USS Philadelphia
  at the end of October 1803 and the burning
  of the Philadelphia in February 1804. The War of 1812
  is represented by the sinking
  of HMS Peacock by USS Hornet in February 1813
  and the capture of
  HMS Penguin by USS Hornet in March 1815. We
  also did a page on Hornet,
  herself.
  From more recent times, we lead off with the light cruiser Wilkes-Barre (CL-103).
  Four "new" destroyers also make their debuts: Macdonough
  (Destroyer # 9); Philip
  (DD-76); Macdonough
  (DD-331); and Philip
  (DD-498, later DDE-498); as well as the officer for whom
  the two Philips were named: Rear Admiral John
  W. Philip.
  
  A Submarine Hull # presentation
  has been opened, covering all Navy submarines from the 1890s
  through SSBN-599, or at least those for which the Online Library
  has something to offer. By way of celebration, three more submarines
  were done and an existing one had her coverage much expanded,
  to wit: Grampus (Submarine
  # 4), which was later renamed A-3; S-13
  (SS-118); S-22
  (SS-127) (the expansion job); and Pompano
  (SS181). A World War II attack transport, Arenac
  (APA-128) also makes her appearance, and we added a page
  of freshly-taken photos of the former guided missile destroyer
  Decatur (DDG-31
  (an Online Library resident since last November) in her present
  guise as the Self Defense
  Test Ship (or SDTS).
  World War I acquired vessels put in a strong appearance, led
  off by the transport Susquehanna
  (ID # 3016). Following in her wake are the tanker Standard
  Arrow (ID # 1532) (which returned to the Navy during
  World War II as USS Signal, IX-142), the small cargo ship
  Sioux (ID # 1766),
  yachts Aramis (SP-418,
  later PY-7) and Sialia
  (SP-543) plus three section patrol craft: Elizabeth
  (SP-972); Idylease
  (SP-119); and Sayona
  II (SP-1109).
  
  While we're on the subject of the "Great War", one
  of our occasional foreigners has joined up, the German battle
  cruiser Seydlitz,
  a veteran of the battle of Jutland that was later scuttled at
  Scapa Flow.
  We conclude this report on a busy two weeks (plus) with three
  of the Navy's Civil War ships: Albatross;
  Geranium
  (seen in her post-war guise as a light house tender); and John P. Jackson.
  That's it for now. Our next report won't happen until sometime
  in the middle or latter part of August, as the Online Library
  staff is taking himself off on the annual north woods excursion.
  24 July 2003 
  
  
  Moving through the end of June and into July, the Online Library
  has advanced considerably, with not as many new presentations
  as in our previous report, but with several rather larger ones.
  Leading off with larger ships, though not larger presentations,
  we added the light cruisers Amsterdam
  (CL-101) and Portsmouth
  (CL-102), both unfortunately conspicious for the small number
  of views we have to offer on them. Of new destroyers there is
  but one, Wickes (Destroyer
  # 75, later DD-75), but we offer a lengthy presentation on
  a 1960s-era escort ship Bradley
  (DE-1041, later FF-1041) (a labor of love by the presentation's
  creator, one of the Photo Sections most-senior volunteers, who
  served in her many moons ago), and two freshly-posted submarines:
  Adder (Submarine # 3),
  which was renamed A-2 in 1911; and Plunger
  (SS-179).
  
  We also did pages on the fleet tug Chimariko
  (ATF-154) and the Japanese Freighter Kinai
  Maru, which was sunk by USS Plunger in May 1943.
  From the vast list of "Great War" acquired vessels,
  we can now offer the transport Mercury
  (ID # 3012) (in some abundance), cargo carriers Newton
  (ID # 4359) and Satsuma
  (ID # 2038) and four more patrol craft: Arawan
  II (SP-1), which began the long line of "Section
  Patrol" numbers; Natoma
  (SP-666); Sayonara
  II (SP-587); and Shur
  (SP-782).
  Moving (way) back in time, pages are now visible on the Continental
  Navy ship Columbus
  (1775-1778) and the British frigate Shannon
  (1806-1859).
  7 July 2003 
  
  
  Another two weeks have flown by, and we have much to report.
  Leading off with the earliest offerings, the Online Library now
  contains presentations on the ill-fated frigate Chesapeake
  (1800-1813), her losing battle
  with HMS Shannon, and the latter's Commanding Officer,
  Royal Navy Rear Admiral Philip
  Bowes Vere Broke. Newly-added 19th Century U.S. Navy officers
  include Rear Admiral Richard
  Worsam Meade III, his father, Captain Richard
  Worsam Meade II, Commodores James
  Barron, Melancthon
  Taylor Woolsey and Melancthon
  Brooks Woolsey, and Commander James
  H. Ward. The Civil War gunboat Thomas
  Freeborn and contemporary Revenue Cutter Louis
  McLane (ex-USS Delaware) also make their Online
  Library debuts.
  
  Moving into the century just gone by, we have a new light cruiser,
  Providence (CL-82),
  perhaps better remembered as a guided-missile
  cruiser (CLG-6) and fleet flagship of the 1960s and early
  1970s. We have, of course, not neglected destroyers and submarines,
  adding coverage on USS Woolsey
  (Destroyer # 77), USS Woolsey
  (DD-437) and USS Miller
  (DD-535) in the former category, and USS Plunger
  (Submarine # 2) and the original (never-accepted) Plunger in the latter.
  New World War II era smaller warships include the submarine chaser
  PCS-1387 (later
  renamed Beaufort) and the landing craft LCT(6)-1362.
  In keeping with our steadfast resolve to never neglect the First
  World War, we have added the transport Madawaska
  (ID # 3011), which was later the U.S. Army Transport U.S. Grant
  and USS U.S. Grant (AP-29); the tanker Herbert
  L. Pratt (ID # 2339); the cargo ship Auburn
  (ID # 3842); and a quartet of patrol craft: Audwin
  (SP-451), Shadow III
  (SP-102), Shark
  (SP-534) and Shrewsbury
  (SP-70).
  23 June 2003 
  
  
  For the forseeable future, our "What's New" reports
  are likely to emerge on a fortnightly basis, rather than the
  usual weekly one. The most recent offerings include two World
  War II light cruisers, Flint
  (CL-97) and Tucson
  (CL-98), both remarkable for the small number of pictures
  we have of them. We also made presentations on the old "four-piper"
  destroyer Buchanan
  (DD-131) and two submarines: the big minelayer Argonaut
  (SM-1, later APS-1), which was named V-4 during her
  first few years of service, and the "fleet boat" Swordfish (SS-193).
  Other World War II era ships include the miscellaneous auxiliaries
  (actually local-service cargo vessels) Taganak
  (AG-45) and Tuluran
  (AG-46), both of which had World War I service under other
  names, and the civilian operated transport Cape
  San Juan, sunk by a Japanese submarine in November 1943.
  Speaking of World War I vessels, the Online Library is now richer
  by four of them: The transport DeKalb
  (ID # 3010) and the patrol craft Atlantic
  II (SP-651), Shad
  (SP-551) and Shada
  (SP-580).
  9 June 2003 
  
This page features the Online Library's June, July and August 2003 "What's New?" entries.
For the more recent entries, and links to previous years'
entries, see:
For earlier entries from the year 2003, see:
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions. | 
Page made 31 August 2003