 USAT Burnside
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
  United Kingdom | |
| Name | Yeoman (1882-1891) |
| Operator | Blue Anchor Line |
| Builder | Campbell, Macintosh, Bowstead |
| Launched | 25 March 1882 |
| Homeport | London, England |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sold |
 Spain | |
| Name | Rita (1891-1898) |
| Operator | Linea de Vapores Serra |
| Homeport | Bilbao |
| Fate | Captured by USS Yale |
  United States | |
| Name |
|
| Operator | Army Transport Service |
| Homeport | Seattle |
| Identification | Call sign: BS (1909), WXR (1913) |
| Fate | Sold and scrapped in 1924 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | 285.2 ft (86.9 m) |
| Beam | 36.7 ft (11.2 m) |
| Depth of hold | 23.5 ft (7.2 m) |
| Propulsion | 1 triple-expansion steam engine |
| Speed | 12 knots |
USAT Burnside was the first American cable ship in the Pacific. Between 1900 and 1905 she laid 3,000 miles of submarine cable which connected many parts of the Philippines and Alaska to the rest of the world for the first time in history. She was responsible for maintenance of the Army cables on the Pacific coast of the United States for two decades.
The ship was built in England in 1882 for general freight service between London and Australia. Her initial name was Yeoman. She was sold in 1891 to a Spanish steamship company which renamed her Rita. The ship was at sea when the Spanish-American War was declared and had the bad luck to be taken as a prize by USS Yale in 1898. The US Army purchased her as a transport, and in 1900 converted her into a cable ship named Burnside.
Burnside was replaced by USAT Dellwood in 1923. She was sold and scrapped in 1924.