USS Foote (TB-3)

USS Foote ca. 1896-97
USS Foote (TB-3), photographed circa 1896-97.
History
United States
NameFoote
NamesakeRear admiral Andrew Hull Foote
Ordered26 July 1894 (authorised)
BuilderColumbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, MD
Laid down1 May 1896
Launched1 October 1896
Sponsored byMiss Laura Price
Commissioned7 August 1897
Decommissioned28 March 1919
Renamed
  • Coast Torpedo Boat No. 1,
  • 1 August 1918
IdentificationTB-3
FateSold, 19 July 1920
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeFoote-class torpedo boat
Displacement142 long tons (144 t)[2]
Length160 ft (49 m)
Beam16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
Draft5 ft (1.5 m) (mean)[2]
Installed power
Propulsion
  • vertical triple expansion engines
  • 2 × shaft
Speed
  • 25 kn (29 mph; 46 km/h)
  • 24.53 kn (28.23 mph; 45.43 km/h) (Speed on Trial)[2]
Complement20 officers and enlisted
Armament

USS Foote (Torpedo Boat No. 3/TB-3/Coast Torpedo Boat No. 1) was launched 1 October 1896 by Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, Md.; sponsored by Miss Laura Price; and commissioned 7 August 1897, Lieutenant W. L. Rodgers in command.

After training out of Charleston, S.C., Foote joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Key West, Fla., 19 March 1898. In the subsequent Spanish–American War she served as picket, patrolled, and carried orders from the flagship to ships of the squadron, and from 23 April, patrolled the Cuban coast closely, primarily off the Cardenas entrance to Havana Harbor. On that day, she penetrated the harbor to scout shipping, was fired upon by a clearly weaker Spanish small gunboat, and she retired.

Six days later, she herself bombarded Morro Island. Several times during the summer, she returned to Key West to load mail, stores, and despatches for the squadron off Havana, and on 14 August she returned to Charleston, S.C.. Foote was out of commission at New York from 28 October 1898 to 9 November 1900, then operated in the Newport-Boston area until placed in reserve at Norfolk 6 March 1901. In 1908 she moved to Charleston.

Detached from the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla 8 June 1910, Foote based on Charleston for the next year, putting to sea only for a 3-week cruise early in 1911. From 27 June 1911 to 15 November 1916, she was assigned to the North Carolina Naval Militia, based at New Bern, then lay at Charleston until returned to full commission 7 April 1917. Through World War I, Foote patrolled the coast of the 6th Naval District; renamed Coast Torpedo Boat No. 1 1 August 1918. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia 28 March 1919, and sold 19 July 1920.

  1. ^ "USS Foote (TB-3)". Navsource.org. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Table 10 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 714. 1921.