USS ''Fern'' was originally a

lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lighthous ...

built in 1871 by Delameter and Stack of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.United States Government 1888
p. 417
U.S. Dept. of Commerce 1919
p. 484
See entry for ''Gopher''. She was transferred to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from the

United States Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an United States federal executive departments, executive department. The departme ...

on 30 January 1891. Fitted out as a gunboat, ''Fern'' was commissioned on 22 April 1891, with

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

A. J. Iverson in command."Fern"
DANFS Online.

Service history

''Fern'' sailed the east coast, carrying coal and general cargo to various bases, locating and destroying by gunfire wrecks of ships obstructing navigation, and assisting in the precommissioning trials of new ships. After 22 January 1898, she was based at

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

to carry mail and supplies to the increasing number of ships which concentrated in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

as war with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

threatened. When war began in April, ''Fern'' continued her runs from Key West to the squadron off

Santiago, Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

and to

Guantánamo Bay Guantánamo Bay ( es, Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off ...

. During the

Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was a decisive naval engagement that occurred on July 3, 1898 between an American fleet, led by William T. Sampson and Winfield Scott Schley, against a Spanish fleet led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, which occurred ...

on 3 July, the ship was commanded by

Herbert Winslow Herbert Winslow (September 22, 1848 – September 25, 1914) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy. Biography He was born in 1848 in Roxbury, Massachusetts to John Ancrum Winslow. Through an entirely paternal line he was a direct descendant ...

. On 16 October, ''Fern'' was transferred to the District of Columbia Naval Militia and decommissioned on 22 October. In 1904–1905, she was laid up at

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, then repaired at

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

for duty with the

Minnesota Naval Militia The Minnesota Naval Militia is the currently inactive naval militia of Minnesota. As a naval militia, the Minnesota Naval Militia served as a Navy and Marine Corps parallel to the National Guard, where, like the soldiers of the Army National Guard a ...

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

. She was renamed ''Gopher'' on 27 December 1905. With U.S. entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, ''Gopher'' was assigned duty as a practice ship at the

Great Lakes Naval Training Station Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center ...

, and on 30 May 1917 was returned to commission. She trained members of the Naval Reserve at ports in the

9th Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

, principally

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, until she was placed out of commission on 19 April 1919. ''Gopher'' was recommissioned on 15 May 1921 for service with the

U.S. Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. On 1 October 1922, she was placed in reduced commission, and on 5 August departed for

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. While in passage, she rammed and damaged a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

in the

Soulanges Canal The Soulanges Canal is an abandoned shipping canal in Quebec, Canada. It follows the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River between Pointe-des-Cascades and Coteaux-Landing, bypassing the rapids between Lake Saint-Louis and Lake Saint-Francis. ...

and was apprehended and held by the

Canadian Government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Upon her release, she was taken in tow by , but on 21 September 1923 she sank during a northwest gale in the

Gulf of St. Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence () is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about and containing about of water, at an average depth of . ...

. ''Gopher'' was later decommissioned as of the date of her sinking.

References

Bibliography

* United States Government (1888). ''Nineteenth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States''
p. 417
* U.S. Department of Commerce (1919). ''Fifty-first Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States''
p. 484
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fern Gunboats of the United States Navy Ships built in New York City 1871 ships Lighthouse tenders of the United States