USS ''Fortune'' was a steam-powered

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

that served in 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 ...

intermittently from 1871 to 1922. Built in 1865, she was the first ship so named. ''Fortune'' was classified as YT-11 on 17 July 1920. Through her lengthy career, she served as a harbor tug, fireboat, cargo transport, training ship, and submarine tender, among other duties. She was launched on 25 March 1865 by James Tetlow of

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 ...

, Massachusetts, and commissioned on 19 May 1871. During her first period of commission, which lasted until 1 January 1873, ''Fortune'' was assigned to towing and freight transport services along the

east coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

. She then lay at

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrativ ...

until being recommissioned on 1 June 1873. During the next 3 years, she trained cadet engineers of the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

, cruised in the

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and

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

on survey duty and drills, and carried men from the east coast to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, as well as serving on harbor duty at many ports. On 11 May 1874, while off

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, Mexico, one of her boats was capsized in a strong gale and four crewmen drowned. For his actions during the incident, Quartermaster Christopher Fowler was awarded the Medal of Honor. ''Fortune'' was again out of commission between 23 June 1876 and 21 September 1877, at Washington. Again in commission until 7 June 1879, ''Fortune'' sailed out of the

Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...

, carrying cargo to Washington, on harbor duty, and occasionally serving as an icebreaker. On 7 May 1882 at

Hampton Roads, Virginia Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic O ...

, Ordinary Seaman Johannes Rouning and Seaman Christian Osepins jumped overboard and rescued a fellow sailor from drowning, for which they were awarded the Medal of Honor. ''Fortune'' was recommissioned on 30 March 1887 to carry cargo between ships and stations along the east coast until being decommissioned at

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, on 22 April 1891. She returned to commission from 15 December 1899 to 6 June 1901 to serve as a gunnery training vessel for naval apprentices at Newport, and as a gunnery tug out of Newport, New York, and Boston. Again recommissioned on 23 October 1902, ''Fortune'' sailed to join the South Atlantic Squadron for operations around

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, and on 20 May 1903, reached

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, for duty with the

Pacific Squadron The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval s ...

, sailing out of

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, through the summer. On 2 August she arrived at Mare Island to serve as a submarine tender, joining in target practice and other fleet operations until going out of commission 10 April 1907. In commission from 22 January 1908 to 29 May 1909, and again from 9 June 1909 until placed in reserve on 28 June 1912, ''Fortune'' continued her work with submarines. Placed in full commission for the last time 22 May 1915, she served as a station ship at

Tutuila Tutuila is the main island of American Samoa (and its largest), and is part of the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific. It is located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Au ...

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

, using

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

as her home yard, until being decommissioned at Tutuila on 7 May 1922. She was sold on 22 May of that year.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune Ships built in Boston Tugs of the United States Navy Steamships of the United States Navy 1865 ships