USS ''Pompey'' (AF-5) was an

auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxil ...

of the United States Navy, acquired in 1898 for service in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

, which went on to serve as a collier, tender, and

storeship Combat stores ships, or storeships, were originally a designation given to ships in the Age of Sail and immediately afterward that navies used to stow supplies and other goods for naval purposes. Today, the United States Navy and the Royal Nav ...

in the Philippines, before being sold into commercial service after World War I. She was sunk by Japanese aircraft on 29 December 1941.

Service history

The ship was built in 1897 by S.P. Austin and Sons, Ltd. of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, England, as the freighter SS ''Harlech''. She was purchased by the U.S. Navy from James and Charles Harrison of London, England, on 19 April 1898, and commissioned as USS ''Pompey'' at Naval Station Norfolk on 26 May 1898. She then served as a collier in Rear Admiral William T. Sampson's squadron off Cuba, returning to Norfolk on 23 August, and was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 18 January 1899. ''Pompey'' was recommissioned in 1901 to serve in the

Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

, supporting U.S. forces in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. In February 1903 ''Pompey'' accompanied the gunboats , , and , as they sailed from the Philippines to China to inaugurate the

Yangtze River Patrol The Yangtze Patrol, also known as the Yangtze River Patrol Force, Yangtze River Patrol, YangPat and ComYangPat, was a prolonged naval operation from 1854–1949 to protect American interests in the Yangtze River's treaty ports. The Yangtze P ...

. Based on

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

from February 1903, their mission was to protect American citizens and property, and promote friendly relations with the Chinese. ''Pompey'' was decommissioned at the Cavite Naval Station, Philippines, in June 1905. Placed back into commission in July 1906, she continued to serve as a collier on the Asiatic Station, apart from a period in 1907-1909 when she was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. From 1911 she served as tender at Cavite to the five

torpedo boat destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in 1 ...

s of the 1st Torpedo Flotilla (, , , and ) until decommissioned at the Olongapo Naval Station in February 1916. After being recommissioned in November 1917 ''Pompey'' served as a storeship – a role she had assumed at least part of the time as early as 1915. She received the

hull code The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

AF-5 in July 1920. She was finally decommissioned on 5 July 1921 at Olongapo, and struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 28 March 1922. She was transferred to the War Department on 12 July 1922, and by 1923 had become the Philippine merchant ship ''Pompey''. She was renamed ''Samal'' in 1931, and was sunk by Japanese bombing at Pier 7,

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

on 29 December 1941.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pompey, USS 1897 ships Ships built on the River Wear Spanish–American War auxiliary ships of the United States World War I auxiliary ships of the United States Auxiliary ships of the United States Navy