USS ''Prairie'' (AD-5), formerly Morgan Liner SS ''El Sol'', was built in 1890 by

William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) of Philadelphia was founded in 1830 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder of the late 19th century. Company hi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. She was purchased by 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 ...

on 6 April 1898 from the

Southern Pacific Company Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

, and commissioned two days later at

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Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Charles J. Train Rear Admiral Charles Jackson Train (14 May 1845 – 4 August 1906) was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the Spanish–American War and later as the second Commander-in-Chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet. Naval career Train ...

in command.

History

''Prairie'' was converted into an

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

and assigned at first to the Northern Patrol Squadron and later to the

North Atlantic Fleet The North Atlantic Squadron was a section of the United States Navy operating in the North Atlantic. It was renamed as the North Atlantic Fleet in 1902. In 1905 the European and South Atlantic squadrons were abolished and absorbed into the North ...

. During 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 ...

, she served in Cuban waters July and August 1898. On 25 August she stranded in dense fog 3 miles east of the

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Life saving Station. The

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ferried 216 troops to shore. She was pulled off the next day by the tug ''Brittania''. She returned to Fore River, Massachusetts on 28 August. She decommissioned on 15 March 1899 at Philadelphia. ''Prairie'' was placed in reserve commission on 23 March 1899 and cruised with the

naval militia A naval militia is a reserve military organization administered under the authority of a state government in the United States. It is often composed of reservists of the Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve, retirees an ...

off the Atlantic coast until she was decommissioned at New York on 18 February 1901. She carried government exhibits to France at the turn of the 20th century for the Paris Exposition. She was recommissioned at

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 ...

on 9 November 1901 as a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

, and remained with this mission until she was decommissioned at Boston on 14 June 1905. She was recommissioned 26 September 1906 at Boston as a transport and was attached to the Atlantic Fleet. She protected American interests in Cuba, March to April 1907. Later, she resumed her training duties with the naval militia from May to September 1907, July to August 1908 and July to August 1909. She took part on the

U.S. occupation of Veracruz The United States occupation of Veracruz (April 21 to November 23, 1914) began with the Battle of Veracruz and lasted for seven months. The incident came in the midst of poor diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States, and was re ...

in 1914, firing her 3-inch guns at the Naval Academy and other tactical targets, on 21 April 1914.Log of the ''USS Prairie'' Converted to a

destroyer tender A destroyer tender or destroyer depot ship is a type of depot ship: an auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of ...

in late 1917, ''Prairie'' served during

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 ...

. ''Prairie'' was decommissioned for the final time on 22 November 1922 at

San Diego 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 List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, California, and was 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 ...

. She was sold on 22 June 1923 to Louis Rothenberg,

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

References

* *

Notes

External links

Photo gallery
at Naval Historical Center * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prairie (AD-5) Unique transports of the United States Navy Destroyer tenders of the United States Navy Spanish–American War auxiliary ships of the United States Banana Wars ships of the United States World War I auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built by William Cramp & Sons 1890 ships