USS ''Yankton'' (previously named ''La Cleopatre'', ''Saphire III'', ''Penelope'')"Yankton" : Yacht and Man of War
/ref> was a steel-hulled schooner built in 1893 at

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, by Ramage & Ferguson. She was acquired by the

US 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 ...

in May 1898; renamed ''Yankton''; and commissioned on 16 May 1898 at Norfolk, Virginia. According to Charles Armstrong, who was the medical officer of ''Yankton'' in 1918, ''Penelope'' had been the extravagant yacht of Sarah Bernhardt, a well-known French actress. That Bernhardt connection is noted in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

history on rum runners as being "erroneous" but notes that the vessel had become an American yacht sold to the Navy at the beginning of 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 = (cloc ...

. She was converted to a gunboat by the US Navy and partook in the Spanish–American War serving as a gunboat, admiral's yacht and fleet tender. On 27 November 1903 she sank the steamship in a collision at Norfolk, Virginia. Her Captain at the time was Lt. Castleman. ''Yankton'' accompanied the Navy's Great White Fleet on the "round the world cruise" as a fleet tender in 1907–1908 and was at

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 ...

during the 1914 crisis there. In

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 ...

she headed for

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

to join the Patrol Forces protecting Allied shipping from German U-boats, and she came under hostile fire during combat. ''Yankton'' was sold in 1921. The vessel was libeled and sold by the British Admiralty Court in Nassau, Bahamas then seized and sold again within weeks. A crew of mixed nationality, described as "motley" and "buccaneers" was recruited in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

where 8,000 cases of grain alcohol valued at $500,000 and Cuban tobacco was placed aboard, ostensibly destined for St. Pierre with actual destination being "

Rum Row A rum row was a Prohibition-era term (1920–1933) referring to a line of ships loaded with liquor anchored beyond the maritime limit of the United States. These ships taunted the Eighteenth Amendment’s prohibition on the sale and consumption o ...

" with sales along the coast on the way. The vessel was at times termed "The Queen of Rum Row" but fell on very hard times and being swindled of much of her cargo. Eventually, out of fuel and money, steam was raised by chopping up interior woodwork and on 23 May 1923 the master surrendered to customs agents at the quarantine anchorage in New York. Free again the ship ran aground on

Nixes Mate Nixes Mate, also known as Nixes Island, Nix's Mate and Nick's Mate, is one of the smaller islands in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Located in Boston Harbor's outer limits near the convergence of three major channels, the isl ...

in Boston harbor during a January snowstorm. The ship was broken up 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 ...

during the summer of 1930.

References

Bibliography

External links

Photo gallery
at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Yankton Schooners of the United States Navy 1898 ships Ships built in Scotland