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by Patrick McSherry

The Patrol Gunboat U.S.S. CASTINE This photo was apparently taken before her length was extended and her stack shortened.

GENERAL:

BACKGROUND:

The CASTINE was launched on May 11, 1892 by the Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine and was commissioned two and a half years later on October 22, 1894. She was commissioned under the command of Commander T. Perry.

CASTINE was assigned to the South Atlantic Squadron. She departed for Pernambuco, Brazil by way of the Azores, Gibraltar, the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope. With the sinking of the Battleship MAINE in Havana harbor, CASTINE was ordered north and underwent a brief overhaul in March 1898. She served in the blockade of Cuba and apparently took part in the bombardment of San Juan, Puerto Rico on May 12, 1898. During the action one of boilers developed a leak and Boilermaker Evan Thomas Hunley actually had to crawl within the boiler to make the repair during the fight. CASTINE was one of the vessels that escorted the the fleet of Army transports taking the U.S. Army's Fifth Corps to Cuba. She served off Havana, Bahia Honda, and Guantanamo Bay. In July, 1898 CASTINE joined the U.S.S. HAWK in sinking a blockade runner, the ALFONSO XII, and shelling a nearby fort at Mariel, Cuba. HAWK's guns did not have the range to damage the vessel which had run aground and her cargo of ammunition, weapons, etc., was being unloaded. CASTINE fired upon the merchantman, which exploded. The CASTINE also fired on several gunboats that had some out to aid the merchantman, which were driven back. in another action CASTINE evacuated the Americans from the island of Navassa, located south of Cuba, who were concerned about a Spanish attack.

Following the armistice, CASTINE steamed for Hampton Roads, Virginia and then Provincetown and Boston, Massachusetts. She apparently remained in the Boston area until the war ended with the Treaty of Paris on December, 10, 1898. She was then ordered to the Philippines by way of the Suez Canal where she supported the U.S. Army during its actions in the Philippine American War. She operated around the southern Islands of the archipelago, and was in charge of the evacuation from Zamboanga in 1899. CASTINE remained in the Far East until 1901, in which year she returned to the U.S. again via the Suez Canal.

CASTINE was decommissioned at Philadelphia on October 8, 1901 and was recommissioned two years later in November, of 1903. CASTINE then served in in the South Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean until being again decommissioned  in 1905 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She remained out of commission until 1908. Between 1908 and 1913 she served as a submarine tender. With the outbreak of World War One she served in the Caribbean, cruising off Mexico. In August of 1917 she was ordered to Gibraltar and the Mediterranean. She remained there until the conclusion of the war, and then returned to the U.S., and was decommissioned for the last time at New Orleans on August 28, 1919.

CASTINE was sold on August 5, 1921.

The vessel carried a full schooner sail rig, meaning that she was not truly designed to be fully part of the modern steam navy. To man the sails, she likely had to carry additional crew for that purpose.

Her initial design provided for relatively small coal bunkers, limiting her range. However it was discovered that the ships of the MACHIAS Class, including the CASTINE had stability issues. To resolve the issue, the CASTINE was removed from the water, literally cut in half and had a fourteen foot section added. Also, armor was removed from the gun sponsons. Additional ballast was added forward, and the height of her stack and masts were also reduced. Because the section added amidships housed mainly coal bunkers, the work not only increased her stability but also her cruising range.

The gun sponsons that protruded from the side of the ship would have made coaling at sea difficult.

Her battery was significantly large for a ship of her size.

TECHNOTES