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This document lists the ships in the largest battleship fleets in each of three countries: England’s Channel Fleet, Germany’s High Sea Fleet, and the United States’s Atlantic Fleet. Notes are included regarding the commission of each fleet and planned replacements, repairs, and additions to the Atlantic Fleet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-13
A picture of the sixteen battleships making up the Great White Fleet which started their journey from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to the Pacific Ocean.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-16
President Roosevelt directs Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte to handle Naval Academy candidate James B. Walker’s case like Crosby Matthews’s: if one man is turned away due to deafness, then all must be. He will appoint James Campbell as Deputy Surveyor following the election. Bonaparte can manage the USS Louisiana and USS Tennessee business as proposed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-12
President Roosevelt comments to Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte about several ships, and shares his amusement at the comment in a newspaper article about the proposed destruction of the Constitution as likely being instigated by Roosevelt, thinking that Roosevelt’s “violent hostility to the Constitution is extended to anything which bears the hated title.” He has “a certain malign satisfaction” in seeing some newspapers take an attitude towards Bonaparte similar to that which they have always taken towards Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-16
Admiral Robley D. Evans gives Chief of the Bureau of Navigation Rear Admiral Brownson his thoughts on routeing the Atlantic Fleet. He is primarily concerned about how other nations will view the Fleet’s maneuvers, and the season the fleet will be passing through the Straits of Magellan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-17
Colorized stereograph taken from the bridge of the USS Minnesota at the Jamestown Exposition. The USS Kentucky and the USS Connecticut can be seen in the distance. On the left of the image, a sailor in his dress blue uniform is kneeling, looking through a spyglass. On the reverse of the stereograph is information about the officers of each of the three ships.
As printed on the reverse of the stereograph, “The Bridge of the Minnesota. The Minnesota is the flagship of Rear-Admiral Charles L. [sic] Thomas.
This magnificent view was taken at the Jamestown Exposition from the bridge of the Minnesota by the kind permission of the Captain, and shows the battleship Kentucky, Captain Walter C. Knowles [sic] of the second squadron, and Admiral Evans of the Connecticut in the rear.”
Colorized stereograph showing a Marine drill on the USS Connecticut. The Marines, most of whom are in a line on the deck of the ship and facing away from the camera, are dressed in blue uniforms. Text on the reverse of the stereograph details the duties of the Marines on board navy ships.
As printed on the reverse of the stereograph, “The marine is an infantry man or a line soldier. A distinct body of soldiers, drilled and recruited as a special arm of the United States service, and is attached in squads or companies to the different battleships going on foreign service. They do guard duty and sometimes have charge of the small rapid-firing guns in action. Their main duty, however, is in landing parties or taking charge or doing guard in the interest of Uncle Sam. In other words, the marine is the policeman of Uncle Sam, and landed on foreign shores to do soldier’s duty wherever required. In the fleet going around the Horn there are over 2,000 of these marines assigned to the different battleships and cruisers.”
Colorized stereograph of the Naval Review at Hampton Roads during the Jamestown Exposition. A sailboat is in the foreground, sailing towards the battleships in the distance. Text on the reverse of the stereograph list the USS Louisiana, USS Connecticut, USS Missouri, and USS Vermont as the ships visible in the background.
As printed on the reverse of the stereograph, “Part of the naval review held at Hampton Roads during the Jamestown Exposition during 1907. This is a view looking down the line of ten battleships extending over five miles. Battleships Louisiana, Connecticut, Missouri and Vermont are in line.”
Colorized stereograph showing five battleships during the 1906 naval parade in Oyster Bay. Each ship is painted white and is decorated with colorful flags. Text on the reverse of the stereograph list the USS Louisiana, USS Connecticut, and USS Vermont as the ships in the image and describes the capabilities of the battleships in the squadron.
As printed on the reverse of the stereograph, “This is a view of the three great battleships on the day of the great naval parade at Oyster Bay in the summer of 1906. One of the great difficulties in photography is the getting of a view at a distance and still preserve the details, and if you will notice there are five battleships actually in sight in this view. These battleships compose, with the Kansas, the first division of the squadron of the battle fleet ordered to the Pacific.
The first battleship in view is the Louisiana, and the second is the Connecticut, the flagship, and the third the Vermont. All of these battleships are of the first-class type, having a displacement of 16,000 tons and sailing 18 knots an hour, all carrying 24 guns four inches and over in size, having four to six 12-inch guns mounted in turrets with a striking energy of three miles, or in other words, any one of the 12-inch monsters can hit and destroy at a distance of five miles.”
Colorized stereograph showing three sailors in white uniforms writing letters aboard the USS Connecticut, with another sailor standing in the background. Text on the reverse of the stereograph describes the boxes each sailor receives to hold their personal items.
As printed on the reverse of the stereograph, “One of the odd sights that strikes a visitor to a battleship is the curious little tiers of small boxes about a foot square ranged in rows near hammocks. These boxes are made of aluminum or some light metal so that in case of fire or a shot striking or going through and fire taking place the boxes would not ignite. These little boxes are numbered and each box represents a sailor, and all his little belongings are in his box, including his sweetheart’s photograph, letters from home and mother, needles and thread, buttons, stationary, etc. When a sailor joins a ship this little box is given him as his personal private receptacle to hold his knick-knacks, etc. A number is given him and he is allowed to take this box down at certain times and write his letters, as illustrated in the view in front.
This view was taken on board the flagship Connecticut and shows the boys writing their letters to the folks at home.”
Colorized stereograph of the galley on the USS Connecticut. Several sailors are cooking, cleaning, and supervising. Text on the reverse of the stereograph describes the work done in the galley.
As printed on the reverse of the stereograph, “Another wonderful exhibition of Stereoscopic Art. This is the Cooks’ Galley on board the great flagship Connecticut. The sailor boys are told off to help the cook. The sailor in the fore part of the picture is cooking coffee in a monster copper boiler. Further back you will notice a long steel range, and the cook is way in the rear superintending the cooking. Everything is clean and bright and polished in the Cooks’ Galley, and is inspected three times a day by a commissioned officer to see that everything is right.”
Colorized stereograph of a sailor peeling potatoes on board the USS Connecticut. The sailor has a small tattoo on his forearm. Next to the sailor, a collared goat is seen eating potato peels. Text on the reverse of the stereograph discusses pets on navy ships.
As printed on the reverse of the stereograph, “Every ship in Uncle Sam’s Navy has some animal made a pet of by the sailors, a dog or a goat, a monkey or some other animal. On board the flagship Connecticut a goat was adopted by the boys and was a great pet and much beloved from ‘Fighting Joe’ down to the sailor-boy, but one day poor Billy died and now another goat is religiously disposing of the potato pealings [sic].
As seen in the view the cook is pealing the potatoes and the billy-goat is eating the pealings [sic].”
Colorized postcard showing the USS Connecticut, USS Vermont, USS, Kansas, USS Louisiana, USS Minnesota, and USS New Hampshire traveling in a line.
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James R. Reckner recounts the voyage of the Great White Fleet from December 1907 to February 1909. Reckner looks at the many ports of call made by the flotilla, and he notes some of the entertainment, ceremonies, and honors accorded the fleet as it made its way around the globe. Reckner highlights a change of command necessitated by the poor health of Admiral Robley D. Evans, and he emphasizes the difficulties faced by the ships by a lack of adequate coal supplies at various points in the cruise. Reckner also describes how a part of the fleet came to the aid of Messina, Sicily in the aftermath of an earthquake, and he outlines how important the voyage was to the relationship between the United States and Japan.
The article includes twenty-seven images from the Great White Fleet collection of Bill Stewart, including twenty photographs, five souvenirs, and two postcards.
The Senate Committee on Naval Affairs interviews a number of naval officers on some alleged defects in the construction of several battleships now being built. Chief among these concerns are the questions of the placement of the armor belt, the positions of the guns, and the design of the hoists to provide the turrets with ammunition.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-21