The Great White Fleet Battleship Vermont

Home>The Ships>Vermont

USS Vermont

The second Vermont (Battleship No. 20) was laid down on 21 May 1904 at Quincy, Massachussets, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 31 August 1905; sponsored by Miss Jennie Bell, the daughter of Governor Charles J. Bell of Vermont; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 4 March 1907, Capt. William P. Potter in command.

Launching Ceremony

After her "shaking down" cruise off the eastern seaboard between Boston and Hampton Roads, Virginia, Vermont participated in maneuvers with the 1st Division of the Atlantic Fleet and, later, with the 1st and 2d Squadrons. Making a final trial trip between Hampton Roads and Provincetown, Massachussetts, between 30 August and 5 September, Vermont arrived at the Boston Navy Yard on 7 September and underwent repairs until late in November 1907.

Departing Boston on 30 November, she coaled at Bradford, Rhode Island; received "mine outfits and stores" at Newport, Rhode Island; and picked up ammunition at Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York; and arrived at Hampton Roads on 8 December.

There, she made final preparations for the globe-girdling cruise of the United States Atlantic Fleet. Nicknamed the "Great White Fleet" because of the white and spar color of their paint schemes, the 16 pre-dreadnought battleships sailed from Hampton Roads on 16 December, standing out to sea under the gaze of President Theodore Roosevelt who had dispatched the ships around the globe as a dramatic gesture toward Japan, a growing power on the world stage.

Vermont sailed as a unit of the lst Division, under the overall command of Rear Admiral Robley D. "Fighting Bob" Evans, who was concurrently the Commander in Chief of the Fleet. Over the ensuing months, the battleship visited ports in Chile, Peru, Mexico, California, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, China, and in the Mediterranean, before she returned to Hampton Roads -- again passing in review before President Roosevelt -- on Washington's Birthday, 22 February 1909. During the voyage, Vermont's commanding officer, Capt Potter, was advanced to flag rank and took command of the division; his place was taken by Capt. (later Admiral) Frank Friday Fletcher.

[Back][Up][Next]