U.S.S. Elcano
PG-38
1910
(Saratoga Model Shipyards SMY-84)
- Class: Elcano - 1 gunboat of 1882
- Displacement: 620 tons
- Dimensions: 165'6" x 26' x 10'
- Machinery: two vertical compound engines, 300 IHP each, 2 shafts = 11 knots
- Armament: 4-4in/40 guns
- Complement: 101
- Builder: Carraca Arsenal, Cadiz, Spain
- Laid down: 3 Mar 1882
- Launched: 28 Jan 1884
- Completed: 1885
- Captured: 1 May 1898
- Commissioned: 20 Nov 1902 / 5 Dec 1910
- Decommissioned: 1 Nov 1907 / 30 Jun 1928
- Notes: Built for Spain as Elcano, completing in 1885. Served in the Philippines. Captured by the U.S. Army at Manila, 1 May 1898. Turned over to the Navy 9 Nov 1899. Outfitted at Cavite Naval Yard. Commissioned USS Elcano, Gunboat No.38.
Sailing from Manila along with two other Spanish war prizes, Villalobos and Pompey, she inaugurated the Yangtze River Patrol, based on Shanghai from Feb 1903. Returned to Cavite in 1907 and placed out of commission. Returned to commission in 1910 and returned to China, based at Amoy until U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, when she was recalled to Manila Bay for patrol work. Reclassified PG-38 on 17 July 1920. Returned to Shanghai 3 Feb 1920 for 8 more years of service in Chinese waters, including a major clash 24 Mar 1927 at Nanking during the Chinese civil wars. After decommissioning, she was sunk as a target 4 Oct 1928.
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