Departure
It was 16 December 1907 exactly 99 years ago.
It was a warm and cloudy morning that day and the waters were calm at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
To the familiar tune of “The Girl I Left Behind Me” the four squadrons of warships passed before President Theodore Roosevelt at approximately 400 yard intervals with their crews smartly and formally “manning the rails”.
USS Kansas sails ahead of USS Vermont as the Fleet leaves Hampton Road, Virginia 16 December 1907.
It must have been a superb site with these large battleships, painted white, flags flying, decks lined with sailors and their huge guns glistening in the sunlight, their coal stacks billowing clouds of thick black smoke into the cloudy sky.
USS Connecticut leading the Fleet to sea circa 1907 possibly at Departure
Roosevelt stood on the weatherdeck of the Presidential yacht “Mayflower” which was anchored in the waters at Hampton Road. I imagine at some point he quickly flashed that famous broad, toothy grin and must have thought to himself “bully” or "bravo" to see such a fine armada of US Navy battleships passing in full review before him.
Roosevelt inspecting the fleet from the Mayflower
Admirals Bronson, Davis & Evans, Teddy Roosevelt and Secretary Bonaparte
It would have been natural for Roosevelt and the large crowd of onlookers to feel nothing else but a great sense of pride and achievement as the sixteen battleships of the US Navy Fleet, glistening in white paint, steamed in a seemingly never ending but majestic single column out of Hampton Roads into the vast open sea flanked by their attending auxiliary ships.
It was considered by many as one of the finest moments in US Navy peacetime history.
Aboard his flagship the USS Connecticut I also imagine Rear Admiral Robley “Fighting Bob” Evans looked out with pride upon the fine fleet under his command. He had reported earlier that his ships “were ready at the drop of a hat for a feast, a frolic or a fight”.
Later on that day Evans passed the word to the officers and men of the fleet their true full itinerary which involved circumventing the globe.
The next instalment will cover the first stage itinerary for The Great White Fleet.
Regards
Sean
Great White Fleet Installment 1
Great White Fleet Installment 2
Great White Fleet Installment 3
Great White Fleet Installment 4
Great White Fleet Installment 5
Great White Fleet Installment 6
Great White Fleet Installment 7
