USS Yankton (1893)

USS Yankton (originally named Penelope) was a steel-hulled schooner built in 1893 at Leith, Scotland, by Ramage & Ferguson. She was acquired by the US Navy in May 1898; renamed Yankton; and commissioned on 16 May 1898 at Norfolk, Virginia, with Lt. Comdr. James D. Adams in command. According to Charles Armstrong, who was Medical Officer of the Yankton in 1918, the Penelope had been the extravagant yacht of a well-known French actress. She was converted to a gunboat by the US Navy and partook in the Spanish-American War patrolling and engaging the enemy in Cuban waters.

The Yankton accompanied the Navy’s Great White Fleet  on the “round the world cruise” as a fleet tender in 1907–1908. In World War I she headed for Gibraltar to join the Patrol Forces protecting Allied shipping from German U-boats, and she came under hostile fire during combat. After extensive litigation, she returned to merchant service, until broken up at Boston during the summer of 1930.

External Links and references

 * detailed coverage of the ship's history
 * Photo gallery at navsource.org