(Picture postcard from the Hugh C. Leighton Co. of Portland, ME, courtesy of Tommy Trapp via navsource.org) The USS Marietta.

The naval gunboat USS Marietta (PG-15) made quite a splash, you could say, when presented with a “magnificent” silver service by the citizens of Marietta, Ohio, the vessel’s namesake, on Sept 1, 1899, on the second anniversary of her commissioning in San Francisco.

I had heard of the USS Marietta gunboat but hadn’t seen a picture of it. Wow, what an elegant ship – with its white color and smart profile. Gunboats were a late 1800s phenomenon, built for shore patrols, convoy protection, shore bombardment, and support of U. S. military operations in places like the Philippines and Latin America. Marietta was part of the “New Navy” of the 1890s featuring vessels with gleaming white hulls, modern engineering, and sleek profiles. Gunboats were able to project the power of the United States into remote locales and waterways – as suggested by the term “gunboat diplomacy.”

How did the Marietta get her name? Alert Ohioans learned of gunboats being planned for the Navy to be named for small American towns. June 4, 1896: Governor Asa Bushnell wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, “I respectfully urge upon you the eminent propriety of naming one of these gunboats after the city of Marietta, Ohio,” citing its historical significance.

From the blog navalwarfare: …”the USS Marietta (PG-15) was a 1,000-ton gunboat…built at the Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California. She was commissioned on 1 September 1897 and was almost 190 feet long, 34 feet wide and had a top speed of 13 knots. The Marietta was armed with six 4-inch guns, one 3-inch guns, four 6-pounders, two 1-pounders and one Colt “potato digger” machine gun. …” She was a well-armed gunboat for her size and, with a crew of 140 officers and men, was well suited to protect American lives and property…around the world.” Below the water line, her hulls were pine and ironwood. The rest of the hull was steel.

Presentation of silver table service (trays, punch bowls, urns, flatware, etc.) to a vessel by its namesake city or state was a popular naval tradition in the late 1800s. It fostered public support for new ships and documented history behind the ship’s name. A glowing Boston Globe article reported the Marietta ceremony: “With the parade of the marine battalion, the booming of guns and speeches and felicitations, the U S gunboat Marietta was formally presented a magnificent silver service by citizens of the Ohio city for which she was named. Gov. Asa S. Bushnell of Ohio…made the presentation address, an eloquent and thrilling oration…Col J. Payson Bradley responded on behalf of… Massachusetts, whose sturdy citizens were the pioneers of Marietta…Nearly every officer of the yard and station was present in magnificent full-dress uniform.” (Author’s political correctness alert: fawning comments in the Globe article about females may be disturbing and/or amusing to the reader.) “The fair sex added picturesqueness by pretty summer costumes and personal beauty…”

(From history.navy.mil) Crew showing off shaved heads, during WWI. Soles of shoes in front spell out “we r crazy so r u.”

Marietta was thrust into a major conflict in her first action: the Spanish-American War. “Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!” was the national battlecry after the battleship USS Maine blew up and sank on February 15, 1898 in Havana harbor. The cause was undetermined, but Spain was the scapegoat. Marietta escorted the USS Oregon battleship around the tip of South America and then joined the blockade of Havana Harbor in the spring of 1898. Thereafter, her tours over 22 years included service in the Pacific, Latin America, and Europe.

Thousands served on the Marietta over the years. On board duty included hard work, drills, discipline, and high stakes tension interspersed with boredom and fun times on shore leaves. Photographs suggest many crew members had fond memories of their USS Marietta service.