USS Wasp

USS Wasp may refer to:

USS Wasp (1893)

The seventh USS Wasp was an armed yacht that served in the U.S. Navy from 1898 to 1919 and saw service in the Spanish–American War.

Acquisition and commissioning

It was built as the Columbia in 1893 by William Cramp & Sons for Joseph Harvey Ladew, Sr.. It was launched from Philadelphia on 23 August 1893.

It was used by the United States Navy, renamed USS Wasp, and commissioned at New York City on 11 April 1898, Lieutenant Aaron Ward in command.

Spanish–American War service

The converted yacht departed New York on 26 April 1898 and headed south for Spanish–American War duty blockading Cuba. She stopped at Key West, Florida, from 1 to 7 May 1898 and arrived off Havana later on 7 May. From there, she moved west along the northern coast to Bahia Honda, also arriving there on 7 May. On 12 May 1898, while cruising on blockade station off the Cuban coast between Havana and Bahia Honda, Wasp joined a small convoy escorted by the revenue cutter USRC Manning and made up of merchantman SS Gussie and tugs Triton and Dewey. Gussie carried two companies of United States Army troops scheduled to land at Bahia Honda, while Triton and Dewey carried representatives of the press.

USS Wasp (1865)

The sixth USS Wasp was a sidewheel gunboat that served in the U.S. Navy from 1865 to 1876.

Emma Henry, an iron-hulled sidewheel steamer, was captured at sea in December 1864 attempting to run the Union blockade of the Confederacy. The United States Navy purchased her from the New York prize court on 13 January 1865 and commissioned her into naval service on 11 May 1865.

At Norfolk, Virginia, Emma Henry joined the squadron commanded by Acting Rear Admiral Sylvanus W. Godon, which had been established to search for the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Stonewall. Emma Henry departed Hampton Roads with the rest of the squadron on 17 May 1865. On 22 May 1865, she carried Acting Rear Admiral Godon into Charleston harbor in South Carolina to confer with Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren before the squadron continued on its way. During that interlude, she collided with another ship and, after returning Godon to his flagship USS Susquehanna, headed north for repairs at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.