U.S.S. DUBUQUE

U.S.S. DUBUQUE

U.S.S. DUBUQUE. U.S. Navy warship. USS Dubuque (PG-17) was the name given to two United States Navy patrol combatant ships. One found in WORLD WAR I while the other fought in WORLD WAR II.

The first U.S.S. Dubuque was launched August 15, 1904, by Gas Engine and Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury and Co., Morris Heights, Long Island, New York. She was commissioned on June 3, 1905, and commanded by Lieutenant Commander A. F. Fechteler. She was reclassified AG-6 in 1919; IX-9, April 24, 1922; and PG-17, on November 4, 1940.

The Dubuque cruised from her home port of Portsmouth, New Hampshire in Atlantic coastal waters and in the Caribbean protecting American interests and citizens. She saved some Americans from attack by Cuban bandits on the night of May 18-19, 1907. The Dubuque arrived at Chicago, Illinois on June 29, 1911 and was decommissioned July 22nd for use as a training ship by the Illinois Naval Militia.

On August 4, 1914, the Dubuque was recommissioned and sailed three days later for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she was placed in commission in reserve October 3rd. She was fitted out as a mine-training ship and on July 30, 1915 returned to a fully commissioned status and was assigned to the Mining and Minesweeping Division, Atlantic Fleet. She participated in training along the Atlantic coast and after American entry into World War I in April 1917, she installed and tended submarine nets in Hampton Roads and at New London, Connecticut. She also trained reserve officers at the Naval Academy.

Assigned to temporary duty with the Cruiser and Transport Force, the Dubuque made three voyages between New York and Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a convoy escort between June 6th and July 14, 1917. She arrived at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on August 3rd for duty with the French division of the Caribbean Patrol, investigating isolated harbors and inlets in the Caribbean and on the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia to prevent their use by German submarines. On December 8, 1918, she reported to the American Patrol Detachment, Atlantic Fleet, with whom she served along the East Coast until returning to Portsmouth May 6, 1919. She again went out of commission May 27, 1919.

The Dubuque was recommissioned May 25, 1922 and sailed from Portsmouth June 8th for Detroit, Michigan, where she arrived June 24th. Attached to the 9th Naval District, she took Naval Reservists on cruises from her home port of Detroit into Lakes Superior and Michigan every summer. She was placed in reduced commission November 1, 1940 and on the 14th sailed for Boston. The Dubuque was assigned to the 1st Naval District and was modernized and refitted. She returned to full commission July 1, 1941 and patrolled on the New England coast until 14 October. Two days later she arrived at Little Creek, Virginia to serve as gunnery practice ship for the Armed Guard School there. Throughout her second war, the Dubuque trained merchant ship armed guard crews in Chesapeake Bay. She was decommissioned September 7, 1945 and transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal December 19, 1946.

The second U.S.S. Dubuque was commissioned on September 1,1967, in Portsmouth, Virginia.

In November 1987, the ship's crew of twenty-six officers and four hundred enlisted men pledged a donation of two thousand dollars toward the Tri-State Veteran's Memorial Association goal of $300,000 to construct a memorial for all veterans.