USS Raleigh (C-8) - World War I and Beyond

World War I and Beyond

Undergoing repairs at Mare Island when the United States entered World War I, Raleigh departed San Francisco in early May 1917, and on 5 June joined the Patrol Force, Atlantic Fleet, at Newport, R.I. Assigned to Cruiser Force, 2nd Squadron, she patrolled from Boston to Norfolk until November when she was detached for duty in Brazilian waters.

On 12 December, Raleigh arrived at Rio de Janeiro, and until 27 April 1918 she patrolled between there and Bahia (Salvador). In May, she arrived off West Africa; delivered munitions to the Liberian Government; continued on to Dakar, French West Africa, then headed west on 18 May. At the end of the month, she resumed Bahia-Rio patrols.

At the same time, however, German U-boats appeared off the east coast of the United States. Raleigh was ordered home.

Clearing Bahia on 26 June, she joined the American Patrol Detachment at Key West, Florida, on 21 July and began guarding convoys in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean, and off the east coast of the Carolinas. She remained on that duty until after the end of the war, and into 1919 continued operations out of Key West. On 6 April, she entered the Charleston Navy Yard and prepared for inactivation. On 21 April, she was decommissioned for the last time, and on 5 August 1921 she was sold for scrapping to Henry A. Hitner's Sons Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.