Service in The Pacific
Assigned to the North Atlantic Station, Petrel continued with it until September 1891, when ordered to the Asiatic Squadron where she was to serve until 1911. Steaming north in May 1894, she reported at Unalaska, in July to operate with the Bering Sea patrol to discourage seal poaching. In July, she operated off the Pribilof Islands; and in August she returned to the Asiatic station.
Withdrawing from Hong Kong in April 1898, Petrel became part of George Dewey's fleet in the campaign against Manila. On 1 May, after Dewey’s squadron had defeated the heavy Spanish ships in the first engagement of the Spanish-American War, Petrel entered the inner harbor and lowered a boat to destroy six Spanish ships there. (For more detailed information, see Battle of Manila Bay.) Petrel then steamed to the navy yard at Cavite and forced its surrender. Sent into Cavite to destroy any Spanish ships seeking refuge there on 2 May, Petrel sent a party ashore which seized the arsenal at Cavite and returned with 2 tugs, Rapido and Hercules, plus 3 additional launches.
Petrel continued operations in the Philippines throughout 1898 and 1899. She joined USS Boston in shelling Panay Island on 11 February 1899; on the 22nd, a force of 48 men from Petrel occupied Cebu. In October, Petrel joined USS Callao in supporting the Marine Corps assault on Neveleta by bombarding ahead of the advancing Marine column.
Read more about this topic: USS Petrel (PG-2)
Famous quotes containing the words service in, service and/or pacific:
“Mr. Speaker, at a time when the nation is again confronted with necessity for calling its young men into service in the interests of National Security, I cannot see the wisdom of denying our young women the opportunity to serve their country.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“The masochist: “I send my tormentor hurrying hither and thither in the service of my suffering and desire.””
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Really, there is no infidelity, nowadays, so great as that which prays, and keeps the Sabbath, and rebuilds the churches. The sealer of the South Pacific preaches a truer doctrine.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)