Steam yacht [sic]

Steam yacht [sic]

Image of a U.S. Navy gunboat, probably either USS VICKSBURG (PG-11) or USS NEWPORT (PG-12) at anchor just down the Kennebec River from Bath, Maine. Visible in image: The gunboat has booms out on both sides, with a launch in the water to starboard (photo left) and a small boat to port (photo right). Below the booms can be seen the barrels of two of the vessel's larger guns; at the head of the upper line of portholes are two open gunports with small, rapid-fire guns visible. Two crew are visible: a sailor in white up in the bows, and someone in dark clothing near the starboard (photo left) boat boom. In the background at far left are the clustered masts of schooners moored at the Bath wharves; another sailing vessel is anchored mid-river upstream from the gunboat. On the Woolwich side (at right), the large shed-like structures are the Maine Central railroad ferry slips. Cataloger's notes: Second-hand captions on the negative plate and sleeve identify the vessel in the photograph as a steam yacht; the armament alone suggests that this is not accurate. It is not immediately clear which gunboat this is, as the ANNAPOLIS-class totaled four vessels. Of them, only VICKSBURG and NEWPORT were built at Bath (launched 1896), but none of the class spent much time in New England waters--NEWPORT probably the most of the four. It is also not exactly clear when this photograph was taken--the presence of armament and crowded decks (as well as white peacetime paint) suggest later in their careers, as does the absence of a prominent eagle figurehead that all four vessels carried early on. However, there is no definitive indication that this is the case. VICKSBURG went to the West Coast in 1904 and NEWPORT was under civilian operation in New York in 1907 (and until 1918), so perhaps this photograph was made no later than then.