The Asiatic Squadron was a squadron of United States Navywarships stationed in East Asia during the latter half of the 19th century. It was created in 1868 when the East India Squadron was disbanded. Vessels of the squadron were primarily involved in matters relating to American commerce with China and Japan, though it participated in several conflicts over 34 years of service until becoming the Asiatic Fleet in 1902.
On 1 June 1871, while Rear Admiral Rodgers was negotiating in Inchon, one of the Selee River forts opened fire on Palos as she traversed the Gangwha Straits. In the following engagement, Palos and Monocacy bombarded the fort until it was silenced and on 10 June 1871, the expedition attacked in force. Five of the six hostile forts were captured and destroyed, over 200 Koreans were killed and dozens of cannons were captured. Although the Americans won a military victory, the Koreans refused to sign a trade treaty until 1882.
In the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898, the squadron destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Philippines, and effectively took control of Manila Bay. Eight Spanish ships were sunk and over 150 killed while the Americans suffered only slight damage. Vessels of the squadron also fought the Spanish in the battle to capture Manila. Naval gunfire on the Spaniards' left flank helped American troops take the city without severe losses. The Philippines became an American possession.
On 20 June 1898, the Asiatic Squadron protected cruiser USSCharlestoncapturedGuam from the Spanish without resistance, beginning the American possession of the island.
The Asiatic Squadron participated in the Philippine–American War from 1899 until its disbandment in 1902. American naval forces operated by sending landing parties ashore and by providing them with naval gunfire support. From 1899 to 1902, the squadron conducted several missions against the Filipinos.
Dewey's squadron engaged in naval operation against the Filipinos during and after the 1898 Battle of Manila against the Spanish. At the beginning of the Philippine–American War in February 1899, several American warships supported the occupation of the Philippine Islands. At the same time, the monitorUSSMonadnock, the protected cruisers Charleston, and the gunboats Concord, USSCallao, and Laguna de Bay bombarded Filipino positions during the Battle of Caloocan. Over 300 Filipinos were killed in action and three times as many wounded, with many of the casualties attributed to accurate naval gunfire. USS Petrel and USS Boston shelled Panay Island on 11 February 1899, and, on 22 February 1899, a landing party from Petrel occupied Cebu. In October 1899, Petrel joined Callao in supporting American troops in the Battle of Noveleta by bombarding Filipino troop concentrations at Noveleta before a shore party made its assault.
Many of the captured Spanish gunboats used in the Philippine–American War were manned by United States Army troops and operated together with United States Navy forces. In mid-April 1899, GeneralHenry Lawton led an expedition of 1,500 men in several cascoes and three gunboats to a place near Santa Cruz to find another former Spanish gunboat which was being used by the Filipinos; during the ensuing Battle of Santa Cruz, the American force captured six steamlaunches along with two cascoes, and later took the Filipino gunboat, which the Filipinos reportedly had disarmed so that they could use her guns on land, without a fight.
Baltimore and Petrel served at the Battle of Iloilo, in which about 1,000 Filipinos were defeated when the two warships bombarded the fort there and sent United States Marines and sailors ashore. Only minor skirmishing occurred on land because the Filipinos retreated and burned the town as they left.
On 7 May 1899, Laguna de Bay and another gunboat bombardedSexmoan and routed the Filipinos there. Later that day, the gunboats fought at Guagua, where they bombarded Filipino positions in the town and sent men ashore to fight on the ground. Again the Filipinos retreated and set several buildings on fire as they went.
In June 1899, American gunboats silenced an artillery piece during the Battle of Zapote River, which ended with an American victory.
In the summer of 1899, American gunboats started patrolling Subic Bay. During a routine patrol, the collierUSSZafiro entered Subic Bay and came under fire from a shore battery protecting Olongapo. Zafiro withdrew to Cavite and reported the incident to headquarters. In response, Charleston engaged the battery. On 23 September 1899, Charleston, Concord, the monitor USSMonterey, and Zafiro steamed into Subic Bay and destroyed the battery in the Battle of Olongapo. Then, a company of U.S. Marines and sailors landed and took control.
Charleston grounded on an uncharted reef off Camiguin Island on 2 November 1899. She sustained heavy damage, and her crew abandoned ship and escaped to the nearby island where they made camp. Charleston's launch was sent out for help and, after ten days of being marooned, the American sailors were rescued by the gunboat USSHelena.
Asiatic Squadron gunboats took part in the Battle of Mabitac in June 1900, where they bombarded Filipino forces while U.S. Army troops attacked their fortifications. In a bloody frontal assault the American troops were repulsed and the Filipinos won the battle.
In November 1900, the Asiatic Squadron auxiliary cruiserUSSYosemite was heavily damaged in a typhoon while in Apra Harbor, Guam. Due to damage to her screw, her crew scuttled her. They were picked up later by the collier USSJustin.
During the Boxer Rebellion, the Asiatic Squadron participated in the China Relief Expedition in 1900. At the time, Peking was home to many foreigners who were under siege by Boxer rebels. An international force including U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy sailors of the Asiatic Squadron slowly fought their way to take control of Tientsin away from the Boxers in order to relieve the Siege of the International Legations at Peking.
In 1902, the Asiatic Squadron was upgraded in status, becoming the United States Asiatic Fleet. Except for a period from early 1907 until 28 January 1910 when it was downgraded to the status of First Squadron, United States Pacific Fleet, the Asiatic Fleet replaced the Asiatic Squadron in defending American interests in East Asia from 1902 until February 1942.
Commanders
Illustration of RADM Joseph S. Skerrett from The San Francisco Call, 2 January 1897Admiral George Dewey, commander of the squadron at the Battle of Manila Bay, as he appears at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Successive Commanders-in-Chief of the Asiatic Squadron were as follows:[1]
A posed photograph of Asiatic Squadron officers holding a council of war aboard USSColorado off Korea in June 1871 prior to the Korean Expedition. Squadron commander Rear AdmiralJohn Rodgers leans over the table at right.
USS Olympia at the Independence Seaport Museum in 2007
George Dewey was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with the loss of only a single crewman on the American side.
The second USS Charleston (C-2) was a United States Navy protected cruiser — the fourth US protected cruiser to be built. Lacking experience in building steel cruisers, the design was purchased from the British company Armstrong, Mitchell and Co. of Newcastle, the construction to be by an American shipyard. In design, she succeeded the "ABC" cruisers Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago with better protection, higher speed, and similar armament.
The Battle of Manila Bay, also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Contraalmirante Patricio Montojo. The battle took place in Manila Bay in the Philippines, and was the first major engagement of the Spanish–American War. The battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history.
During the Spanish–American War of 1898, Cámara's Flying Relief Column was a naval task force of Spain's most powerful warships, under the command of Rear Admiral Manuel de la Cámara, tasked with relieving Spanish forces in Manila after the defeat of Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón by the American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. The Spanish fleet, consisting of the battleship Pelayo, armored cruiser Emperador Carlos V, auxiliary cruisers Patriota and Rapido, destroyers Audaz, Osado, and Prosepina, and transports Buenos Aires and Panay, left Spain in June 1898. The squadron was far more powerful than that commanded by Dewey, which only consisted of four protected cruisers and two gunboats. The monitor USS Monterey had been ordered from the U.S. to the Philippines, and departed on 11 June.
USS Helena (PG-9) was a Wilmington-class gunboat of the United States Navy. She participated in the Spanish–American War, and served in the Far East for many years. The (PG-9) was the first of five Navy vessels named after the capital city of Montana.
Peirce Crosby was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, whose active duty career included service in the Mexican–American War and the Civil War.
Rear Admiral Raymond Perry Rodgers was an officer in the United States Navy. He served as the second head of the Office of Naval Intelligence and as the 12th President of the Naval War College and fought in the Spanish–American War.
The timeline of events of the Spanish–American War covers major events leading up to, during, and concluding the Spanish–American War, a ten-week conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States of America.
Isla de Luzón was an Isla de Luzón-class protected cruiser of the Spanish Navy which fought in the Battle of Manila Bay.
Marques del Duero was a Fernando el Catolico-class gunboat of the Spanish Navy which fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War.
Don Antonio de Ulloa was a Velasco-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War. She was built at La Carraca shipyard, Cadiz, Spain. Her keel was laid in 1883 and the vessel was launched on 23 January 1887. Don Antonio de Ulloa took an active part in Spanish military action against Philippine insurgents during the "Tagalog Revolt" (1896–1897), the Spanish name for the first two years of the Philippine Revolution. During her overhaul in Manila bay whilst part of the squadron of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón, the Battle of Manila Bay occurred. With her reduced complement, armament, and inability to maneuver she was sunk with little resistance.
Don Juan de Austria was a Velasco-class unprotected cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War.
USS Isla de Cuba was a Isla de Luzón-class protected cruiser of the United States Navy captured from the Spanish Navy during the Spanish–American War. Originally named Isla de Cuba for the Spanish colony of Cuba, the ship was ordered from the British shipbuilding company Sir W.G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company in January 1886 and laid down on 25 February 1886. The ship was launched on 11 December 1886 and completed in 1887. The vessel fought in the Rif War before being assigned to Spain's fleet in the Philippines. When the Spanish fleet in the Philippines was attacked by the United States Navy during the Battle of Manila Bay, Isla de Cuba was scuttled to prevent capture. However, the Americans raised the ship and commissioned her into the United States Navy in 1900 and assigned to the Asiatic Station, keeping the same name. In US service, the ship, rerated as a gunboat, was used to suppress the Philippine Revolution. The vessel was taken out of American service in 1904, becoming a school ship. In 1912, the US sold the ship to Venezuela which renamed her Mariscal Sucre. The ship was scrapped in 1940.
Callao was a Samar-class gunboat of the Spanish Navy which served in the Spanish fleet from 1888 to 1898 and fought in the Spanish–American War.
Callao was a gunboat of the United States Navy which fought in the Spanish–American War and served in the U.S. fleet from 1898–1923.
Rear Admiral Frederick W. Rodgers was an officer in the United States Navy. He fought in the American Civil War and rose to be the last commander of the Asiatic Squadron. He was a grandson of U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry.
The Battle of Olongapo was fought September 18–23, 1899, during the Philippine–American War. The battle featured both land and sea fighting, of which the objective was the destruction of the single Filipino artillery gun in Olongapo, a menace to American ships crossing the nearby sea.
USS Paragua was a schooner-rigged iron gunboat in the United States Navy during the Philippine–American War. Paragua was one of four Arayat class gunboats built by the Manila Ship Co. for the Spanish navy in 1887–88. Her sister ships were the USS Samar (PG-41), USS Pampanga (PG-39) and USS Arayat.
Commodore James Philips Parker was a United States Navy officer. His career included service in the Spanish–American War, the Philippine–American War, and the Santo Domingo Affair, and he was recalled from retirement to serve as an Acting President of the Naval War College during World War I.
Francis John Higginson was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War and Spanish–American War. He rose to the rank of rear admiral and was the last commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic Squadron and first commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic Fleet.
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