USS Frolic (1892)

The third USS Frolic was a United States Navy patrol yacht in commission in 1898, from 1900 to 1906, and from 1906 to 1907. She served briefly during the Spanish–American War.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Frolic.

USS Frolic off Norfolk Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia, on 1 November 1898.
History
United States
Name: Frolic
Namesake: A "frolic" is a happy and festive occasion
Builder: Globe Iron Works, Cleveland, Ohio
Yard number: 46
Completed: 1892
Acquired: 28 May 1898
Commissioned: 6 July 1898
Recommissioned:
  • 25 October 1900 (first time)
  • 19 December 1906 (second time, in reduced status)
Decommissioned:
  • 27 September 1898 (first time)
  • 31 March 1906 (second time)
  • 31 July 1907 (third and final time)
Identification:
  • Official Number: 126888 (yacht)
  • Signal (Navy) GQKF[1]
Fate: Transferred to United States Department of War 21 May 1909
Notes: In private use as yacht Comanche 1892–1898; in United States Army service from 1909
General characteristics
Type: Patrol yacht
Displacement: 607 long tons (617 t)
Length: 165 ft (50 m)
Beam: 25 ft (7.6 m)
Draft: 18 ft (5.5 m)
Depth of hold: 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)
Speed: 11 kn (13 mph; 20 km/h)
Armament: 2 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.85 in)) guns

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

Frolic was built for H. M. Hanna in 1892 by Globe Iron Works at Cleveland, Ohio, yard number 46, as the private yacht Comanche, official number 126888.[2] The U.S. Navy purchased her on 28 May 1898 for service during the Spanish–American War and commissioned her as USS Frolic on 6 July 1898 with Commander E. H. Gheen in command.

Service history

Spanish–American War

Frolic departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 23 July 1898 with mail for ships of the North Atlantic Station on Spanish–American War duty off Cuba and Puerto Rico. The war ended in August 1898 while she was performing these duties. She arrived at Norfolk Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia, on 17 September, and was decommissioned there on 27 September.

Post-war

Frolic was recommissioned on 25 October 1900. Assigned to the Asiatic Station, she cleared Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 30 December bound for the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, and finally Cavite on Luzon in the Philippine Islands, where she arrived on 24 April 1901.

Cooperating with the United States Army in the Philippine–American War, Frolic patrolled the southern Philippines, serving primarily off Samar. Several times during the next year, she aided ships in distress, and from October 1902 made hydrographic surveys. She performed a variety of other duties in establishing American control in the Philippines, including investigation of possible telegraph sites and transport duty.

In February 1904, Frolic added patrols and target practice in Chinese waters to her operating schedule at intervals.

Frolic was decommissioned on 31 March 1906. After repairs, was placed in reduced commission on 19 December 1906 for service as a yard craft at Cavite.

Frolic was decommissioned for the last time on 31 July 1907.

Final disposition

On 21 May 1909, Frolic was transferred to the United States Department of War for U.S. Army service in the Philippines.

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References
  1. Thirty-First Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States, Year ended June 30, 1899. Washington, D.C.: Treasury Department, Bureau of Navigation. 1899. p. 48. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  2. Colton, Tim (18 August 2015). "Globe Iron Works, Cleveland OH". ShipbuildingHistory. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
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