Sing
ho! A song for the Oregon
The warrior of the deep;
The
great sea-hound who with maddened bound,
And a growl at every leap,
Bore
down on the fleeing enemy,
With a fire that scorched and tore,
Till
the Spanish fleet she had rushed to meet
Was squashed against Cuba’s shore.
Sing
ho! A song for the race she ran,
From the far off Western seas;
With
a whitened jaw, and a hungry paw,
And a curse flung to the breeze.
Boast
ye of the fourteen thousand miles,
To avenge her sister ship!
Boast
ye of the shot which thundered hot
From her round and blood-red lip.
Sing
ho! A song for the cruise she made
From the West to Manila Bay;
With
never a halt from flaw or fault,
All ready to join the fray.
Then
three times three for the Oregon,
The mightiest dog of war!
The
hope and more of the lives ashore,
The pride of the Yankee tar.
June
16, 1899
USS Oregon (BB-3) was a pre-dreadnought Indiana-class battleship of
the United States Navy. Her construction was authorized on 30 June 1890,
and the contract to build her was awarded to Union Iron Works of San
Francisco, California on 19 November 1890. Her keel was laid exactly one
year later. She was launched on 26 October 1893, sponsored by Miss Daisy
Ainsworth (daughter of Oregon steamboat magnate John C. Ainsworth),
delivered to the Navy on 26 June 1896, and commissioned on 15 July 1896 with Captain H.L.
Howison in command. Later she was commanded by Captains Albert S. Barker and
Alexander H. McCormick. Captain Charles E. Clark assumed command 17
March 1898 throughout the Spanish–American War.
Oregon served for a
short time with the Pacific Squadron before being ordered on a voyage
around South America to the East Coast in March 1898 in preparation for war
with Spain. She departed from San Francisco on 19 March, and reached Jupiter
Inlet 66 days later, a journey of 14,000 nautical miles (26,000 km;
16,000 mi). This was considered a remarkable achievement at the time. The
journey popularized the ship with the American public and demonstrated the need
for a shorter route, which led to construction of the Panama Canal. After
completing her journey Oregon was ordered to join the blockade at
Santiago as part of the North Atlantic Squadron under Rear Admiral Sampson. She
took part in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, where she and the cruiser Brooklyn were
the only ships fast enough to chase down the Spanish cruiser Cristóbal
Colón, forcing its surrender. Around this time she received the nickname
"Bulldog of the Navy", most likely because of her high bow wave—known
as "having a bone in her teeth" in nautical slang—and perseverance
during the cruise around South America and the battle of Santiago.
After
the war Oregon was refitted and sent back to the Pacific. She served
for a year in the Philippines during the Philippine–American War and
then spent a year in China at Wusong during the Boxer Rebellion before
returning to the United States for an overhaul. In March 1903 Oregon returned
to Asiatic waters and stayed there for three years, decommissioning in April
1906. Oregon was recommissioned in August 1911, but saw little
activity and was officially placed on reserve status in 1914. After the United
States joined World War I in 1917 Oregon acted as one of the escorts
for transport ships during the Siberian Intervention. In October 1919, she
was decommissioned for the final time. As a result of the Washington Naval
Treaty, Oregon was declared "incapable of further warlike
service" in January 1924. In June 1925 she was loaned to the State of
Oregon, who used her as a floating monument and museum in Portland.
In
February 1941, Oregon was redesignated IX–22. Due to the outbreak of
World War II it was decided that the scrap value of the ship was more important
than her historical value, so she was sold. Her stripped hulk was later
returned to the Navy and used as an ammunition barge during the battle of
Guam, where she remained for several years. USCGC Tupelo (WLB-303) assisted
towing Oregon to Guam. During a typhoon in November 1948, she broke
loose and drifted out to sea. She was located 500 miles southeast of Guam and
towed back. She was sold on 15 March 1956 and scrapped in Japan.
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