USS Leyden (1865)

The first USS "Leyden" was a screw steamer that operated as a tug in the U.S. Navy from 1866 to 1903 and saw combat service in the Spanish-American War in 1898.

"Leyden" was launched in 1865 by James Tetlow, Chelsea, Massachusetts. From 1866 to 1879 she operated as a yard tug at the Boston Navy Yard, performing various harbor duties out of Boston, Massachusetts, until reassigned to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1879. Leyden served there until 1897, when she was assigned to Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1898, "Leyden" performed towing operations off Cuba during the Spanish-American War. On 21 July 1898, she joined armed yacht USS "Wasp", and gunboats USS "Annapolis" and USS "Topeka" in firing on and sinking the Spanish sloop "Jorge Juan" in Nipe Bay, Cuba, in the Battle of Nipe Bay.

From 1898 to 1903, "Leyden" alternated her services between the Caribbean and Newport, Rhode Island. While on a return passage from Puerto Rico on 21 January 1903, the tug foundered in heavy fog off Block Island, ending her long, useful career.

References