- Asiatic Squadron
The Asiatic Squadron was the fleet of
United States Navy warship s and supporting elements stationed in thePacific Ocean in the 19th century. TheUnited States maintained naval presence inEast Asia since 1835 to protect American interests against the turmoil of the Chinese rebellions. Originally called the Asiatic Station of the United States Navy, this was the overall command of the Navy in theFar East during the 1880s. Vessels on this station were primarily involved in matters relating to UScommerce withChina andJapan .On
April 27 ,1898 , this squadron, composed of theflagship "Olympia", "Baltimore", "Raleigh", "Petrel", "Concord", "Boston", and "McCulloch", sailed fromMirs Bay , China, to thePhilippines to participate in theSpanish-American War . The squadron proceeded to destroy the Spanish fleet guarding the Philippines, and effectively took control of Manila Bay. (For more information on this battle, see theBattle of Manila Bay (1898) .)The Asiatic Squadron also participated in the
China Relief Expedition in 1900. An internationallegation including US Marines andUnited States Navy sailors slowly fought their way to take control ofTientsin away from theBoxer Rebellion in order to relieve Peking, at the time home to many foreigners, from a 2-monthsiege .The squadron subsequently became the
Asiatic Fleet in 1902.Commanders
*
Henry H. Bell ( -11 January 1867 )
*John R. Goldsborough (briefly in 1867)
*Stephen C. Rowan (1867-1870)
*Thomas H. Patterson (1877-1880)
* ??
*Peirce Crosby (1883)
*John Lee Davis (1883-1886)
*Ralph Chandler (1886-1889)
* ??
*Charles C. Carpenter (1895)
* ??
*Frederick V. McNair, Sr. (1895-1898)
*George Dewey (1898-April 1900)
*George C. Remey (April 1900 - 1902)Was upgraded to fleet status in 1902, see:
US Asiatic Fleet for next Commanders.
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