USS Denver (CL-16)

USS "Denver" (C-14/PG-28/CL-16) was the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers in the United States Navy. She was the first Navy ship named for the city of Denver, the capital of Colorado.

"Denver" was launched on 21 June 1902 by Neafie and Levy Ship and Engine Building Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sponsored by Miss R. W. Wright, daughter of the Mayor of Denver; and commissioned on 17 May 1904, with Commander J. B. Murdock in command. She was reclassified PG-28 in 1920 and CL-16 on 8 August 1921.

Between 15 July and 26 July 1904 "Denver" visited Galveston, Texas, where she was presented a gift of silver service from the people of Denver. She cruised in the Caribbean, investigating disturbances in Haiti, then returned to Philadelphia on 1 October. During the next 2½ years, she cruised the Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean, joining in target practice and other exercises, and protecting American interests from political disturbance in the West Indies. Highlights of this period of her service included her participation at Annapolis between 19 April and 27 April 1906 in the interment ceremonies for John Paul Jones at the United States Naval Academy; a midshipman training cruise to Madeira and the Azores in the summer of 1906; and the Fleet Review off Oyster Bay, Long Island, by President Theodore Roosevelt in September 1906.

The cruiser sailed from Tompkinsville, New York, on 18 May 1907 for duty with the Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines, sailing through the Mediterranean and Suez Canal to Cavite, where she arrived on 1 August. "Denver" visited ports in China, Manchuria, and Japan, and joined in the regular exercise schedule of the fleet until 1 January 1910, when she cleared Cavite for Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Arriving there on 15 February, she was placed out of commission on 12 March; she was then placed in reserve commission on 4 January 1912, and placed in full commission on 15 July 1912 for service in the Pacific.

For the next 5 years, "Denver" cruised the West Coast from San Francisco to the Panama Canal Zone, patrolling the coasts of Nicaragua and Mexico to investigate and prevent threats to the lives and property of Americans during political disturbances, carrying stores and mail, evacuating refugees, and continuing the schedule of exercises which kept her ready for action. Between 6 December 1916 and 30 March 1917 she surveyed the Gulf of Fonseca on the coast of Nicaragua, and on 10 April arrived at Key West, Florida, for patrol duty off the Bahamas and between Key West and Cuba.

"Denver" reported at New York on 22 July 1917 for duty escorting merchant convoys out of New York and Norfolk, Virginia, to a mid-ocean meeting point where destroyers took over the task of convoying men and troops to ports in England and France. Before the close of World War I, "Denver" made eight such voyages, then was detached on 5 December 1918 to patrol the east coast of South America, returning to New York on 4 June 1919. Between 7 July 1919 and 27 September 1921, she voyaged from New York to San Francisco, serving in the Panama Canal Zone and on the coasts of Central America both outward and homeward bound.

In the summer of 1922, "Denver" carried the President of Liberia home to Monrovia from a visit in the United States, returning to Boston by way of the Canal Zone. On 9 October she returned to the Canal Zone for 8 years of service based at Cristobal. She patrolled both coasts of Central America, protecting American interests, transporting various official parties, and paying courtesy calls, returning periodically to Boston for overhaul. Between 20 November and 18 December 1922, she carried relief supplies to earthquake and tidal wave victims in Chile. Between November 1925 and June 1926, she served the Special Commission on Boundaries, Tacna-Arica Arbitration group, carrying dignitaries from Chile to the United States or the Canal Zone on two voyages.

"Denver"'s last ceremonial function was her participation in the ceremonies held at Havana from 14 February to 19 February 1929 to commemorate the sinking of the "Maine". She returned to Philadelphia on 25 December 1930, and there was decommissioned on 14 February 1931 and sold on 13 September 1933.

See also

See USS "Denver" for other ships of the same name.