Talyn
Emissary
In 1898, with war between Spain and the United States threatening after the explosion and subsequent sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor, the battleship USS Oregon (BB-3) was ordered to depart Bremerton, Washington, and make the unprecedented (for a battleship) 14,000 mile voyage around Cape Horn to join the North Atlantic Squadron.
The USS Oregon reported for duty 66 days after leaving San Francisco. By then, war had been declared, and Clark’s battleship played a key role in the overwhelming U.S. victory at the Battle of Santiago.
The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships describes the Oregon’s journey as sweeping “away all opposition for the construction of the Panama Canal, for it was then made clear that the country could not afford to take two months to send warships from one coast to the other each time an emergency arose.”
On 4 May 1904, the United States—having signed a treaty with a newly independent Panama—began construction of the canal, completing it ten years later. The first U.S. naval vessel to transit the canal was the collier Jupiter. Her trip from ocean to ocean took a mere 12 hours and considerably less coal than had the Oregon’s.
www.usni.org
Called to protect coastal Atlantic cities at the start of the Spanish-American War, the battleship Oregon (BB-3) left Bremerton, Washington, for a 14,000-mile voyage around South America to the opposite U.S. coast. Her more than two-month journey was an impetus for completing the long-sought Panama Canal.
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive
The USS Oregon reported for duty 66 days after leaving San Francisco. By then, war had been declared, and Clark’s battleship played a key role in the overwhelming U.S. victory at the Battle of Santiago.
The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships describes the Oregon’s journey as sweeping “away all opposition for the construction of the Panama Canal, for it was then made clear that the country could not afford to take two months to send warships from one coast to the other each time an emergency arose.”
On 4 May 1904, the United States—having signed a treaty with a newly independent Panama—began construction of the canal, completing it ten years later. The first U.S. naval vessel to transit the canal was the collier Jupiter. Her trip from ocean to ocean took a mere 12 hours and considerably less coal than had the Oregon’s.
The Oregon and the Panama Canal
The battleship Oregon's 14,000-mile voyage around South America was an impetus for completing the long-sought Panama Canal.
Called to protect coastal Atlantic cities at the start of the Spanish-American War, the battleship Oregon (BB-3) left Bremerton, Washington, for a 14,000-mile voyage around South America to the opposite U.S. coast. Her more than two-month journey was an impetus for completing the long-sought Panama Canal.
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive
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