View source for USS Somers (TB-22)

{{short description|Torpedo boat of the United States Navy}}
{{Other ships|USS Somers}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:Somers (TB-22).jpg|300px|USS Somers]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Somers'' (TB-22), 21 February 1900, location unknown.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=German Empire
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|German Empire}}
|Ship name=''No. 450''
|Ship namesake=[[Master Commandant]] [[Richard Somers]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Schichau-Werke|Ferdinand Schichau]], [[Elbląg|Elbing]], [[German Empire]]
|Ship laid down=1897
|Ship launched=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sold, 25 March 1898, to the US Navy
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1919}}
|Ship name=''Somers''
|Ship namesake=[[Master Commandant]] [[Richard Somers]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=
|Ship acquired=purchased, 25 March 1898
|Ship commissioned=28 March 1898
|Ship decommissioned=1901
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship operator=Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at the Norfolk Navy Yard
|Ship in service=1901
|Ship out of service=1909
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship operator=[[Maryland Naval Militia]]
|Ship in service=26 June 1909
|Ship out of service=1914
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship operator=US Navy
|Ship commissioned=17 August 1914
|Ship decommissioned=13 October 1914
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship operator=[[Illinois Naval Militia]]
|Ship in service=13 October 1914
|Ship out of service=1919
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship operator=US Navy
|Ship commissioned=1919
|Ship decommissioned=22 March 1919
|Ship struck=7 October 1919
|Ship renamed=*{{nowrap|'''''Coast Torpedo Boat No. 9''''',}}
*1 August 1918
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping, 19 July 1920
|Ship notes=name changed so it could be used for {{USS|Somers|DD-301}}
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/tb/050322.htm | title=USS Somers (TB-22) | work=Navsource.org | access-date=18 July 2015}}</ref>
|Ship class= {{sclass|Somers|torpedo boat}}
|Ship displacement=*'''As ''Somers'':''' {{convert|143|LT|t|abbr=on}}
*'''As ''Coastal Torpedo Boat No. 9'':''' {{convert|150|LT|t|abbr=on}}<ref name="Janes">{{cite book |first=John Evelyn |last=Moore |author-link=John Moore (Royal Navy officer) |year=2001 |title=Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I |page=149 |publisher=Random House |location=London |isbn=1-85170-378-0}}</ref>
|Ship length={{convert|156|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|17|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|5|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="congress">{{cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mZEqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA762 |title= Table 10 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919 |journal= Congressional Serial Set |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |year= 1921 |page= 714 }}</ref>
|Ship power=*'''As ''Somers'':''' {{convert|1700|ihp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
*'''As ''Coastal Torpedo Boat No. 9'':''' {{convert|1900|ihp|kW|abbr=on}}<ref name="Janes"/>
|Ship propulsion=*1 × vertical quadruple-expansion reciprocating [[steam engine]]
*1 × Loco boiler
*1 × screw
|Ship speed=*'''As ''Somers'':''' {{convert|23|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}
*{{convert|15|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} (Speed on [[Sea trial|Trial]])<ref name="congress" />
*'''As ''Coastal Torpedo Boat No. 9'':''' {{convert|17.5|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}<ref name="Janes"/>
|Ship range=
|Ship capacity={{convert|38|ST|t|abbr=on}} [[coal]]<ref name="Janes"/>
|Ship complement=*'''As ''Somers'':''' 24
*'''As ''Coastal Torpedo Boat No. 9'':''' 34<ref name="Janes"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship armament=*'''As ''Somers'':''' 4 × [[QF 1-pounder pom-pom|1-pounder ({{convert|37|mm|in|2|abbr=on}}) guns]]
*3 × [[American 18 inch torpedo|18 inch (450 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*'''As ''Coastal Torpedo Boat No. 9'':''' 3 × 1-pounder ({{convert|37|mm|in|2|abbr=on}}) guns
*1 × [[machine gun]]
*1 × [[Depth charge#Delivery mechanisms|Y-gun]] [[depth charge]] projector<ref name="Janes"/>
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
The third '''USS ''Somers'' (Torpedo Boat No. 22/TB-22/Coast Torpedo Boat No. 9)''', a steel [[torpedo boat]] built as a private speculation by Friedrich [[Schichau-Werke|Schichau]], Elbing, Germany, was launched in 1897 as yard No. 450; purchased for the [[United States Navy]] on 25 March 1898; commissioned on 28 March 1898 and named ''Somers'' the next day.
==Service history==
Purchased through Schichau's London representative as the U.S. prepared for a possible war against [[Spain]], ''Somers'' sailed for [[England]] on 30 March, manned by a German contract crew. On 5 April, she arrived at [[Weymouth, Dorset|Weymouth]], whence she was to be escorted across the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] by the [[gunboat]] {{USS|Topeka|PG-35|2}}. However, the British crew contracted for the voyage thought ''Somers'' was unsafe and refused to take her out to sea. A second attempt to sail also failed, and the torpedo boat was ordered laid up at [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]] until the conclusion of the [[Spanish–American War]].
''Somers'' arrived at [[New York City|New York]], on board SS ''Manhattan'', on 2 May 1899 and remained at the [[New York Navy Yard]] until 8 October 1900, when she got underway for [[League Island]], Pa. Subsequently, decommissioned there, she was reassigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at the [[Norfolk Navy Yard]], where she was based from 1901–1909. On 26 June 1909, she was loaned to the [[Maryland Naval Militia]] and made periodic training cruises from [[Baltimore]] until returned to the Navy in 1914.
Scheduled for transfer to the [[Illinois Naval Militia]], ''Somers'' was recommissioned on 17 August 1914 for the passage to [[Cairo, Ill.]], where she was decommissioned and transferred to the state of [[Illinois]] on 13 October. Later renamed and redesignated '''''Coast Torpedo Boat No.&nbsp;9''''' to allow the name ''Somers'' to be given to [[USS Somers (DD-301)|destroyer number 301]], she served as a training ship until returned to Navy custody after the end of [[World War I]]. She was commissioned for the passage back to the east coast and returned to [[Philadelphia]] where she was decommissioned on 22 March 1919. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 7 October 1919, and her hulk was sold for scrapping on 19 July 1920 to the [[U.S. Rail and Salvage Corp.]], [[Newburgh, N.Y.]]
==References==
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/somers-iii.html}}
*{{cite book |last=Gardiner |first=Robert |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |date=1979 |pages=161 |isbn=0-85177-133-5}}
==External links==
*{{navsource|05/tb/050322|Somers}}
{{United States torpedo boats}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somers}}
[[Category:Torpedo boats of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Elbing]]
[[Category:1898 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Schichau]]