Criteria The Mexican Service Medal was awarded for military service in any of the following expeditions or engagements:Vera Cruz Expedition: April 24 to November 26, 1914, Punitive Expedition into Mexico: Marc... The Mexican Service Medal was awarded for military service in any of the following expeditions or engagements:Vera Cruz Expedition: April 24 to November 26, 1914, Punitive Expedition into Mexico: March 14, 1916, to February 7, 1917, Buena Vista, Mexico: December 1, 1917, San Bernardino Canon, Mexico: December 26, 1917, LeGrulla, Texas: January 8-9, 1918, Pilares, Mexico: March 28, 1918, Nogales, Arizona: November 1-5, 1915, or on August 27, 1918, El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico: June 15-16, 1919 or Any action against hostile Mexican forces in which U.S. troops were killed or wounded between April 12, 1911, and February 7, 1917. MoreHide
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Wyoming Class Battleship: Displacement 26,000 Tons, Dimensions, 562' (oa) x 93' 3" x 29' 7" (Max). Armament 12 x 12"/50 21 x 5"/51, 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 11" Belt, 12" Turrets, 3" Decks, 11 1/2" Conning Tower. Machinery, 28,000 SHP; Direct Drive Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 20.5 Knots, Crew 1063.
Operational and Building Data: Laid down by Cramp, Shipbuilding, Philadelphia, PA., February 9, 1910. Launched May 25 1911. Commissioned September 25, 1912. Decommissioned May 21, 1930. Recommissioned & Reclassified as Gunnery Training Ship (AG-17) July 1, 1931. Decommissioned August 1, 1947. Stricken September 16, 1947. Fate: Sold October 30, 1947 and broken up for scrap in Newark NJ.
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New Mexico Class Battleship: Displacement 32,000 Tons, Dimensions, 624' (oa) x 97' 5" x 31' 1" (Max). Armament 12 x 14"/50 22 x 5"/51, 8 x 3"/50 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 13 1/2" Belt, 18" Turrets, 3 1/2" +2" Decks, 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 27,500 SHP; G.E. Geared Turbines with electric drive, 4 screws. Speed, 21 Knots, Crew 1084.
Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York Navy Yard, October 14, 1915. Launched April 23, 1917. Commissioned May 18, 1918. Decommissioned July 19, 1946. Stricken February 25, 1947. Fate: Sold November 9, 1947 and broken up for scrap in New York.
Criteria The World War I Victory Medal was awarded for military service during the First World War. It was awarded for active service between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918; for service with the American... The World War I Victory Medal was awarded for military service during the First World War. It was awarded for active service between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918; for service with the American Expeditionary Forces in European Russia between November 12, 1918, and August 5, 1919; or for service with the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia between November 23, 1918, and April 1, 1920. MoreHide
Description The United States of America declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. The U.S. was an independent power and did not officially join the Allies. It closely cooperated with them militarily buThe United States of America declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. The U.S. was an independent power and did not officially join the Allies. It closely cooperated with them militarily but acted alone in diplomacy. The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material and money, starting in 1917. American soldiers under General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in the summer of 1918. They played a major role until victory was achieved on November 11, 1918. Before entering the war, the U.S had remained neutral, though it had been an important supplier to Great Britain and the other Allied powers. During the war, the U.S mobilized over 4 million military personnel and suffered 110,000 deaths, including 43,000 due to the influenza pandemic. The war saw a dramatic expansion of the United States government in an effort to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the U.S. military. After a slow start in mobilising the economy and labour force, by spring 1918 the nation was poised to play a role in the conflict. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson, the war represented the climax of the Progressive Era as it sought to bring reform and democracy to the world, although there was substantial public opposition to United States entry into the war.
Although the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, it did not initially declare war on the other Central Powers, a state of affairs that Woodrow Wilson described as an "embarrassing obstacle" in his State of the Union speech. Congress declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on December 17, 1917, but never made declarations of war against the other Central Powers, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire or the various Co-belligerents allied with the central powers, thus the United States remained uninvolved in the military campaigns in central, eastern and southern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
The United States as late as 1917 maintained only a small army, smaller than thirteen of the nations and empires already active in the war. After the passage of the Selective Service Act in 1917, it drafted 2.8 million men into military service. By the summer of 1918 about a million U.S. soldiers had arrived in France, about half of whom eventually saw front-line service; by the Armistice of November 11 approximately 10,000 fresh soldiers were arriving in France daily. In 1917 Congress gave U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans when they were drafted to participate in World War I, as part of the Jones Act. In the end Germany miscalculated the United States' influence on the outcome of the conflict, believing it would be many more months before U.S. troops would arrive and overestimating the effectiveness of U-boats in slowing the American buildup.
The United States Navy sent a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join with the British Grand Fleet, destroyers to Queenstown, Ireland and submarines to help guard convoys. Several regiments of Marines were also dispatched to France. The British and French wanted U.S. units used to reinforce their troops already on the battle lines and not to waste scarce shipping on bringing over supplies. The U.S. rejected the first proposition and accepted the second. General John J. Pershing, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commander, refused to break up U.S. units to serve as mere reinforcements for British Empire and French units. As an exception, he did allow African-American combat regiments to fight in French divisions. The Harlem Hellfighters fought as part of the French 16th Division, earning a unit Croix de Guerre for their actions at Château-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and Séchault.
Impact of US forces on the war
On the battlefields of France in spring 1918, the war-weary Allied armies enthusiastically welcomed the fresh American troops. They arrived at the rate of 10,000 a day, at a time when the Germans were unable to replace their losses. After British Empire, French and Portuguese forces had defeated and turned back the powerful final German offensive (Spring Offensive of March to July, 1918), the Americans played a role in the Allied final offensive (Hundred Days Offensive of August to November). However, many American commanders used the same flawed tactics which the British, French, Germans and others had abandoned early in the war, and so many American offensives were not particularly effective. Pershing continued to commit troops to these full- frontal attacks, resulting in high casualties against experienced veteran German and Austrian-Hungarian units. Nevertheless, the infusion of new and fresh U.S. troops greatly strengthened the Allies' strategic position and boosted morale. The Allies achieved victory over Germany on November 11, 1918 after German morale had collapsed both at home and on the battlefield.... More
Memories In March 1918 he was ordered to USS New Mexico and in August 1918 reported as executive officer of UIn March 1918 he was ordered to USS New Mexico and in August 1918 reported as executive officer of USS Pueblo, which was engaged in convoy service before the Armistice and later returned troops from France.... More
Other Memories
(PG--5: dp. 1,177 1. 204' ; b. 32'1'' ; dr. 14' ; s. 15.5k. ; cpl. 154; a. 8 4",4 6-pdr.,4 1-pdr.) The first Machias (PG-5), a schooner-rigged gunboat, was laid down in February 1891 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine ; launched 8 December 1891 ; sponsored by Miss Ethel Hyde, daughter of President Hyde of Bath Iron Works ; and commissioned at Portsmouth Navy Yard, N.H., 20 July 1893, Comdr. C. J. Train in command.
Following shakedown along the east coast and service on the North Atlantic station, Machias departed Portsmouth in November 1894 for the Asiatic station, sailing via the Azores, Gibraltar, Malta, Suez, Aden, Ceylon, and Singapore, arriving Hong Kong 6 March 1895. For the next 2 years, the gunboat remained in the Far East, protecting American Interests in Korea and Japan during the Sino Japanese War, making intermittent visits to treaty ports up the Yangtze River, and, in general, showing the flag from Port Arthur to Saigon, until departing Hong Kong 16 December 1897 to return home the way she came, arriving Boston 18 March.
Sailing for Key West, Fla., 7 April, the ship Joined the North Atlantic Fleet blockading Cuba and participated in the engagement of Cardenas 11 May, leading gunboats Wilmington, Hudson, and torpedo boat Winslow against three Spanish gunboats in the bay. Continuing on blockade duty through September, in addition serving as a transport for Army troops and supplies, Machias sailed north to Boston and then Portsmouth for repairs until 15 January 1899. The gunboat then returned to the Caribbean, operating off Cuba, in the West Indies and along the coast of Central America, showing the flag and protecting American interests until sailing for Washington, D.C., to join in the celebration in honor of Adm. George Dewey 24 September. She returned to the Caribbean in January 1900, resuming her patrols and, in addition, carrying the U.S. Minister to Venezuela on a diplomatic mission until ordered home 8 July, arriving Boston on the 17th. and decommissioning there 14 August.
Machias recommissioned 24 July 1901 and sailed 15 days later to return to the Caribbean on patrol operations off Panama and Colombia during the Panamanian Revolution, protecting American lives and property off Panama through the end of the year ; and then, following repairs at Boston, landing troops at Boca del Toro, Colombia, 17 to 19 April 1902. Attached to the Caribbean Patrol Squadron 4 October, the gunboat remained In Latin American waters until 8 January 1903 when she was assigned to the European Squadron and sailed on the 12th from San Juan, P.R., for the Mediterranean. Steaming via Bermuda, the Azores, and Gibraltar, she arrived off the Riviera in late March and remained there on patrol until sailing in mid-May for a trip to northern Europe, visiting Southampton, England, and transiting the Kiel Canal, returning to the Mediterranean 30 June. From 21 November to 18 January 1904 the ship made a good will visit to Djibouti, Abyssinia, and then, 1 March, was detached from the European Squadron and sailed for home, arriving Pensacola on the 26th. She decommissioned there 14 May and remained there until assigned to the Connecticut Naval Militia 19 November1907.
Machias departed Pensacola 17 January 1908 for New York and following refit was turned over to the Connecticut Naval Militia 27 June. Based at New Haven, the gunboat continued on this duty, making a cruise once a year off New England until withdrawn 25 April 1914 and taken to New York where she once again was placed in full commission on the 27th. Assigned to the Special Service Squadron, the warship sailed 17 May for the Caribbean, patrolling off the Dominican Republic and Haiti through the end of 1914 when she was placed in reserve at New York 1 February 1915.
Reactivated 1 April, the gunboat sailed for Mexico, arriving Vera Cruz 14 June as part of the fleet protecting American lives and property during a revolution. Returning to Mobile and New Orleans for repairs from October 1915 to February 1916, she returned to Mexico and evacuated a number of Americans from Tuxpan because of disturbances there, and took them to Tampico.
The ship continued her operations in the Caribbean, basing out of New Orleans and patrolling off Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the Danish West Indies, the latter on patrol protecting American neutrality, until U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917.
Machias departed New Orleans 22 July for Gibraltar, steaming via Key West, Bermuda, and the Azores, arriving Gibraltar 22 August. Assigned to the patrol force in European waters, she operated out of Gibraltar on antisubmarine patrol through July 1918, and was then ordered home, departing for New London 20 August and then sailing to Charleston where she refitted. The veteran gunboat departed Charleston in April 1919 for the Pacific, transiting the Panama Canal and operating along the west coast of Central America until 27 August when she arrived Mare Island Navy Yard for inactivation.
Machias as decommissioned there 3 October 1919 and 1 year later was sold, 29 October 1920, to the Mexican Navy. Renamed Agua Prieta, the old gunboat served as a transport and coast guard ship along the ~vest coast of Mexico for the next 15 years, and was finally disposed of by the Mexican Navy in late 1935.
Kentucky visited Norfolk, Virginia, on 15 April 1907 to attend the Jamestown Exposition, and, after more exercises off the New England coast, she returned to Hampton Roads to join the "Great White Fleet" of 16 battleships for a world cruise that brought great prestige and honor to the Navy and the Nation. Rear Admiral Evans, Kentucky`s former Flag Officer, commanded the fleet as it circumnavigated the globe receiving warm and enthusiastic welcomes at each port of call. As the famous voyage got underway from Hampton Roads on 16 December, Kentucky passed in review before President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt as a unit in the Second Squadron. After calling at Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro, the warships passed in order through the Straits of Magellan to visit Punta Arenas and Valparaíso, Chile. A stop at Callao Bay, Peru, was followed by a month of target practice out of Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The fleet reached San Diego, California on 14 April 1908 and moved on to San Francisco, California, on 7 May. Exactly two months later the spotless warships sortied through the Golden Gate and sailed for Honolulu, Hawaii. From Hawaii they set course for Auckland, New Zealand, arriving 8 August. The fleet made Sydney, Australia, on 20 August and, after a week of warm and cordial hospitality, sailed for Melbourne.
Kentucky departed Albany, Western Australia, on 10 September for ports in the Philippine Islands, Japan, China, and Ceylon before transiting the Suez Canal. She departed Port Said on 8 January 1909 to visit Tripoli and Algiers with the Fourth Division before reforming with the fleet at Gibraltar. Underway for home 6 February, she again passed in review before President Roosevelt upon entering Hampton Roads on 22 February, ending a widely-acclaimed voyage of good will in which she and her sister ships subtly but effectively demonstrated American strength to the world.
Description The "Great White Fleet" sent around the world by President Theodore Roosevelt from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 consisted of sixteen new battleships of the Atlantic Fleet. The battleships wereThe "Great White Fleet" sent around the world by President Theodore Roosevelt from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 consisted of sixteen new battleships of the Atlantic Fleet. The battleships were painted white except for gilded scrollwork on the... More
Memories
Was onboard the USS Kentucky for the Great White Fleet
Wyoming Class Battleship: Displacement 26,000 Tons, Dimensions, 562' (oa) x 93' 3" x 29' 7" (Max). Armament 12 x 12"/50 21 x 5"/51, 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 11" Belt, 12" Turrets, 3" Decks, 11 1/2" Conning Tower. Machinery, 28,000 SHP; Direct Drive Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 20.5 Knots, Crew 1063.
Operational and Building Data: Laid down by Cramp, Shipbuilding, Philadelphia, PA., February 9, 1910. Launched May 25 1911. Commissioned September 25, 1912. Decommissioned May 21, 1930. Recommissioned & Reclassified as Gunnery Training Ship (AG-17) July 1, 1931. Decommissioned August 1, 1947. Stricken September 16, 1947.
Fate: Sold October 30, 1947 and broken up for scrap in Newark NJ.