Other Memories
Alexander served as the Governor of Guam from June 21, 1933 to March 27, 1936. He supported the local effort to obtain United States citizenship for all residents of Guam, sending a petition requesting the right and signed by 2,000 Guamanians to the President of the United States. He revolutionized the Guam legal system, replacing old Spainish-style laws with the Code of Guam, a set of laws based on the California Codes. Though the Guam Museum opened in 1933, Alexander officially made it a government institution by executive order.
Though the government of Guam recommended him for promotion to Rear Admiral, he retired from the Navy as a Captain.
CLASS - NEW YORK Displacement 8,150 Tons, Dimensions, 384' (oa) x 64' 10" x 26' 8" (Max) Armament 6 x 8"/35, 12 x 4"/40 8 x 6pdr, 4 x 1pdr, 3 x 14" tt. Armor, 4" Belt, 5 1/2" Turrets, 6" Deck, 7" Conning Tower. Machinery, 16,000 IHP; 2 Vertical, Inverted, Triple Expansion Engines, 2 screws Speed, 20 Knots, Crew 565. Operational and Building Data Keel laid on 19 SEP 1890 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, PA Launched 02 DEC 1891 Commissioned 1 AUG 1893 Decommissioned 31 MAR 1905 Commissioned 15 MAY 1909 Decommissioned 31 DEC 1909 Commissioned 1 APR 1910 Renamed SARATOGA 16 FEB 1911 Decommissioned 6 FEB 1916 Commissioned 23 APR 1917 Renamed ROCHESTER 1 DEC 1917 Reclassified CA 2 in 1920 Decommissioned 29 APR 1933 Stricken 28 OCT 1938 Fate: Scuttled in DEC 1941 to prevent her capture by the Japanese.
Other Memories
USS Yacona (SP-617), 1917-1921. Previously the civilian steam yacht Yacona (ex-Gem, ex-Amelia, 1899) USS Yacona, a 527 gross ton patrol vessel, was built in 1898 at Kinghorn, Scotland, as a civilian steam yacht. After being called Cem and Amelia in her early years, she was renamed Yacona and had this name when acquired by the U.S. Navy late in September 1917. Placed in commission in December 1917, she briefly operated along the U.S. northeastern coast until late February 1918, when she began her first Atlantic escort mission. Though suffering storm damage early in the voyage, Yacona reached Bermuda at the beginning of March and helped shepherd a group of submarine chasers and other vessels to the Azores during April, returning to Bermuda in May. She completed a second escort mission from Bermuda to the Azores and back before steaming to the U.S. in July to undergo repairs. A third round-trip to the Azores occupied Yacona from early September into November 1918. The Armistice ended the First World War's fighting as Yacona arrived back in the U.S. She spent the rest of the year attached to an Atlantic Fleet battleship division and after January 1919 was inactive at New London, Connecticut. Decommissioned in June 1919, Yacona was laid up until October 1920, when she was recommissioned. At the beginning of March 1921 she began a long voyage to the Philippines, by way of Bermuda, the Azores, the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. USS Yacona reached Manila in mid-July. She was placed out of commission later in that month and transferred to the Philippine Government.
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
Memories Commanding Officer, USS Yacona (SP-617), 1917-1921. Previously the civilian steam yacht Yacona (ex-GeCommanding Officer, USS Yacona (SP-617), 1917-1921. Previously the civilian steam yacht Yacona (ex-Gem, ex-Amelia, 1899)
USS Yacona, a 527 gross ton patrol vessel, was built in 1898 at Kinghorn, Scotland, as a civilian steam yacht. After being called Cem and Amelia in her early years, she was renamed Yacona and had this name when acquired by the U.S. Navy late in September 1917. Placed in commission in December 1917, she briefly operated along the U.S. northeastern coast until late February 1918, when she began her first Atlantic escort mission. Though suffering storm damage early in the voyage, Yacona reached Bermuda at the beginning of March and helped shepherd a group of submarine chasers and other vessels to the Azores during April, returning to Bermuda in May. She completed a second escort mission from Bermuda to the Azores and back before steaming to the U.S. in July to undergo repairs. A third round-trip to the Azores occupied Yacona from early September into November 1918.
The Armistice ended the First World War's fighting as Yacona arrived back in the U.S. She spent the rest of the year attached to an Atlantic Fleet battleship division and after January 1919 was inactive at New London, Connecticut. Decommissioned in June 1919, Yacona was laid up until October 1920, when she was recommissioned. At the beginning of March 1921 she began a long voyage to the Philippines, by way of Bermuda, the Azores, the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. USS Yacona reached Manila in mid-July. She was placed out of commission later in that month and transferred to the Philippine Government.... More
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 Commanding Officer, USS Yacona (SP-617), 1917-1921. Previously the civilian steam yacht Yacona (ex-GeCommanding Officer, USS Yacona (SP-617), 1917-1921. Previously the civilian steam yacht Yacona (ex-Gem, ex-Amelia, 1899)
USS Yacona, a 527 gross ton patrol vessel, was built in 1898 at Kinghorn, Scotland, as a civilian steam yacht. After being called Cem and Amelia in her early years, she was renamed Yacona and had this name when acquired by the U.S. Navy late in September 1917. Placed in commission in December 1917, she briefly operated along the U.S. northeastern coast until late February 1918, when she began her first Atlantic escort mission. Though suffering storm damage early in the voyage, Yacona reached Bermuda at the beginning of March and helped shepherd a group of submarine chasers and other vessels to the Azores during April, returning to Bermuda in May. She completed a second escort mission from Bermuda to the Azores and back before steaming to the U.S. in July to undergo repairs. A third round-trip to the Azores occupied Yacona from early September into November 1918.
The Armistice ended the First World War's fighting as Yacona arrived back in the U.S. She spent the rest of the year attached to an Atlantic Fleet battleship division and after January 1919 was inactive at New London, Connecticut. Decommissioned in June 1919, Yacona was laid up until October 1920, when she was recommissioned. At the beginning of March 1921 she began a long voyage to the Philippines, by way of Bermuda, the Azores, the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. USS Yacona reached Manila in mid-July. She was placed out of commission later in that month and transferred to the Philippine Government.... More
Retired in 1938: Alexander. George A, capt, naval oper, navy dept, Washington, D C .