USAT Burnside

Yeoman was ordered by Wilhelm Lund for his steamship company, the Blue Anchor Line. She was built by Campbell, Macintosh, and Bowstead at the Scotswood Shipyard in Newcastle, England and launched on 25 March 1882.{{Cite news |date=25 March 1882 |title=Launch Of A Steamer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/801745248/?match=1&terms=%22campbell%2C%20Macintosh%22 |work=Newcastle Weekly Chronicle |pages=8}}

Yeoman's hull was built of iron plates. She was {{Convert|285.2|ft|m}} long, with a beam of {{Convert|36.7|ft|m}} and a depth of hold of {{Convert|23.5|ft|m}}. Her gross register tonnage was 2,226, and her net register tonnage was 1,427.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kt9XEAAAQBAJ&q=yeoman |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1884 |publisher=Lloyd's Register |year=1884 |pages=YAR |language=}}

Her propeller was originally powered by a coal-fired double-expansion steam engine which was built by T. Clark and Company of Newcastle. It had high, and low-pressure cylinders with diameters of 35 inches, and 68 inches, respectively, with a stroke of 48 inches. The engine was rated at 300 horsepower. This was replaced in 1887 by a triple-expansion engine with cylinders of 25, 38.5 and 63 inches with a stroke of 44 inches. This second engine was built by Wigham Richardson and Company of Newcastle. The more modern engine gave the ship a cruising speed of 12 knots.{{Cite news |date=21 July 1887 |title=Shipping Reports |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/989095655/?match=1&terms=%22blue%20anchor%20Line%22%20yeoman |work=Sydney Morning Herald |pages=8}}

Electric lighting and refrigeration were installed on Burnside at the shipyard of Lewis Nixon in Elizabethport, NJ in December 1898 after the ship was taken over by the Army.{{Cite news |date=3 December 1898 |title=Rita Weathered The Storm |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/541873504/?match=1&terms=transport%20rita |work=Brooklyn Citizen |pages=9}}{{Cite news |date=27 February 1899 |title=Prize Ship Rita Now The Burnside |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/274595800/?match=1&terms=transport%20rita |work=Morning Call |pages=1}}

She had a 3 kilowatt radio transmitter aboard in 1909, and was assigned the call sign, "BS".{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=evQ9AQAAMAAJ&q=burnside |title=Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer Made to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1909 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1909 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=24 |language=en}} In 1913 her call sign was changed to, "WXR".{{Cite web |title=Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1913 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.a0006529150&seq=13&q1=burnside |access-date=2024-10-24 |website= |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=7 |language= |publication-place=Washington, D.C.}}

In 1913 Burnside was taken out of service briefly to have new oil-fired boilers installed.

The Blue Anchor Line pioneered regularly scheduled cargo and passenger service between London and Australia. Yeoman sailed this route, via the Suez Canal, stopping for coal and water at several points along her route.{{Cite news |date=26 August 1882 |title=Arrival Of The Steamers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1024160989/?match=1&terms=%22Steamer%20yeoman%22 |work=This Week |pages=5}} She carried as many as 400 immigrants to Australia on a single trip, and general cargo. Her cargo included livestock,{{Cite news |date=8 July 1886 |title=Queensland |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/989733187/?match=1&terms=%22Steamer%20yeoman%22 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |pages=8}} musical instruments, china, furniture, stationary, cutlery, dolls, toys, purses, vases, and more.{{Cite news |date=13 May 1884 |title=Order Of Auction Sales |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/989102925/?match=1&terms=%22Steamer%20yeoman%22 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |pages=10}} She made port calls in Adelaide,{{Cite news |date=17 November 1888 |title=Shipping Facilities At Port Adelaide |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1029331499/?match=1&terms=%22blue%20anchor%20Line%22%20yeoman |work=Observer |pages=30}} Fremantle, Albany, Hobart, Launceston, and Sydney.

Sometime in 1891 Lund sold Yeoman to a Spanish steamship company, Linea de Vapores Serra. Her name was changed to Rita, and her homeport became Bilbao.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sgtYEAAAQBAJ&q=yeoman |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1892 Steamers |publisher=Lloyd's Register |year=1892 |language=en}}

The ship hauled general cargos between ports in North America across the Atlantic to Europe. North American port calls include Boston,{{Cite news |date=18 July 1895 |title=Late Shipping News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/28262223/?match=1&terms=%22steamer%20rita%22 |work=Times-Picayune |pages=2}} Galveston, Norfolk,{{Cite news |date=9 January 1896 |title=Movement Of Galveston Vessels |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/21789971/?match=1&terms=%22steamer%20rita%22 |work=Galveston Daily News |pages=6}} Pensacola,{{Cite news |date=22 September 1893 |title=Foreign Ports - Arrivals And Sailings |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/28224849/?match=1&terms=%22steamer%20rita%22 |work=Times-Picayune |pages=2}} Puerto Rico,{{Cite news |date=30 August 1897 |title=Domestic Ports |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/371193840/?match=1&terms=%22steamer%20rita%22 |work=Baltimore Sun |pages=9}} and St John.{{Cite news |date=25 June 1892 |title=Marine Tidings |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1115911404/?match=1&terms=%22steamer%20rita%22 |work=Telegraph-Journal |pages=3}} European port calls included Liverpool, and Havre.{{Cite news |date=24 May 1895 |title=Movements Of Ocean Vessels |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/138266278/?match=1&terms=%22steamer%20rita%22 |work=Times Democrat |pages=1}}

In October 1892 Rita caught fire outside of Galveston while bound for Liverpool. The fire was extinguished, but 123 bales of cotton were damaged.{{Cite news |date=23 October 1892 |title=Maritime Miscellany |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11A050B7B120D3F8%40GB3NEWS-12B73E0A0A8AA390%402412395-12B73E10C4C19720%4027-12B73E22924A76F0%40Shipping%2BNews?h=15&fname=&mname=&lname=&kwinc=%22steamer%20rita%22&kwexc=&rgfromDate=1891&rgtoDate=1897&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=vmbobbswphqclahorcwcxfvpurqctqzh_ip-10-166-46-110_1729201881050 |work=New York Herald |pages=28}}

File:Ambrose Burnside2.jpg

On 25 April 1898, Congress declared war on Spain, beginning the Spanish-American War.{{Cite news |date=26 April 1898 |title=The Declaration Of War |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/26001140/?match=1&terms=Spain%20war%20congress |work=The New York Times |pages=3}} An immediate objective was to defeat Spain in the Caribbean, taking Cuba and Puerto Rico. The US Navy began patrolling off the islands. On 8 May 1898 Rita was sailing from Liverpool to Puerto Rico with a cargo of coal when she encountered USS Yale off Culebra Island. A chase ensued, but Yale was somewhat faster, and armed with 6-inch guns. Several warning shots were fired which Rita ignored, but when a shell exploded over the head of her captain, the ship was surrendered. A nine-man prize crew, under the command of Yale's first officer, W. B. Porter, took her in to Charleston, South Carolina.{{Cite news |date=14 May 1898 |title=General War News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/345245550/?match=1&terms=Captured%20ship%20rita |work=Buffalo Courier Express |pages=2}}{{Cite news |date=3 June 1898 |title=Prisoners Of War Here |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/541964850/?match=1&terms=captured%20rita |work=Times Union |pages=8}}

Rita was purchased by the US Army Quartermaster's Department from the U.S. Prize Court on 9 July 1898 for $125,000 and assigned to the Army Transport Service. The Army reckoned her capacity at 15 officers and 700 men.{{Cite book |last=Clay |first=Steven E. |url=https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/OrderofBattle4.pdf |title=U.S. Army Order Of Battle, 1919-1941 |publisher=Combat Studies Institute Press |year=2010 |volume=4 |location=Fort Leavenworth, Kansas |pages=2144}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KmEzAQAAMAAJ&q=rita |title=United States Commission Appointed by the President to Investigate the Conduct of the War Department in the War with Spain |date=1900 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=136 |language=}} The day after her purchase she began her new career as a troop transport.

On 10 July 1898 Rita sailed for Cuba with reinforcements for the American campaign. She was filled to capacity with the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 6th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, less Companies D and M.{{Cite news |date=11 July 1898 |title=More Troops Sail Away |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/206976792/?match=1&terms=captured%20rita |work=Sun |pages=1}} She sailed from Tampa to Ponce, Puerto Rico on 27 July 1898. Over the next two years the ship made numerous trips between the American mainland, Cuba, and Puerto Rico laden with personnel, food, medical supplies, and other equipment for the Army.{{Cite news |date=15 August 1898 |title=Business Rush To Havana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/470012590/?match=1&terms=transport%20rita |work=Sun |pages=3}}{{Cite news |date=8 March 1899 |title=The Burnside |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/603635637/?match=1&terms=transport%20burnside |work=Nashville Banner |pages=6}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHwOAAAAYAAJ&q=burnside |title=Annual Report of Major General John R. Brooke, U.S. Army, Commanding the Division of Cuba |publisher=US Government Printing Office |year=1899 |location=Washington, D.C. |language=}}

To mark her transition to military service, the ship was renamed in February 1899.  Rita became United States Army Transport Burnside, named for Civil War General Ambrose Burnside.{{Cite news |date=26 February 1889 |title=Steamer Burnside Returns |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/20462462/?match=1&terms=burnside%20rita |work=The New York Times |pages=4}}

Prior to the Spanish-American War there was a Cuban revolutionary army on the island seeking independence from Spain. This army assisted American forces to defeat the Spanish. Spain's ceding of Cuba to the United States did not address the fate of the 30,000 revolutionary soldiers still in the field and owed substantial back pay.{{Cite news |date=1 February 1899 |title=Overtures To Gomez |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/766907713/?match=1&terms=%22cuban%20army%22%20disband |work=Commercial Appeal |pages=1}} Seeking to buy peace on the island, the United States offered to pay each Cuban soldier $100 in return for the orderly disbanding of this Cuban Army. Burnside found herself with $3 million in cash aboard, including 2,500,000 dimes and 200,000 nickels,{{Cite news |date=29 April 1899 |title=Cuban Army To Be Reduced |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/623715804/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20Havana |work=Sacramento Bee |pages=9}} anchored in Havana harbor on 18 March 1899.{{Cite news |date=19 March 1899 |title=Guarding The Cuban Fund |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/20497958/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20transport |work=The New York Times |pages=7}} Cuban officials sought more money for their soldiers, so Burnside sat at anchor while negotiations continued. On 4 April 1899 the Cuban Military Assembly voted to disband the Cuban Army.{{Cite news |date=8 April 1899 |title=Dissolved |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1118086251/?match=1&terms=%22cuban%20military%20assembly%22%20dissolution |work=Twice-A-Week Courier-Journal |pages=2}} Burnside circumnavigated the island with two Army paymasters aboard to distribute the funds.{{Cite news |date=11 May 1899 |title=Payment of the Cuban Troops |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/20480873/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20circumnavigate |work=The New York Times |pages=5}}

File:Crew member standing on deck of United States Army transport BURNSIDE, operating ship's telegraph, Washington, ca 1900 (HESTER 742).jpeg

When Commodore Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on 1 May 1898, there were two undersea cables which landed in Manila. One provided telegraph communication from the Philippines to the rest of the world via Hong Kong, and the other connected the city to major islands of the archipelago. Both belonged to the British firm Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Telegraph Company (Limited). The day after his victory, Dewey approached the British Consul in Manila to arrange for American use of the telegraph service. The Spanish, who still controlled Manila, refused to allow the Americans to send telegrams. Dewey replied by cutting the cables in Manila Bay. The link to Hong Kong was cut on 2 May 1898, and Capiz on 23 May 1898, isolating Luzon from the rest of the world.{{Cite book |url=https://legal.un.org/riaa/cases/vol_VI/112-118_Eastern_Extension.pdf |title=REPORTS OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRAL AWARDS |date=9 November 1923 |publisher=United Nations}}

Undersea cables became a military priority for the Army commanders in the Philippines. While the British cables were ultimately repaired, they did not reach all the major islands. General Otis, and General MacArthur complained of communication difficulties. The Army in the Philippines was dependent on slow, ship-borne mail for communications to many locations.{{Cite news |date=25 November 1900 |title=A Philippine Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/427649039/?match=1&terms=%22cable%20steamer%22%20burnside |work=Fort Riley Guidon |pages=1}} To build its own inter-island telegraph system, the Army sent the cable ship USAT Hooker to Manila. She was wrecked on Corregidor in August 1899 before she was able to commence her work. Much of Hooker's cable laying machinery and testing equipment was salvaged, and was installed on Burnside when she arrived in Manila.{{Cite news |date=28 June 1902 |title=Electricity In Warfare |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/551619944/?match=1&terms=%22transport%20burnside%22 |work=Gazette |pages=6}}

On 30 June 1900, the Army contracted with the Morse Iron Works shipyard in Brooklyn, New York to convert Burnside into a cable ship. The reported cost of this conversion was $130,000.{{Cite news |date=1 July 1900 |title=Cable Ship For Manila |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/20333944/?match=1&terms=%22morse%20iron%22%20burnside |work=The New York Times |pages=6}} Burnside was chosen as Hooker's replacement because of her relatively shallow draft for her size. Three large copper tanks were built in her cargo holds in which submarine cable could be coiled. The tanks were {{Convert|25|ft|m}} in diameter and {{Convert|15|ft|m}} deep. Each had an iron core at its center to hold the cable in position while it was unspooled. Each tank had capacity to hold 250 miles of cable.{{Cite news |date=24 March 1901 |title=Interisland Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/772082604/?match=1&terms=%22george%20O%20Squier%22 |work=Evansville Journal |pages=15}}

File:USAT Burnside off Dumaguete.pngBurnside departed New York on 26 September 1900 with 553 miles of deep-sea cable and 8 miles of the thicker, more heavily-armored shore-end cable aboard.{{Cite book |url=https://sites.rootsweb.com/~scjssawv/Database/USArmy/Documents/SC_AnnualReport1900.pdf |title=Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1900 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1900 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=989}}{{Cite news |date=27 September 1900 |title=Cable Ship Leaves |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/50354297/?match=1&terms=burnside%20cable |work=Brooklyn Eagle |pages=13}} She had on board a crew of 104 men to run the ship, and a 25-man Signal Corps detachment led by Captain George O. Squier who were in charge of laying the cable.{{Cite news |date=16 September 1900 |title=The Cable Ship Burnside |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/88129921/?match=1&terms=burnside%20cable |work=New York Tribune |pages=34}} As she was sailing into a war zone, she was armed with three 6-pounder and four 1-pounder rapid-fire guns.{{Cite news |date=26 September 1900 |title=From the "Rita" to the "Burnside" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/542841267/?match=1&terms=burnside%20cable |work=Times Union |pages=2}}

Burnside reached Gibraltar on 10 October 1900.{{Cite news |date=11 October 1900 |title=The Burnside at Gibraltar |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/89502585/?match=1&terms=Cable%20Burnside |work=Times Leader |pages=2}} She stopped at Malta,{{Cite news |date=20 October 1900 |title=Long Stories By Wires After Being Squeezed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1033045290/?match=1&terms=Cable%20Burnside |work=Daily Local News |pages=1}} Port Said,{{Cite news |date=26 October 1900 |title=The Burnside At Port Said |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/50361081/?match=1&terms=Cable%20Burnside |work=Brooklyn Eagle |pages=9}} Aden,{{Cite news |date=7 November 1900 |title=Telegraph for All Philippines |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/168031896/?match=1&terms=Cable%20Burnside |work=Philadelphia Inquirer |pages=3}} Colombo,{{Cite news |date=20 November 1900 |title=Cable Ship Burnside At Colombo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/88134886/?match=1&terms=Cable%20Burnside |work=New York Tribune |pages=2}} and Singapore,{{Cite news |date=27 November 1900 |title=Burnside at Singapore |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/50557234/?match=1&terms=Cable%20Burnside |work=Evening World |pages=10}} before arriving in Manila on 7 December 1900.{{Cite news |date=7 December 1900 |title=Military Activity In The Philippines |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/50364103/?match=1&terms=Cable%20Burnside |work=Brooklyn Eagle |pages=3}} She sailed from Manila on 23 December 1900 to begin laying cable. The first segment connected Dumaguete on Negros Island to Misamis on Mindanao, approximately 100 miles away. In the first six months of 1901, Burnside completed seven cables which were, in aggregate, 447 nautical miles long.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-VjrRCzqLw4C&q=%22annual+report%22+secretary+of+war+1901 |title=Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1901 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1901 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=931–932 |language=}} Between July and November 1901 she laid another 14 cables of 607 miles and repaired 13 cables. While in the Philippines, she was not employed continuously as a cable ship, but spent part of her time as a transport.{{Cite book |last=Corps |first=United States Army Signal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G19JAQAAMAAJ&q=burnside |title=Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer Made to the Secretary of War for the Year ... |date=1902 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}

File:Crew of the US Army transport BURNSIDE, Washington, ca 1900 (HESTER 54).jpeg

A notable aspect of the Burnside's operations was the large number of Filipino crew. Her job in the Philippines was not merely to lay submarine cable, but to trench the cable ashore, build cable offices, and do whatever else was required on land and sea to make the links work in wilderness locations. The ship needed more manpower, so the bosun went ashore in Manila to hire whoever he could. These men stuck with the ship and gained cable-laying skills. There were 116 Filipino crew aboard in 1904 when the ship came to Seattle.{{Cite news |date=20 June 1904 |title=Filipinos Are Born Sailors |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/68048775/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20filipinos%20sailors |work=Tacoma Times |pages=4}} They were highly regarded by their officers, but were paid roughly two-thirds of what the Army would pay a white crew. Filipino crew worked on Burnside until at least 1912 despite the fact that the ship left the islands in 1904.{{Cite news |date=20 July 1912 |title=Longshoremen Will Handle All Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/724993449/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20filipino%20dix |work=Tacoma Daily Ledger |pages=8}}

File:US Army transport steamer BURNSIDE at anchor, Puget Sound port, Washington, ca 1900 (HESTER 37).jpegIn the wake of the discovery of gold in the Klondike and at Nome, in May 1900 Congress appropriated $455,550 to build a telegraph cable from St. Michael to the rest of the military network in Alaska.{{Cite web |title=31 Stat. 206 (1900) |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llsl//llsl-c56/llsl-c56.pdf}} Since Burnside was the only American cable ship in the Pacific, and fully engaged in the Philippines, little could be done immediately. Congress extended the availability of these funds through the 1903 fiscal year.{{Cite web |title=32 Stat. 508 (1902) |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llsl//llsl-c57/llsl-c57.pdf}} A further $485,000 was voted to connect the Alaska network with continental America.{{Cite book |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llsl//llsl-c57/llsl-c57.pdf |title=32 Stat. 929 (1903)}} Congress approved $321,580 in April 1904 for a cable between Valdez and Sitka,{{Cite web |title=33 Stat. 260 (1904) |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llsl//llsl-c58/llsl-c58.pdf}} and another $95,000 in March 1905 for a cable between Valdez and Seward.{{Cite web |title=33 Stat. 828 (1905) |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llsl//llsl-c58/llsl-c58.pdf}} Burnside laid all of these cables.

In March 1903 Burnside sailed to Hong Kong for shipyard maintenance prior to crossing the Pacific.{{Cite news |date=1 March 1903 |title=Cable Ship |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/651751645/?match=1&terms=%22cable%20ship%22%20burnside |work=Daily Alaskan |pages=1}} She departed Manila on 8 June 1903, made a coaling stop in Nagasaki, and reached Juneau on 11 July 1903.{{Cite news |date=12 July 1903 |title=Will Lay The Cable |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A142FE773BA94746A%40GB3NEWS-1690EE5A8E742166%402416308-168F49706CB93910%402-168F49706CB93910%40?h=8&fname=&mname=&lname=&kwinc=Cable%20ship%20burnside&kwexc=&rgfromDate=5/1/1903&rgtoDate=8/1/1903&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&state%5B0%5D=alaska&state%5B1%5D=washington&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=bmsttcaiozuhyozdkpmmterckudnrunh_ip-10-166-46-116_1729544848628 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |pages=3}} She laid a 17-mile-long cable connecting Skagway and Haines, and repaired the existing cable between Juneau and Skagway. Burnside then sailed south to Seattle surveying the proposed route of the cable to Alaska.{{Cite news |date=16 July 1903 |title=To Haines |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1680C71F3A24FEF1%40GB3NEWS-16851A5EC916F6F6%402416312-16851A5ED9F11CFA%401-16851A5ED9F11CFA%40?h=12&fname=&mname=&lname=&kwinc=Cable%20ship%20burnside&kwexc=&rgfromDate=5/1/1903&rgtoDate=8/1/1903&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&state%5B0%5D=alaska&state%5B1%5D=washington&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=bmsttcaiozuhyozdkpmmterckudnrunh_ip-10-166-46-116_1729544848628 |work=Daily Morning Alaskan |pages=2}} She arrived in Seattle on 4 August 1903.{{Cite news |date=4 August 1903 |title=Laying Alaskan Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/566007495/?match=1&terms=%22cable%20ship%20burnside%22 |work=Spokesman-Review |pages=9}}{{Cite news |date=4 August 1903 |title=Burnside In Port |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/221362420/?match=1&terms=burnside%20cable |work=Seattle Star |pages=1}}

The contract for 1,200 miles of cable for the Alaska project was awarded to the Safety Insulated Wire and Cable Company of Bayonne, New Jersey on 7 March 1903. It was the longest submarine cable manufactured in the United States at the time.{{Cite news |date=8 March 1903 |title=New Cable For Alaska |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/53405916/?match=1&terms=%22Safety%20Insulated%20Wire%22 |work=Brooklyn Eagle |pages=8}} The cable was shipped from New York to Puget Sound via Cape Horn in two sections. The first 580 miles shipped in June 1903{{Cite news |date=22 June 1903 |title=An American Made Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/135330617/?match=1&terms=Alaska%20Cable |work=Democrat and Chronicle |pages=1}} aboard the American-Hawaiian Line steamer Texan. She arrived in Seattle on 1 September 1903.{{Cite news |date=1 September 1903 |title=Texan Brings Alaskan Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/725660574/?match=1&terms=Alaska%20Cable |work=News Tribune |pages=8}} This cable was loaded aboard Burnside by the morning of 15 September.{{Cite news |date=15 September 1903 |title=Steamer Burnside Takes Alaskan Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/725662343/?match=1&terms=Alaska%20Cable%20burnside |work=News Tribune |pages=2}}

File:USAT Burnside at Valdez.jpg

On 16 September 1903, Burnside sailed for Juneau. She had aboard the Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army, Brigadier General Adolphus Greely, who supervised the laying of the cable.{{Cite news |date=17 September 1903 |title=Burnside Goes to Lay Alaska Cable |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1156D7F7D713A378%40GB3NEWS-116B5BFB69852A68%402416375-116B5BFB9E9BD890%401-116B5BFCE69405B8%40Burnside%2BGoes%2Bto%2BLay%2BAlaska%2BCable.%2BWill%2BPut%2Bdown%2BSix%2BHundred%2BMiles%2Bbefore%2BOctober%2BFifteenth?h=6&fname=&mname=&lname=&rgfromDate=5/1/1903&rgtoDate=12/1/1903&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&kwinc=Cable%20ship%20burnside&kwexc=&sid=fnsiasmcwbfkedjgnldsijsbsvabczza_ip-10-166-46-153_1729543775402 |work=Duluth News Tribune |pages=2}} The trip began on a sour note when Burnside hit an iceberg off Admiralty Island and sustained damage to her hull.{{Cite news |date=24 September 1903 |title=Struck An Iceberg |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/724909383/?match=1&terms=burnside%20iceberg |work=Tacoma Daily Ledger |pages=3}} She arrived at Juneau on 22 September 1903.{{Cite news |date=23 September 1903 |title=Burnside With Cable |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11BC0280781DCBB9%40GB3NEWS-11CE1E1960FF4018%402416381-11CE1E1967A6B220%400-11CE1E197B1E1FF0%40Burnside%2Bwith%2BCable?h=7&fname=&mname=&lname=&rgfromDate=5/1/1903&rgtoDate=12/1/1903&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&kwinc=Cable%20ship%20burnside&kwexc=&sid=fnsiasmcwbfkedjgnldsijsbsvabczza_ip-10-166-46-153_1729543775402 |work=Daily Alaska Dispatch |pages=1}} After making quick repairs to the ship, the cable from Juneau to Sitka, 291 miles long, was completed on 2 October 1903.{{Cite journal |last=Maynard |first=George C. |date=12 November 1904 |title=The Alaska Telegraph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X0g_AQAAMAAJ&q=burnside |journal=New York Review of the Telegraph and Telephone Electrical Journal |volume=45 |issue=20 |pages=781–787}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UrdLAAAAYAAJ |title=Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer, United States Army, to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1904 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=5–8 |language=en}} Due to the lateness of the season, the days were getting shorter and the weather stormier. Burnside laid cable from Sitka about 130 miles south before the need for repairs, and bad weather sent her back to Seattle. The end of the cable was buoyed so work on the Sitka-Seattle route could resume in 1904.{{Cite news |date=23 October 1903 |title=none |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/724909949/?match=1&terms=burnside%20cable |work=Tacoma Daily Ledger |pages=12}}

During the winter of 1903-04, Burnside was sent back to the Philippines where a number of outages had occurred in the telegraph cables laid by the ship in 1901. In areas of high current, cables were sawn apart by movement over rough, coral-encrusted seabeds.{{Cite news |last=Chandler |first=C. de F. |date=3 February 1924 |title=Men of Army Cable Ship Burnside Have Had Thrilling Experiences |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/618209118/?match=1&terms=transport%20burnside |work=Evening Star |pages=69}} She left Seattle for Manila on 1 January 1904, carrying 200 tons of oats and 200 tons of hay. She stopped for coal in Honolulu on 12 January 1904.{{Cite news |date=13 January 1904 |title=Spanish War Prize Steamer In Port |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259207855/?match=1&terms=manila%20cable%20burnside |work=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |pages=10}} After 48 days of cable maintenance in the Philippines,{{Cite news |date=26 May 1904 |title=To Begin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/830092918/?match=1&terms=alaska%20cable%20burnside |work=Daily Alaskan |pages=3}} on 6 April 1904 Burnside sailed from Manila for Seattle, where she arrived on 18 May 1904.{{Cite web |title=Annual report of the Secretary of War pt.1 1903/04. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101050737673&seq=280&q1=burnside |access-date=2024-10-21 |website= |page=21, 22, 264 |language=}}

The second part of the Alaska cable, 780 miles, arrived at Seattle from New York on the American-Hawaiian Line steamship American in November 1903, too late to be used that year. It was stored in Tacoma.{{Cite news |date=25 November 1903 |title=Shipping Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/725852022/?match=1&terms=american%20alaska%20cable%20 |work=News Tribune |pages=8}} Other, shorter sections arrived from New York in forty freight cars. On her return from the Philippines, Burnside began loading cable aboard on 9 June 1904{{Cite news |date=9 June 1904 |title=Burnside Is Loading Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/725807342/?match=1&terms=alaska%20cable%20burnside |work=News Tribune |pages=10}} and finally sailed north to Alaska on 19 June 1904.{{Cite news |date=18 June 1904 |title=Cable Ship Takes Coal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/221357222/?match=1&terms=alaska%20cable%20burnside |work=Seattle Star |pages=3}} Numerous difficulties were encountered. The buoy that marked the end of the cable in October 1903 had been washed away in winter storms, forcing the crew to grapple for the wire in {{Convert|9000|ft|m}} of water. Some of Burnside's cable laying machinery broke down, and the weather was stormy.{{Cite news |date=21 July 1904 |title=Cable Ship Now In Port |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Jordanroderick/sandbox&veaction=edit |work=Tacoma Daily Ledger |pages=3}} Nonetheless, the cable from Sitka to Seattle, 1,070 miles long, was completed on 28 August 1904. The final splice took place at a ceremony in Elliot Bay which was attended by several hundred people. To commemorate the event, Mayor Richard A. Ballinger of Seattle and Mayor Keller of Skagway telegraphed greetings to each other.{{Cite news |date=29 August 1904 |title=Cable Connects Alaska And The States |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/830099269/?match=1&terms=alaska%20cable%20burnside |work=Daily Alaskan |pages=1}}

Burnside began laying the Valdez to Sitka link on 29 September and completed her work on 5 October 1904. She completed the final link in the submarine cable system between Valdez and Seward on 3 August 1905.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvQ9AQAAMAAJ&dq=valdez+seward+cable&pg=PA7 |title=Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer Made to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1905 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1905 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=7 |language=en}}

File:Submarine Cable Breaks at Valdez.png

In addition to the Alaska cable system, the Army maintained a number of short cables between coastal defense installations. In Puget Sound, Fort Casey, Fort Flagler, and Fort Worden were connected by fire-control cables.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPQ9AQAAMAAJ&q=burnside |title=Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer Made to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1907 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1907 |location=Washington, D.C. |language=}} In the Bay Area, there were cables between the Presidio, Fort Baker, Fort Barry, and Fort McDowell.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfQ9AQAAMAAJ&q=burnside |title=Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer Made to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1910 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1910 |location=Washington, D.C. |language=}} At the mouth of the Columbia, Army cables connected Fort Stevens and Fort Columbia.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPQ9AQAAMAAJ&q=burnside |title=Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer Made to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1911 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1911 |location=Washington, D.C. |language=en}} Burnside was involved in maintaining all of these cables.File:US cable ship Burnside at Ketchikan, Alaska, June 29, 1911 (COBB 199).jpegThe sea bed is a hostile environment and there were many interruptions in the cables Burnside maintained. In 1905 a whale tangled the Sitka-Valdez cable in its jaws. As it thrashed to free itself, it broke the cable. The drowned corpse was still tangled in the cable when Burnside arrived to fix the line weeks later.{{Cite news |date=25 January 1905 |title=Whale Wrecks Sika Cable |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/851415505/?match=1&terms=%22cable%20ship%22%20burnside%20whale |work=Evening Express |pages=5}} A February 1908 earthquake broke the two cables to Valdez in 11 places as the seabed faulted.{{Cite book |last1=Tarr |first1=Ralph S. |url=https://dggs.alaska.gov/webpubs/usgs/p/text/p0069.pdf |title=The Earthquakes at Yakutat Bay, Alaska in September, 1899 |last2=Martin |first2=Lawrence |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1912 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=97–98}} Ships' anchors ripped cables from harbor bottoms.{{Cite news |date=13 March 1914 |title=From Saturday's Daily |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/901880074/?match=1&terms=ketchikan%20burnside%20cable |work=Ketchikan Miner |pages=3}} The ship was continuously busy. In fiscal year 1915, for example, Burnside made five round-trips from Seattle to Alaska to fix nine breaks.{{Cite web |title=Annual report of the Chief Signal Officer to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1915 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.a0004269361&seq=40&q1=burnside |access-date=2024-10-24 |website= |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=34 |language= |publication-place=Washington, D.C.}}

Even though most of her efforts were for maintenance, Burnside did lay additional cable to extend the system, and to replace outdated lines. Notably, at the end of 1906 new cable was laid to connect Wrangell, Hadley, and Ketchikan to the outside world. In 1909 she laid submarine cable to Cordova.

The most serious accident in the ship's career occurred on 21 November 1904. Burnside was on her way north to fix a cable break between Valdez and Sitka. While passing through Seymour Narrows at one-quarter speed, she lost steerage way in the current and was thrown sideways onto Ripple Rock. At the time of the accident the ship was under the command of pilot O. H. Johansen. Later examination in dry dock revealed that {{Convert|51|ft|m}} of her keel was torn away and there was a gash {{Convert|8|ft|m}} wide and {{Convert|21|ft|m}} long in her port quarter.{{Cite news |date=12 January 1905 |title=Cable Ship Going North |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/724941286/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20%22seymour%20narrows%22 |work=Tacoma Daily Ledger |pages=3}} This enormous hole would likely have sunk the ship but for the fact that it opened a ballast tank which was already filled with water. Burnside continued north to Alert Bay where a quick inspection of the damage was made. The decision was made to return to Seattle for repairs.{{Cite news |date=25 November 1904 |title=Cable Ship Comes Here For Repairs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/724933890/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20cable |work=Tacoma Daily Ledger |pages=5}} After an Army investigation of the accident, Captain Laffin was temporarily relieved of his command in January 1905 for being absent from the bridge at the time of the accident.{{Cite news |date=19 January 1905 |title=He Was Absent From The Bridge |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/725777594/?match=1&terms=%22ripple%20rock%22%20burnside |work=News Tribune |pages=10}} The contract to repair the ship was won by Heffernan Engine Works which bid $31,482 for the work.{{Cite news |date=2 December 1904 |title=To Investigate Mishap |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/724935569/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20seymour |work=Tacoma Daily Ledger |pages=3}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ujlSfCksBYC&dq=Burnside+%22seymour+narrows%22&pg=PA51 |title=Annual Report of the Quartermaster General of the United States Army to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1905 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1905 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=51 |language=}}

In October 1911, the Alaska Steamship Company's Edith went aground on Level Island in Sumner Strait, heavily laden with 60,000 cases of canned salmon. Burnside was able to pull her off undamaged, and Edith was able to continue her voyage under her own steam.{{Cite journal |date=15 October 1911 |title=Casualties To Pacific Coast Shipping |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tqBOAQAAMAAJ&dq=Burnside+%22seymour+narrows%22&pg=RA12-PA23 |journal=Railway and Marine News |volume=IX |issue=9 |pages=28}}{{Cite news |date=9 October 1911 |title=Edith Off The Rocks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/73323501/?match=1&terms=Burnside%20edith%20sumner |work=Weekly Alaska Citizen |pages=7}}

As the 1920's began, the cables that Burnside had laid in Alaska fifteen years earlier were wearing out.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W9dMAAAAYAAJ&q=burnside |title=Annual Report of the Secretary of War to the President |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1922 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=259 |language=}} The wear and tear of currents scraping cable along the bottom was compounded by concern that the seamless rubber insulation used by the Safety Insulated Wire and Cable Company was inferior to the gutta-percha insulation used by British cable manufacturers. The Signal Corps planned to replace the original cables, and planned to do it with a more modern ship than the 40-year old Burnside. On 26 September 1921, the steamer Dellwood was transferred from the US Shipping Board to the War Department by Executive Order 3553.{{Cite book |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011413476&seq=7 |title=The Alaska Cable System |publisher=US Government Printing Office |year=1925 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=3}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yX_NAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Shipping+board%22+%22war+department%22+dellwood&pg=PA2138 |title=United States Shipping Board and Emergency Fleet Corporation: Hearings Before the Select Committee to Inquire Into the Operations, Policies, and Affairs of the United States Shipping Board and the United States Emergency Fleet Corporation, House of Representatives, Sixty-eighth Congress, First Session, Pursuant to H.R. 186 ... |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1925 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=2138 |language=}} Dellwood was a design 1043 freighter built in 1919 for the Emergency Fleet Corporation.{{Cite journal |date=May–June 1963 |title=Steel Shipbuilding Under The U.S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921 |url=https://www.shipscribe.com/mckellar/Contract4.pdf |journal=The Belgian Shiplover |issue=93 |pages=232}} Todd Drydocks, Inc. was awarded the contract to convert the freighter into a cable ship in July 1922.{{Cite news |date=5 July 1922 |title=Todd Drydock Co. Gets Contract |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/604845558/?match=1&terms=dellwood%20burnside |work=News Pilot |pages=5}} By February 1923, Dellwood was in Seattle, and cable laying equipment was moved from Burnside to her replacement.{{Cite news |date=21 February 1923 |title=Cable Ship Dellwood Is Coming To Alaska |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/854343174/?match=1&terms=burnside%20%22cable%20ship%22 |work=Cordova Daily Times |pages=8}}

Burnside was transferred to the US Shipping Board which sold her for $7,600.{{Cite book |url=https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/76713/dot_76713_DS1.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjBibfewayJAxWHIjQIHf7aD40QFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3ltzPm1tIUos9FszxM_fVw |title=Eighth Annual Report of the United States Shipping Board |publisher=US Government Printing Office |year=1924 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=108, 139}} The ship was bought by General Metal and Supply Company of Oakland in April 1924.{{Cite news |date=21 April 1924 |title=Old Cableship Burnside Sold |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/847365603/?match=1&terms=burnside%20%22general%20metal%22 |work=Juneau Empire |pages=6}} Burnside was towed from Seattle to San Francisco Bay in July 1924.{{Cite news |last=McIntyre |first=M. H. |date=6 July 1924 |title=Army and Navy News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/618274039/?match=1&terms=cable%20ship%20burnside |work=Evening Star |pages=48}} In November 1924 she was set ablaze off Oakland, to burn away everything but her steel. She was scrapped there for her metal.{{Cite news |date=14 November 1924 |title=Old Transport Given Up To Flames |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/999371489/?match=1&terms=%22transport%20burnside%22 |work=Oakland Post Enquirer |pages=4}}

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:USAT Burnside}}

Category:Ships of the United States Army

Category:1882 ships

Category:Ships built in England

Category:Spanish–American War auxiliary ships of the United States