On December 16th, President Theodore Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet on their journey around the world. It had sixteen new battleships from the Atlantic Fleet. They had painted the battleships all white except for the gilded scrollwork on the bows. This part of the Atlantic Fleet became known as " The Great White Fleet".
This fleet that took a fourteen month sail around the around the world consisted of 14,000 sailors. The trip covered the some of 43,000 miles and made twenty port calls on six continents. It was a great show of the American sea power.
The fleet was joined for the first half of the trip by the "Torpedo Flotilla", which was made up of six early destroyers and several auxiliary ships. The Torpedo Flotilla was following their own itinerary, which was from Hampton Roads to San Francisco. In San Francisco two battleships were detached and replaced with two more.
Under the command of Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, the flagship the USS Connecticut they sailed from Hampton Roads, Virginia. With this flagship they sailed from December 16, 1907 to May 16,1908. The fleet went from Virginia to Trinidad (West Indies) then to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Sandy Point, Chile; Callao, Peru; Magdalena Bay, Mexico, and up the west coast, then arriving at San Francisco.
The USS Glacier was separated from the fleet after they ported on the West Coast. It later became the supply ship of the Pacific Fleet. Also at this point, Reginald F. Nicholson the captain of the USS Nebraska and Frank E. Beatty the captain of the USS Wisconsin were replaced for the USS Maine and USS Alabama.
In San Francisco, Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry took command of the Fleet, due to the poor health of Admiral Evans.
The fleet left San Francisco on July 7,1908. The Atlantic Fleet sailed from San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney, Melbourne and Albany, Australia; Manila, Philippine Islands; Yokohama, Japan; Colombo, Ceylon; and on January 3,1909 the fleet ported at Suez, Egypt.
While the fleet was In Egypt they heard about an earthquake in Sicily. This gave the United States the chance to show their friendship, and they offered aid to those who were effected in Italy. The Connecticut, Illinois, Culgoa and Yankton were called immediately to Messina. The crew of the Illinois recovered the bodies of the American consul and his wife, were found in the ruble.
The Scorpion the station ship at Constantinople, and the Celtic, were rushed to Messina. They were rushed so that they could relieve the Connecticut and Illinois, so that they could continue their journey. On January 9 1909 after the fleet left Messina, the Fleet stopped at Naples, Italy, then to Gibraltar, arriving at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
February 22 1909 when they arrived in Virginia, there they were greeted by President Roosevelt. He reviewed the Fleet as it passed into the roadstead. That was the end of there 14 month long journey. That is how the Atlantic Fleet became known as the "Great White Fleet".
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