USS Leyden (1865)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Leyden.

USS Leyden
History
United States
Name	USS Leyden
Namesake	Original merchant ship name retained after acquisition by U.S. Navy
Builder	James Tetlow, Chelsea, Massachusetts
Launched	1865
Fate	Foundered near Block Island on 21 January 1903
General characteristics
Type	Armed tug
Displacement	35 tons
Armament	2 guns

The first USS Leyden was a screw steamer that operated as a tug in the U.S. Navy from 1866 to 1903 and saw combat service in the Spanish–American War in 1898.

History

The small boat under the stern of the sinking Jorge Juan is Leyden's gig, recovering the Spanish colours

Leyden was launched in 1865 by James Tetlow, Chelsea, Massachusetts. From 1866 to 1879 she operated as a yard tug at the Boston Navy Yard, performing various harbor duties out of Boston, Massachusetts, until reassigned to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1879. Leyden served there until 1897, when she was assigned to Newport, Rhode Island. While the ship was near Boston on 26 August 1881, Seaman Michael Thornton jumped overboard and rescued a fellow sailor from drowning, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

In 1898, Leyden performed towing operations off Cuba during the Spanish–American War. On 21 July 1898, her captain, Ensign Walter S. Crosley, using her one-pound guns, joined armed yacht USS Wasp, and gunboats USS Annapolis and USS Topeka in firing on and sinking the Spanish sloop Jorge Juan in Nipe Bay, Cuba, in the Battle of Nipe Bay. She also fought at the Battle of Fajardo the night of 8–9 August, bombarding enemy positions to support bluejackets from USS Amphitrite holding the Cape San Juan Light against a Spanish ground attack. The next morning, Leyden transported 60 women and children from the town of Fajardo that had been quartered at the lighthouse to Ponce, Puerto Rico.

From 1898 to 1903, Leyden alternated her services between the Caribbean and Newport, Rhode Island. While on a return passage from Puerto Rico on 21 January 1903, the tug foundered in heavy fog off Block Island, ending her lengthy career. Ordinary Seaman Ernest H. Bjorkman, Fireman First Class Loddie Stupka, Quartermaster Third Class August P. Teytand, and Chief Machinist Michael Walsh received the Medal of Honor "for heroism at the time of the wreck of that vessel".

Awards

• Sampson Medal
• Spanish Campaign Medal

References

Online sources

• Cressman, Robert J. (29 July 2015). "Leyden I (Screw Steamer)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 3 July 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links

• Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center