USS Yankee Cienfuegos 1898

Accession number:
1912.03

Maker:
Carlton Theodore Chapman
(1860-1925)

Historical period:
1912

Miltary branch:

Wars and Conflicts:

Type:

Dimensions:
H x W: 26 in. / 40 in.

Acquisition date:
1912

Credit line:
Gift of Admiral Willard H. Brownson

Location:
,

Provenance:

From 1912: The Army and Navy Club, gift of Admiral Willard H. Brownson

Label:

Originally built as El Norte in 1892 by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. for the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Morgan Line, the steamer was acquired by the U.S. Navy on April 6, 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War. Renamed USS Yankee and commissioned in New York on April 14 under Commander Willard H. Brownson (1845–1935), she sailed south to join the blockade of Cuba.

After taking station off Santiago de Cuba, Yankee proceeded to Cienfuegos on June 13, where she patrolled the harbor for two days. In the encounter depicted here, Spanish warships were driven to retreat into the harbor. Yankee then put in at Guantanamo Bay to coal and resupply before rejoining the blockade at Cienfuegos.

Admiral Brownson, later a member of The Army and Navy Club and the donor of this painting, may have commissioned the work specifically for the Club.

This painting was featured in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's exhibition "1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions," which was on view from April 28, 2023 - February 25, 2024.