A New “Great White Fleet”: Harnessing Navy Humanitarianism for the Cold War

By Zac Cunningham
School Programs Educator

On December 16, 1907, the Great White Fleet sailed from Hampton Roads on its voyage around the world. Among this fleet of U.S. Navy warships were 16 new steel battleships, all painted white.[1] With this fleet, the United States demonstrated its new naval technology and its new status as a global imperial power. The U.S. also sought to win the goodwill of the nations the fleet visited.[2] The most notable way the fleet tried to win goodwill was through humanitarian assistance provided to the victims of a catastrophic earthquake on Sicily. The goodwill mission and humanitarian actions of the Great White Fleet were long remembered and, half a century later, inspired a call for “A New Kind of Great White Fleet.”

USS Connecticut (BB 18) leading the original Great White Fleet (NHHC)

Street in Messina, Sicily, photographed in January 1909 and showing damage caused by the December 28, 1908 earthquake. (NHHC)

USS Culgoa, stores ship for the Great White Fleet, at Messina, Italy (Sicily) in January 1909 to render assistance to the victims of the December 28, 1908 earthquake. (NHHC)

On July 27, 1959, Life magazine enthusiastically announced a “Bold Proposal for Peace.” Explicitly harkening back to the early 20th-century’s Great White Fleet, Life’s editors called for “a ‘New White Fleet’ . . . with a new mission.” As dramatically illustrated on the magazine’s cover, this new fleet’s unarmed, white-painted ships “would sail around the world with food for the hungry, medical facilities for the sick and injured, and technicians to help underprivileged peoples improve their own lot.” The fleet would “harness America’s productive goodwill and energies to help ensure peace and combat the spread of Communism.”[3]

Cover of the July 27, 1959 issue of Life. (Time Inc.)

On the next eight pages, Life outlined how the fleet could be created and how it would work. Linking the new to the old once again, the article imagined the fleet responding to a natural disaster like an earthquake, just as the original Great White Fleet did. In a color drawing stretching across two of the magazine’s oversized pages, earthquake victims are cared for on the fleet’s hospital ship. In the background, helicopters conducting rescue operations take off from a small aircraft carrier and landing craft make their way to shore where a large fire can be seen.[4]

A two-page Illustration in the July 27, 1959 issue of Life imagines how a New White Fleet might respond to an earthquake in Southeast Asia. (Time Inc.)

Life’s New White Fleet plan called for:

“six ships to start with—the hospital ship, complete with operating room, X-ray facilities and medical wards; the carrier; a small destroyer escort to provide coastal communities with emergency power; a cargo vessel loaded with stores of food and clothing; a transport converted into a floating technical school to help improve the local standard of living; and a supply vessel to replenish the fleet.”[5]

In ports of call on regular voyages, local patients and doctors would come aboard for treatment and training in illnesses and diseases beyond the capabilities of the local medical system. If a disaster struck elsewhere, the fleet would abandon its planned schedule of port visits to sail immediately to the site of the disaster.

While its ships would come from the U.S. Navy, Life cautioned that the New White Fleet would not be a military fleet. By limiting its military nature, the magazine hoped the world’s non-aligned nations that were hesitant to choose between the United States and the Soviet Union might still welcome the fleet’s assistance.[6]

Military connections were part of the proposal from the very beginning, however. In fact, a U.S. Navy officer first suggested the need for a New White Fleet. This officer, Commander Frank Manson, shared his non-official views about the fleet as part of Life’s story.[7]

Commander Frank Manson (Life)

The idea came to Commander Manson while serving as Special Research Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations. In December 1957, he happened upon some photos of World War II hospital and auxiliary ships and then he talked with a Navy doctor just back from Southeast Asia. Regarding that region’s medical conditions, Manson asked the doctor, “Would hospital ships help?” After an enthusiastic yes, the commander drove home, expanding the idea beyond hospital ships into a fleet of humanitarian vessels “designed to make the benefits of the free enterprise system available to the entire human race.”[8]

He shared the idea with leaders in industry, labor, politics, and the military, including a retired admiral, at least two U.S. senators, and other assorted congressmen, all unnamed. In the article, Life reported separately that Senators George Aiken (D-Vermont) and Hubert Humphrey (D-Minnesota) plus Representatives William Bates (R-Massachusetts) and Ed Edmondson (D-Oklahoma) were calling for the Eisenhower administration to provide surplus government vessels to the fleet.[9]

Humanitarianism motivated Manson and Life only so far. Manson felt that showcasing the material well-being of the U.S. could help it catch back up to the Soviets in the Cold War’s propaganda contest. Ultimately, he believed the New White Fleet would help build peace on a people-to-people level beyond governments.[10] For its part, Life ambitiously dreamed the fleet could win more goodwill for the U.S. than even the Marshall Plan.[11]

The New Great White Fleet, however, would remain just a dream. It was never formed. Only the hospital ship SS Hope, which the Life article cast as the first ship in the fleet, became operational.

SS Hope (Library of Congress)

As recounted in a previous blog post, the Eisenhower administration gave former Navy hospital ship USS Consolation (AH 15) to the non-governmental organization Project HOPE. Renamed the Hope, it sailed to several non-aligned nations in the 1960s and early 1970s and carried on—not on the scale of the dreamed of New White Fleet—the legacy of the original Great White Fleet’s goodwill mission.

Notes:
[1] “The Great White Fleet,” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/the-great-white-fleet.html [accessed June 30, 2022].
[2] John E. Moser, “Theodore Roosevelt Launches the Great White Fleet,” Teaching American History website, https://teachingamericanhistory.org/blog/theodore-roosevelt-launches-the-great-white-fleet/ [accessed June 30, 2022].
[3] “A New ‘Great White Fleet,’” Life, July 27, 1959, 17.
[4] Life, 17-19.
[5] Life, 19.
[6] Ibid.
[7] “Manson, Frank A., Capt., USN (Ret.),” U.S. Naval Institute, https://www.usni.org/press/oral-histories/manson-frank [accessed June 30, 2022]; Life, 20.
[8] Life, 21.
[9] Life, 21, 24-25.
[10] Life, 21.
[11] Life, 19.

Before Social Media: Naval Recruiting One Hundred Years Ago

By Diana Gordon
Hampton Roads Naval Museum Educator

This WWI poster, "U.S. Navy- Help your country! Enlist in the Navy" was created for the Navy Recruiting Station in New York City and is part of the museum’s collection. The artist, Henry Reuterdahl, was a Swedish-American painter who knew the traditions of the Navy. He served as a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserves, and had been handpicked by President Roosevelt to accompany the Great White Fleet to artistically document the journey. As an editor for Jane’s Fighting Ships, Reuterdahl created several posters for recruiting stations across the United States. One of these posters, the famous “The Navy Put ‘em Across,” is on display in the museum’s World War I gallery. 

In this poster, more specifically a lithograph, Reuterdahl created an inspiring view of the U.S. Navy by positioning gigantic ships cutting through the chaotic waves at the top of the poster. The artist used strong vibrant colors, which immediately catch one’s eye and draw the viewer in. The swirling blue and white ocean dwarfs the extra details of the seagull in the left hand corner, but it leads the viewer to the powerful battleships steaming ahead.

The imagery purposely echoes the mighty voyage of the Great White Fleet in 1907-1909. The Great White Fleet was a battle group consisting of sixteen battleships, painted white, which traveled the globe to demonstrate American naval power.The artist positions the WWI battleships with the exact angle of the vessels from some photographs of the Great White Fleet. Both works of art form a battle line, steaming full ahead, almost as though the ships will sail right out of the picture. Both photograph and poster feature the iconic designs of the battleships from this era. The Great White Fleet, painted white as a sign of peace, with steam stacks and masts, were reflected in the cage-masts and turrets of the gray WWI battleships.  The energy of the steel ships, as they approach with waves crashing and steam billowing, portrays a sense of strength and mightiness.  This energy would have appealed to a young man’s sense of adventure and desire to be a part of something greater than himself, such as the U.S. Navy.  

Reuterdahl’s time in the Navy, especially the Great White Fleet, heavily influenced his recruiting posters during World War I. His ability to create a sense of power and adventure was influential in U.S. Navy recruiting efforts in WWI. 

USS Yankton & Rum Running: A Black Mark on an Illustrious Career

USS Yankton at Hampton Roads, December 10, 1916.

Built as a luxury yacht in 1893, the Navy acquired USS Yankton in May 1898. Commissioned at Norfolk, it was prepared for operations in the Spanish-American War. As part of blockading duties off Cuba, it participated in shelling Spanish gunboats and land batteries. After the war, Yankton was converted to a fleet tender. In December 1907, it sailed out of Hampton Roads as part of the Great White Fleet for that around-the-world cruise, returning in 1909.

After the cruise, the converted yacht continued as a fleet tender until America's entrance into WWI. In 1914 it participated in Navy operations off Mexico during the Vera Cruz Crisis. During the war Yankton performed convoy escort duty off of Gibraltar, rescuing a damaged Italian merchant ship from a U-boat at one point. By September 1918, the yacht was summoned back to the United States to operate with the Atlantic Fleet.

Shortly after the Armistice, Yankton was sent back overseas, this time to the Barents Sea off of northern Russia. From February to July 1919, the yacht and a handful of other American ships (including subchasers) supported operations against the Bolsheviks in Murmansk and Archangel. For the remainder of the year it was stationed off England before returning stateside in January 1920.

Decommissioned soon after returning, the vessel was sold in 1921. Two years later the ship sprang into national news. Operated as part of a rum running ring, the yacht was captured in New York by customs officials. It was registered as a British ship and according to reports, had come to “Rum Row” (a group of smuggling ships anchored outside of the maritime limit) from the West Indies with a valuable cargo of illegal rum worth $500,000. The ship was eventually returned to civilian maritime service but was scrapped in 1930. 

USS New Jersey (BB-16) in World War I

The picture here shows the Virginia-class battleship USS New Jersey (BB-16) in 1918. She is painted in one of the wartime camouflage paint schemes. Commissioned in 1906, she took part in the Jamestown Exposition in 1907 and sailed a few months later with the Great White Fleet for a 14 month cruise around the world. She also participated in the Vera Cruz expedition in 1914.

By the outbreak of World War I, New Jersey was too outdated to actively participate in fleet action. Like her sister ship USS Nebraska, the ship proved a valuable training tool for the wartime Navy, operating in the Chesapeake Bay. In 1923, the ship was sunk off of Cape Hatteras as part of Billy Mitchell's famous bombing tests.

New Jersey being bombed in 1923

Pitchers and Catchers Report to the Fantail! Baseball During the Great White Fleet

This is a picture of sailors calling their home run shots on the fantail of the battleship USS New Jersey (BB-12) in 1908 during the cruise of the Great White Fleet. These sailors were not just hitting the ball around to alleviate boredom; bragging rights were on the line.

Fleet teams land at Magdalena Bay, Mexico

When the U.S. Battle Fleet set sail around the world, the voyage was as much about training and fleet readiness as it was a political statement. This training included several competitions between ships, namely marksmanship competitions with the ships' big guns. Equally fierce in competition were the sporting events. Each battleship had its own football, rowing, and baseball teams. To make it more interesting, the Navy set aside a cash prize of $1,200 and a gold trophy for the winning team in each event.

Teams from the armored cruisers USS Washington (ACR-11)

and Tennessee (ACR-10) play a game at Magdalena Bay.

(Image from greatwhitefleet.info)

According to one account, the sailors acted with the greatest sportsmanship during the baseball games. The account stated that one would never hear the words "kill the umpire," as was sometimes heard during a professional baseball game back home. This was no doubt due to the fact that the umpires happened to be the sailors' division officers.

The teams competed throughout the cruise, including exhibition matches in Australia. Some Australians had taken quite a liking to the American game and fielded a few teams against the Fleet's teams. They were actually quite good. In one game, the team from New South Wales defeated USS Missouri's (BB-11) team 8-0.

The Fleet baseball tournament ended with a "world series" taking place in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). New Jersey's team took on USS Nebraska (BB-14), with Nebraska winning 22-10. Given that the teams did not have a very deep bench (teams had only about three to four reserve players), it is evident that the pitchers' arms for each team must have been spent by the time the Fleet arrived in Colombo.

USS Nebraska's baseball team--winners of the Great White Fleet around-the-world baseball tournament.

LEGO Model Ship Preview #3- USS Connecticut

Shown above is our third preview model for LEGO shipbuilding day at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum (February 2, 10am to 5pm). This particular model is the battleship USS Connecticut (Battleship Number 18). Launched in 1904, Connecticut helped expand the U.S. Navy's battleship inventory. USS Connecticut displaced 16,000-tons and came with a mixed battery of 12-inch, 8-inch, and 7-inch guns.

USS Connecticut is world famous for being Admiral Robley Evans' flagship for the Great White Fleet's world voyage. After this historic 1907-09 voyage, Connecticut served in the 1914 Vera Cruz expedition and later as a coast defense vessel in World War I.

And remember.... 

When: Saturday, February 2, 2013 

Time: 10am to 5pm 

Where: At HRNM (2nd floor of Nauticus) Cost: FREE!

Battleship USS Virginia Builder's Model

This is the original builder's model of the battleship USS Virginia (BB-13).  It is currently on display in the museum's 1907 exhibit on the third floor of Nauticus.  Currently on loan from Naval Sea System's Curator of Navy Ship Models, this all-wood model dates back to 1901, and is one of the largest models in the museum's collection (second in size only to the museum's builder's model of USS America (CV-66)). 

When the model was located at the Pennsylvania Building at Naval Station Norfolk (the museum's first home), a steam pipe burst, causing severe water damage to the ship.   When a repair team from the Curator of Navy Ship Models began to work on the model, the group discovered this note from the ship's design team:

Francis T. Bowles, Chief Constructor
Washington Navy Yard
Model started July 12, 1901
by E.R. Marceron and H.K. Prossev and James Baker
Edwin Phillips made small boats [etc.]
Painting [etc.] by John Henry Walker
Charles Charleston
Joeh Evans, Quartermaster
this paper put in
model Aug. 8, 1901
& the model closed & glued together

"Francis T. Bowles" refers to Rear Admiral Francis Bowles, USN, who served as the Navy's chief architect and designed the Virginia-class battleships.  His design--particularly the weapons arrangement--was controversial.  Notice that there are four guns grouped together on the bow and stern of the vessel.  The lower guns are 12-inch/40 rifles, typical guns for an American battleship.  However, many people wanted the ship to have 8-inch/45 rifles, one of the Navy's most accurate weapons.  The resulting debate and budgetary restrictions forced Bowles to produce a compromise that satisfied no one. 

Built at Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia served in the Great White Fleet, the 1914 Vera Cruz Expedition, and World War I, before being sunk as a target ship off the coast of Cape Hatteras in 1923.

Happy Halloween-Neptunus Rex's Royal Police

For Halloween 2011, we present "HRH" Neptunus Rex's Royal Police squad on board the battleship USS Alabama (BB-8) during the 1907-1909 cruise of the U.S. Battle Fleet (a.k.a. the “Great White Fleet”). The Royal Police's job was to enforce order during the "crossing the line" ceremonies, which took place when a ship crosses the equator. Along with other the warships of the Fleet, this particular crossing-the-line ceremony took place on January 8, 1908. It was one of the largest events of its type.

Great White Fleet Silk Mural

Museum staff have recently installed this silk embroidered mural commentating the voyage of the U.S. Battle Fleet's (a.k.a. the "Great White Fleet") world cruise in the museum's Great White Fleet gallery.  Sailors commissioned artists in Japan to make these elaborate and colorful murals while the Fleet was in Yokohama.

1908 Sicilian Earthquake and American Assistance

Recently, a major earthquake struck central Italy. A little over 100 years ago, one of the worst tragedies to hit modern Europe occured when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Messina, Italy. The tremors and the tsunami that followed killed upwards of 200,000 people. American ships of the Great White Fleet were making preparations to visit several ports in the Mediterranean before heading home to Norfolk. Instead, they made best possible speed from Egypt upon hearing about the event and participated in disaster relief operations in conjunction with Russian, British, and Dutch sailors.

New Daybook Published

Volume 13 Issue 3 of The Daybook, the museum's journal of local naval history and museum events, is currently online at http://www.hrnm.navy.mil/daybook.html. The main article is looks at the William R. Trigg Company, which was a Richmond, VA-based shipyard that made an attempt to build warships for the new "Steel Navy" between 1898 and 1903.

Also in this issue is another installment of the diary of Petty Officer Stoffer, a machinsit's mate aboard the battleship USS Kansas (BB-21) during the 1907-09 voyage of the Great White Fleet.

The print version should be out in the mail in the next couple of weeks. If you wish to get a print copy, e-mail us at gordon.b.calhoun@navy.mil. There is no charge.

Christmas Eve 100 Years Ago

In this print by naval constructor and noted artist T. Dart Walker, the wardroom of the battleship USS Kansas (BB-21)makes a toast to love ones back home during the 1908 Christmas Eve dinner. The battleship was in the Arabian Sea en route to Egypt during the around the world cruise of the Great White Fleet.

Great White Fleet photo-Crossing the Line Ceremony

This photo is from a sailor's scrapbook from the museum's collection of the 1907-09 voyage of the Great White Fleet. The officer is Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright, who is about to be dumped head first into a pool of salt water during the Fleet's first "Crossing the Line" ceremony. The flag officer was one of thousands of officers and sailors welcomed into Neptunus Rex's realm during the voyage. Wainwright was a war hero for his efforts during the Spanish-American War and one of the Fleet's senior officers. Nonetheless, Neptunus Rex shows favors to no one...