 Photo date: July 27, 1895. |
According to the 1897 Record of American and Foreign Shipping, Hermione was a 145' steel-hulled steam yacht built in 1891 in Paisley, Scotland for owner Henry L. Pierce. It's homeport was listed as Boston in 1897-98.
Henry Lillie Pierce (1825 - 1896) served as mayor of Boston in 1873 and 1878 and as a member of Congress from 1873 until 1877.
On Apr. 2, 1898, sixteen months after Pierce's death, Hermione was purchased for $50,000 by the U.S. Government from Henry L. Pierce's estate and renamed Hawk.
According to http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-h/py2.htm:
"USS Hawk, a 545-ton yacht, was built as the civilian Hermione in 1891 in Scotland. Purchased by the Navy in April 1898 and converted to a gunboat, she was active off Cuba during the Spanish-American War. In 1900 Hawk was sent to the Great Lakes as a Naval Militia training ship. After World War I, she was classified as PY-2, and later as IX-14, and continued her training ship mission. She was decommissioned in February 1940 and sold for scrapping."
also:
"The USS Hawk (PY-2/IX-14) was a converted yacht built as the civilian Hermione by Fleming & Ferguson, Paisley, Scotland, in 1891; purchased by the US Navy 2 April 1898 and renamed Hawk; and commissioned 3 days later, Lt. J. Hood in command.
Hawk sailed from Key West in late April 1898 to join the North Atlantic Squadron in blockading Cuba during the Spanish-American War. On 23 May she accompanied Admiral Sampson's flagship USS New York (ACR-2) out from Key West. Two weeks later she attacked and destroyed enemy ship Alphonso XII, which carried cargo for Cuba. In late summer she departed for Norfolk where she decommissioned 14 September 1898. Recommissioned in 1900, she was loaned to the Ohio Naval Militia where she served for 9 years. On 3 August 1909 Hawk was transferred to the Naval Militia of New York, and served for 10 years in the Buffalo area. She
decommissioned 21 May 1919 and joined the Reserve Fleet. After World War I, she was reclassified as PY-2, and again redesignated IX-14 on 1 July 1921. Hawk once again recommissioned 16 April 1922 and was assigned to the 9th Naval District. She operated in the Great Lakes area for the duration of her service. She decommissioned 14 February 1940 and was sold 25 February to the Indiana Salvage Co., Michigan City, Indiana."
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