USS Newark (C-1)

In 1898 Newark's 6-inch guns were converted to rapid firing.[2] She was rebuilt in 1901-02 with 6-inch (152 mm)/40 caliber Mark 3 guns,[1][5] with the secondary armament augmented or replaced by six 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber guns.[2] The 3-inch guns were removed in 1908, and all armament was removed prior to her service as a hospital ship beginning in 1913.[2]

Newark operated off the Atlantic coast for ten months, taking part in maneuvers and exercises until detached on 8 December at Norfolk Navy Yard. There she remained, undergoing post-shakedown overhaul until being assigned on 11 March 1892 to the North Atlantic Squadron and sailing on 14 March for the West Indies. The cruiser operated in Caribbean waters and off the lower east coast, showing the flag in West Indies ports until returning to Norfolk on 5 June where she was made flagship of Rear Admiral Andrew E. K. Benham, Commander of the newly formed South Atlantic Squadron, on 25 June.[3]

She departed on 17 July for Cádiz, Spain to participate in the ceremonies commemorating the 400th Anniversary of Columbus' sailing. Arriving on 30 July, she remained until 2 August then sailed for Genoa, Columbus' birthplace, arriving one month later to continue the celebration. Putting out from Genoa on 25 August, Newark cruised the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, visiting many ports until arriving on 11 February 1893 at Cádiz to take in tow a full size reproduction of caravel Niña and sailing on 18 February for home. Transferred to the Naval Review Fleet for temporary duty on 1 March, the cruiser arrived at Havana on 21 March, parting with Niña there, thence sailing to Hampton Roads and New York where she picked up the caravel once more and proceeded down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec, leaving the little ship there on 11 June and returning to Norfolk on 22 June.[3]

Newark next sailed on 20 September, this time for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to protect American interests, arriving on 20 October and remaining until 1 April 1894. The warship then operated off the South American coast with the South Atlantic Squadron, making one cruise to South Africa from August to October 1894 and another the same time the following year, before returning to Norfolk on 27 April 1896. Assigned to the North Atlantic Station on 4 May, she joined her squadron at New York 25 June and engaged in patrol duty and exercises off the southeastern coast until decommissioning at Norfolk 6 March 1897.[3]

Marines manning the secondary battery, circa 1898.

Following extensive overhaul, Newark recommissioned on 23 May 1898, shortly after the declaration of war on Spain, she sailed on 13 June for Key West and then Cuba, joining the blockade on 30 June. Cruising in Cuban waters throughout the summer, the warship bombarded the port of Manzanillo on 12 August and on the following day accepted its surrender. After the battle of Santiago de Cuba, she participated in the final destruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet through bombardment of the burned hulks. Newark returned to New York on 26 November 1898.[3]

Departing New York on 23 March 1899, the cruiser steamed down the coast of South America on patrol, stopping at numerous ports along the way. In the middle of her cruise, on 7 April, she was ordered to proceed through the Straits of Magellan to San Francisco. The ship, low on coal, was forced to put into Port Low, Chile, from 31 May to 22 June to cut wood(!) for fuel. Finally arriving Mare Island Navy Yard on 4 September, Newark underwent repairs and then sailed on 17 October via Honolulu for the Philippines arriving Cavite on 25 November to support the U.S. Army in the Philippine–American War. The warship took station off Vigan, Luzon, landed troops for garrison duty, then moved on to Aparri on 10 December, receiving the surrender of insurrectionists in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Bataan.[3]

6-inch gun on USS Newark

On 19 March 1900, she sailed for Hong Kong to rendezvous with the monitor USS Monadnock on 22 March and convoy that ship to Cavite, arriving on 3 April and staying there until sailing for Yokohama on 24 April, arriving three days later. The ship then hoisted the flag of Rear Admiral Louis Kempff, Assistant-Commander of the Asiatic Station and sailed on 20 May for China to help land reinforcements to relieve the legations under siege by the Boxers at Peking. Arriving Tientsin on 22 May, Newark operated in that port and out of Taku and Chefoo, protecting American interests and aiding the relief expedition under Vice Admiral Edward Hobart Seymour, R.N., until sailing at the end of July for Kure, Japan, and then Cavite where she hoisted the pennant of the Senior Squadron Commander in the Philippines. She sailed for home in mid-April 1901, via Hong Kong, Ceylon and Suez, arriving Boston late July 1901. She decommissioned there on 29 July.[3]

Newark recommissioned on 3 November 1902, Commander Richard Wainwright in command and sailed on 14 December for duty in southern waters. For the next two years she operated in the West Indies and off the coast of South America as part of the North Atlantic Fleet. Returning to Norfolk briefly on 27 October 1904 to 9 January 1905, she resumed her duties in the West Indies for the first six months of the year and then in June, following exercises off Virginia, was assigned as a training ship to the United States Naval Academy. Placed in reserve at Annapolis on 15 September, she was restored to full duty on 3 May 1906 for her second east coast training cruise. On 4 August 1906 one of her launches was sunk in a collision with the tug T. A. Scott, Jr. at New London, Connecticut.[7] Following this duty, she put into Norfolk on 13 September where she embarked a Marine detachment and sailed for Cuba on the 17th. The veteran cruiser returned home on 19 October and decommissioned at New York Navy Yard on 9 November.[3]

Loaned to the New York Naval Militia on 23 March 1907, she recommissioned exactly one year later for duty as a station ship at the Naval Station, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Arriving on 2 April 1908, she served on this duty until returning to Norfolk on 5 December 1912 to be placed in reserve on the 31st. Newark decommissioned on 16 June 1912 and was stricken from the Navy List on 26 June.[3]

The old cruiser continued to serve her country following her Navy service. Turned over to the Public Health Service, she served as quarantine hulk for the hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, until 1918 when she returned to the Navy to serve throughout World War I as an annex to the Naval Hospital, Newport, Rhode Island. Later transferred to New York, she returned to the Public Health Service at Providence, in May 1919. On 7 July 1926 she was again returned to the Navy Department for disposal and was sold on 7 September.[3]