USS Hist, formerly Thespia, was built in 1895. She was purchased at Norfolk from David Dows, Jr., on 22 April 1898 for use in the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

. Hist commissioned 13 May at New York, Lt. Lucien Young

Lucien Young

Lucien Young was an admiral of the United States Navy. His active-duty career included service in the Spanish–American War.-Early life and career:Young was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on 31 March 1852...

 in command.

Arriving at Guantánamo Bay via Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 25 June, Hist joined the blockading

Blockade

A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...

 fleet off Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....

 on the 29th. The following day was a memorable one

First Battle of Manzanillo

The First Battle of Manzanillo was a series of naval engagements during the Spanish American War on 30 June 1898 in and outside of the harbor of Manzanillo, Cuba...

. That morning, in company with Hornet

USS Hornet (1898)

The sixth USS Hornet was a gunboat in the United States Navy. Hornet, the former yacht Alicia, was built by Harlan and Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Delaware, in 1890; purchased from Henry Morrison Flagler on 6 April 1898; and commissioned at New York 12 April 1898, Lieutenant James Meredith Helm in...

, Hist captured the Spanish schooner Nickerson. Their prize in tow, the two ships were joined by Wompatuck and the column headed for Manzanillo Bay. On their way. they engaged a Spanish gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

, which they sank, and were fired on by shore troops at Niguero. Reaching Manzanillo, the intrepid flotilla took on an enemy torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

, four gunboats, four pontoon

Pontoon (boat)

A pontoon is a flotation device with buoyancy sufficient to float itself as well as a heavy load. A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on pontoons to float. Pontoons may be used on boats, rafts, barges, docks, floatplanes or seaplanes. Pontoons may support a platform, creating a raft. A...

s, a battery

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 of field artillery

Field artillery

Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and extremely long range target engagement....

, enemy troops firing from the shore, and a Spanish-held fort. When the smoke and fire lifted after an hour and 40 minutes of sharp fighting, Hornet had been disabled but towed to safety by Wompatuck, Hist had been hit 11 times; the Spanish had received the worst of the battle, losing a gunboat, a pontoon, and a sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 loaded with troops as well as suffering serious damage to the gun and torpedo boats. No American casualties resulted.

Hist returned to Manzanillo Bay twice more during the war, 15 July and 12 August. In the first of these return engagements, 10 Spanish ships were sent to the bottom and many others seriously damaged. For her part in this action Hist received commendation from General S. H. Rios, commanding the Cuban troops rebelling against Spanish rule. The second engagement at Manzanillo Bay was no less successful.

On 3 July Hist followed up her early success by joining the fleet in battle off Santiago as the Spanish attempted to break the blockade. Under constant enemy fire, Hist rescued 142 Spanish sailors from their disabled and burning ship, Viscaya. Eight days after this engagement, she and Wompatuck cut the important cable

Submarine communications cable

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....

 connecting Media Luna

Media Luna, Cuba

Media Luna is a municipality and city in the Granma Province of Cuba. It is located on the coastal region of the province, bordering the Gulf of Guacanayabo, between Niquero and Campechuela.-Demographics:...

 and Quizaro Islands. Hist also cut the cable between Punta Carapacho and Cayo Obispo on 21 July, the day after she had participated effectively in the bombardment of Santa Cruz del Sur

Santa Cruz del Sur

Santa Cruz del Sur is a town and municipality in Cuba. It is located in Camagüey Province south of the provincial capital of Camagüey. It lies on the Caribbean coast....

. When not in combat, Hist patrolled the Cuban coast, searching ships, and also served as a dispatch boat between the blockading fleet at Santiago and Guantanamo.

With the end of the war Hist headed north, reaching Key West

Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....

 22 January 1899 and decommissioning there two weeks later, 2 February 1899. While out of commission, Hist traveled up the coast to Newport, R.I., where she recommissioned 18 July 1902, Lt. Victor Blue

Victor Blue

Victor Blue, a brother of Rupert Blue, was born in Richmond County, North Carolina, 6 December 1865 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1887. Lieutenant Blue was advanced five numbers for intelligence missions in Cuba during the Spanish-American War...

 commanding. Hist sailed to the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 on 16 November 1902 and served there as a patrol and dispatch ship, returning to Newport 4 February 1903. On 4 March she was assigned duty with new submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s being tested in Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...

. After this, on 27 June Hist was attached to the First Naval District as a tender

Ship's tender

A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from shore or another ship...

, continuing to operate out of Newport. On 28 September 1905 she was assigned to the Training Station at Newport

Naval Station Newport

The Naval Station Newport is a United States Navy base located in the towns of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice School...

 as tender to the famed frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 Constellation

USS Constellation (1854)

USS Constellation constructed in 1854 is a sloop-of-war and the second United States Navy ship to carry this famous name. According to the US Naval Registry the original frigate was disassembled on 25 June 1853 in Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia, and the sloop-of-war was constructed in the...

 and remained on this duty until decommissioning

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

 3 May 1907.

Hist recommissioned 16 October 1907 at Newport, Lt. C. E. Courtney commanding, and became tender to the 2d Submarine Division. On 6 October 1908, she was assigned to the Cape Cruz

Cape Cruz

Cape Cruz, , is a cape which forms the western extremity of the Granma Province in southern Cuba. It extends into the Caribbean sea and marks the eastern border of the Gulf of Guacanayabo....

–Casilda surveying expedition under Comdr. Armistead Rust

Armistead Rust

Armistead Rust was an officer of the United States Navy.-Biography:Armistead Rust was born in Campbell County, Virginia, on 12 July 1862. He was appointed a cadet engineer at the United States Naval Academy on 1 October 1881...

. Returning to the Caribbean once more, Hist served the expedition as a supply and dispatch vessel for almost 3 years. Putting in at Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...

 on 18 May 1911, she decommissioned there 24 July. Hist was stricken from the Navy Register on 27 July 1911 and sold 20 November of that year.