The sixth USS Hornet was a 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:...

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Hornet, the former yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

 Alicia, was built by Harlan and Hollingsworth

Harlan and Hollingsworth

Harlan & Hollingsworth was a Wilmington, Delaware, firm that constructed ships and railroad cars during the 19th century and into the 20th century.-Founding:...

, Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

, in 1890; purchased from Henry Morrison Flagler

Henry Morrison Flagler

Henry Morrison Flagler was an American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer and partner of John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil. He was a key figure in the development of the eastern coast of Florida along the Atlantic Ocean and was founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway...

 on 6 April 1898; and commissioned at New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 12 April 1898, Lieutenant James Meredith Helm

James Meredith Helm

Rear Admiral James Meredith Helm was an officer in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War.-Biography:...

 in command.

Service history

Six days after she commissioned, Hornet sailed to join the American fleet blockading Spanish Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

. Beaching Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

 24 April, she cruised in Cuban waters with several short trips to 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....

. On 30 June 1898, Hornet was sent to reconnoiter cays and shoals

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...

 off the Spanish fort at Manzanillo

Manzanillo, Cuba

Manzanillo is a municipality and city in the Granma Province of Cuba.It is a port city in the Granma Province in eastern Cuba on the Gulf of Guacanayabo, near the delta of the Cauto River...

 in company with and . Early that morning, she seized the schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 Nickerson, of English registry but loaded with provisions and under a Spanish crew, trying to make her way into the blockaded harbor. At 08:15, the American ships spotted a Spanish gunboat anchored under the blockhouses of the Army

Army

An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...

, but closed for action anyway. Although under heavy and continuous fire from shore batteries and a small arms fusillade from Spanish troops, the American ships fired on and sank the gunboat, withdrawing with no casualties. That same day the three ships entered Manzanillo harbor and were soon deep in battle, with shells splashing in the water all around. Hornets main steam pipe was cut by a Spanish shell and the ship filled with steam.

Although disabled, Hornet continued to fire on the enemy, her crew passing ammunition through the scalding steam as they drifted close in under the shore batteries. A small Spanish sloop came in from port, assuming that Hornets attention was totally centered on her starboard batteries which were pounding the enemy. Hornets alert crew shifted to port and with one well-placed shot from the six-pounder sent the 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....

, rifles and all, to the bottom. By now Hornet had drifted dangerously close to shoal water. Wompatuck steamed over to tow her, all guns still blazing. Despite the day's heated action, not one sailor had been lost.

On 11 July, Hornet was back on station, joining Hist and Wompatuck to cut the cable near 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....

, destroying telegraphic communication between Havana and Manzanillo. A week later she returned to Manzanillo as the American fleet entered the harbor. In 100 minutes of sharp action

Third Battle of Manzanillo

The Third Battle of Manzanillo was fought in the harbor of Manzanillo, Cuba on July 18, 1898. A large squadron of the United States Navy consisting of gunboats and auxiliaries attacked and cleared the harbor of a comparable force of Spanish vessels in the third largest naval battle of the Spanish...

, Hornet and her sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

s sank nine Spanish ships as well as four armed pontoons, while under heavy fire from shore batteries and enemy troops lining the harbor.

Departing Key West on 10 August, Hornet reached Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 two weeks later and decommissioned on 18 October. Loaned to the North Carolina Naval Militia, she served with them until 1902 and then reported to Norfolk as tender to the receiving ship . Hornets name was struck 18 March 1910. She was sold 12 July 1910 to N. S. Sterns of New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

.