(Torpedo Boat No. 19: dp. 340; 1. 232'4"; b. 22'; dr. 6'6" (mean) ; s. 30 k.; cpl. 59; a. 4 6-pdrs., 2 18" tt.; cl. Stringham)
Silas Horton Stringham, born in Middletown, N.Y., on 7 November 1798, served in the United States Navy from the War of 1812 through the Civil War. During the War of 1812, he served in the frigate President and took part in the engagements with the British ships Little Belt and Belvidere. He subsequently served in Spark in the campaign against Algerian corsairs and later, while attached to Hornet with the West India Squadron, participated in the capture of the slaver Moscow. During the Mexican War, he commanded the ship-of-the-line Ohio and took part in the attack on Vera Cruz. Commissioned Rear Admiral in July 1862, his Civil War service included command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Rear Admiral Stringham died in Brooklyn, N.Y., on 7 February 1876.
The first Stringham, a steel torpedo boat, was launched on 10 June 1899 by Harlan & Hollingsworth, Willmington, Del.; sponsored by Miss Edwina Stringham Creighton; and was placed in reduced commission on 7 November 1905, Lt. Albert H. McCarthy in command.
Assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Annapolis, Md., upon completion, Stringham was placed in full commission on 30 October 1906 and assigned to the 3d Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet. Stringham operated on the eastern seaboard between Key West, Fla., and Cape Cod, Mass., into 1907. Detached on 11 October 1907 from the Atlantic Fleet, Stringham was placed in reserve, in reduced commission, on 31 January 1908 at the Norfolk Navy Yard.
Placed in full commission again on 1 July 1908, Stringham rejoined the 3d Torpedo Flotilla. She operated primarily out of Newport, R.I., through October; then proceeded to Charleston, S.C., where she was placed in reserve on 19 November 1908. Recommissioned on 14 August 1909, Stringham was assigned duty as flagship of the 3d Division, Atlantic Torpedo Flotilla, on 9 September. During October, she participated with units of the Atlantic Fleet in the Hudson-Fulton Centennial celebrations, steaming up the Hudson as far as Albany, N.Y., on 8 October. Returning south to Charleston, Stringham was again placed in reserve on 30 November.
Assigned to temporary duty with the 1st Torpedo Division on 1 April 1910, Stringham was transferred to the Engineering Experimental Station at Annapolis, Md., on 14 September. She served as a practice ship and training vessel for midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy from 1911 to 1913, and was placed out of commission on 21 November 1913 at the Norfolk Navy Yard.
Stringham, was struck from the Navy list on 26 November 1913 and designated for use as a target on 17 December 1913. Never actually used as a target, Stringham remained at Norfolk until sold on 18 May 1923 to E. L. Hurst of Roanoke Dock for scrapping.
