Naval History and Heritage Command

USS Albany, a protected cruiser laid down at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, by Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. as Almirante Abreu for the Brazilian Navy, was purchased while still on the ways by the United States Navy on 16 March 1898 to prevent her being acquired by the Spanish Navy; renamed Albany; launched in February 1899; sponsored by Mrs. John C. Colwell, the wife of the American naval attache in London; and commissioned in the Tyne River, England, on 29 May 1900, Capt. Joseph E. Craig in command.

On 26 June 1900, USS Albany put to sea bound for service in the Philippines. Steaming via Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Indian Ocean, the cruiser arrived at Cavite in the Philippines on 22 November. She served with the Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines for the next seven months. 

The protected cruiser remained inactive for almost three years. On 10 June 1907, she was placed in full commission, Comdr. Henry T. Mayo in command. Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, USS Albany spent the next three years cruising the western coasts of North and Central America. Her duty on the west coast of North America consisted primarily of training evolutions but also included surveillance missions along the coast of Central America in protection of United States citizens and their interests in the perennially unsettled republics there. For almost three years, the protected cruiser plied Far Eastern waters visiting ports from the Philippines to China to Japan.

In 1919, USS Albany was once more assigned to the Asiatic Fleet. At that time, the Russian Civil War between Bolshevik and non-Bolshevik (a diverse group made up of people whose only common ground was opposition to the Bolsheviks) factions.

American troops were withdrawn in the spring of 1920, and USS Albany resumed normal peacetime duty with the Asiatic Fleet. That service included the usual summers in Chinese waters alternated with winters in the Philippines. On 8 August 1921, she was reclassified a light cruiser and designated CL-23. In July 1922, she departed Chinese waters for the last time and headed home. USS Albany (CL-23) arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 6 August and was placed out of commission on 10 October 1922. She was berthed at Mare Island until 3 November 1929 when her name was struck from the Navy list. On 11 February 1930, she was sold for scrapping.

For the complete history of USS Albany (CL-23) please see its DANFS page.