Naval History and Heritage Command

USS Amphitrite (BM-2)  an iron-hulled, twin-screw coastal defense monitor, was laid down in 1874 at Wilmington, Del., by the Harlan and Hollingsworth yard; launched on 7 June 1883; sponsored by Miss Nellie Benson, the daughter of a Harlan and Hollingsworth official; and commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va., on 23 April 1895, Capt. William C. Wise in command.

Detached from the Atlantic Squadron on 7 May 1897, USS Amphitrite (BM-2) served as a training ship for the instruction of gun captains. As such, she was apparently placed in ordinary at Norfolk, since she was not recommissioned until 2 October 1897, with Capt. Charles J. Barclay in command. In February 1898, tensions between the United States and Spain served as the backdrop for the explosion, in Havana Harbor, of the battleship Maine.

USS Amphitrite (BM-2) departed Cape San Juan on 18 August for Guanica, Puerto Rico, arriving the following day, and lingered there until 31 August, on which day she sailed for Mole St. Nicholas, Haiti. Amphitrite continued the important work of training gun captains through the summer and into the fall. Deemed in need of a general overhaul, Amphitrite was placed out of commission at the Boston Navy Yard on 30 November 1901.

Recommissioned at Boston on 1 December 1902, Lt. Comdr. Edwin H. Tellman in command, USS Amphitrite (BM-2)  was ordered to the Naval Training Station at Newport, for duty, on 10 January 1903. She served there until early in 1904, when she was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for duty as station ship. USS Amphitrite (BM-2)  was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 31 May 1919 and stricken from the Navy list on 24 July 1919. On 3 January 1920, she was sold to A. L. D. Bucksten of Elizabeth City, N.C.

For the complete history of USS Amphitrite (BM-2) please see its DANFS page.