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USS Baltimore (C-3)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Baltimore (C-3)

USS Baltimore (C-3) was laid down on 5 May 1887 at Philadelphia, Pa., by William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co.; launched on 6 October 1888, sponsored by Mrs. Theodore D. Wilson, wife of Chief Constructor Wilson; and commissioned on 7 January 1890, at the Cramp Yard, Capt. Winfield S. Schley in command.

USS Baltimore (C-3) got underway and departed Philadelphia on 13 January 1890. Arriving at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va., on 15 January, she entered the yard and remained there until 25 April. USS Baltimore (C-3) sailed on 28 January 1891, first to Toulon, France (28 January-15 February); then on to the British Crown Colony at Gibraltar (18-20 February); Porto Grande, Cape Verde Islands (25 February-1 March); Montevideo, Uruguay (14-22 March); Sandy Point, in the Straits of Magellan (28-30 March), and Talcahuano, Chile (2-6 April), before arriving at Valparaiso on 21 August. USS Baltimore (C-3) arrived at Punta Arenas, Chile, on New Year’s Day 1893, and remained until the 3rd. 

USS Baltimore (C-3) arrived at Mare Island, on 21 January 1896 and entered the yard, where she was placed out of commission for overhaul on 17 February 1896. Recommissioned on 12 October 1897, USS Baltimore (C-3) sailed on 20 October for the Hawaiian Islands and remained there between 7 November 1897 and 25 March 1898. USS Baltimore (C-3) remained on the Asiatic Station convoying transports and protecting U.S. interests over the ensuing months, departing Manila on 6 September 1898 for Hong Kong, for docking. USS Baltimore (C-3) remained at Manila until 12 August 1899. 

USS Baltimore (C-3) was placed back into commission at the New York Navy Yard on 6 May 1903, Cmdr. John B. Briggs in command. USS Baltimore (C-3) got underway again on 6 January 1905, and returned to Cavite via Hong Kong (10-23 January). Baltimore was again placed in commission in reserve at the New York Navy Yard, on 20 January 1911. Getting underway again on 1 January 1916, USS Baltimore (C-3) arrived at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 3 January, and after shifting to Hampton Roads (5-6 January), she cleared the lower Chesapeake and steamed to the Caribbean to participate in the Atlantic Fleet’s annual winter training. 

USS Baltimore (C-3) arrived at Cristóbal, C.Z., on 4 September 1919, and remained there until 10 September, when she transited the Panama Canal and crossed to the Pacific. Returning to sea, she steamed back to Amapala (8 September), en route to San Diego, where she arrived on 20 November. She then steamed northward to San Francisco Bay, where she entered the Mare Island Navy Yard on 23 November. After the New Year, USS Baltimore (C-3) returned to Mare Island on 6 January 1921. She spent the remainder of her active career operating from this Pacific base, and she was placed out of commission on 15 September 1922. 

For the complete history of USS Baltimore (C-3) please see its DANFS page.