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USS Blakely (TB-27)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Blakely (TB-27)

USS Blakely (Torpedo Boat No. 27) was laid down on 12 January 1899 at South Boston, Mass., by George Lawley & Sons; launched on 22 November 1900; sponsored by Miss Nellie M. White; and commissioned on 27 December 1904, Lt. Charles E. Courtney in command.

USS Blakely (TB-27) completed dock trials at the Boston Navy Yard and then moved to Newport, R.I., where she fitted out with ordnance and electrical equipment at the torpedo station and underwent various tests and inspections before becoming a unit of the 3d Torpedo Flotilla, United States Atlantic Fleet. The torpedo boat was placed out of commission, in reserve, at the Norfolk Navy Yard on or about 28 February 1907. She remained inactive until recommissioned on 13 January 1908. On 1 July 1908, USS Blakely (TB-27) returned to inactive status with the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Norfolk. At some unspecified point in the succeeding months, USS Blakely (TB-27) was moved to the New York Navy Yard where she was recommissioned on 6 May 1909.

She remained in reserve, though not necessarily inactive, for a little more than seven years. The first year or so, she spent in Charleston. By 1 July 1911, she had been moved to Newport, R.I., as a unit of the Reserve Torpedo Group. In May 1916, USS Blakely (TB-27), still not in commission, moved to the Naval Station, Narragansett Bay, R.I., where she served as a station craft. On 6 April 1917, the day the United States joined the Allies in World War I, USS Blakely (TB-27) was placed back in commission. Assigned to the Patrol Force and based at New London, Conn., she patrolled the waters of the 1st and 2d Naval Districts. In August 1918, her name was cancelled and reassigned to a new Wickes-class destroyer then under construction.

For the remainder of her career, USS Blakely (TB-27) was known as Coast Torpedo Boat No. 13. In January 1919, she was ordered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for inactivation. She was decommissioned for the last time on 8 March 1919, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 7 October 1919. She was sold to the U. S. Rail & Salvage Corp., Newburgh, N.Y., on 10 March 1920.

For the complete history of USS Blakely (TB-27) please see its DANFS page.