(PG: dp. 243; l. 115'3"; b. 17'10"; dr. 6'6"; s. 10 k.; cpl. 30; a. 1 6-pdr., 3 3-pdr., 2 1-pdr.)
An island in the southwest Philippines renamed Palawan in 1905.
Paragua, an iron-hulled, schooner-rigged, twin screw gunboat, was laid down by Manila Ship Co., Cavite, P.I. in March 1887 and launched for the Spanish Navy in January 1888.
Taken over by the U.S. Navy, she commissioned 29 May 1899 and assumed duties as a patrol vessel. Paragua and other units worked closely with the American Army, patrolling Philippine waters in an effort to prevent arms shipments to the Philippine insurgents. Inter-island trade was policed and piracy suppressed.
The Navy provided active coastal support in the Philippine archipelago throughout the accomplishment of pacification and beyond. The Secretary of the Navy commented favorably upon the valuable services rendered by small gunboats such as Paragua and praised her as an example of inter-service cooperation.
Paragua decommissioned 19 April 1911 at Cavite, P.I., was struck from the Navy List 17 June, and sold.
