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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Secretary of the Navy John D. Long to Commodore George C. Remey, Commandant, Portsmouth Navy Yard

( copy )

Navy Department,

Washington,

April 28,1898.         

S i r :-

     1.  You are hereby detached from the command of the Portsmouth Navy Yard and proceed,without delay,to Key West,Florida.

     2.  Immediately on your arrival you will assume command of the naval base at Key West,and report by letter to Rear Admiral Sampson,1Commander-in-Chief of the North Atlantic Station.

     3.  You will hoist your flag on board such vessel as will probably be longest in the harbor,and when it is time for her to leave you will transfer your flag to some other vessel.2

     4.  Enclosed you will find a copy of orders lately addressed to Admiral Sampson regarding the duties of commodores in his fleet.3 The two commodores referred to are yourself and Commodore J.C.Watson.4

Very respectfully,               

JOHN D.LONG                 

Secretary.             

Source Note: Cy, DNA, RG 313 Entry 51. Addressed below close: “Commodore George C. Remey,U.S.N,/Commandant,Navy Yard,/Portsmouth,N.H.” At the top of the page is the note: “John D. Long,/Secretary.” This is followed by the typist’s initials: “WAM” and a document identification number:”105708.”

Footnote 1: RAdm. William T. Sampson, Commander, North Atlantic Squadron.

Footnote 2: Remey made the sloop-of-war Lancaster his flagship.

Footnote 4: The Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Commo. John C. Watson, received a similar letter from Secretary Long on 28 April 1898. Long ordered Watson to serve as a division commander, freeing Sampson to move wherever needed along the Cuban coast without fear of disrupting the American blockade. Watson’s letter ordered him to:

...proceed, without delay, to Key West, Florida, from which place you will proceed to wherever the flagship of the North Atlantic Station may be and report, in person, to commander-in-chief.

Watson also received a copy of Long’s 28 April 1898, letter to Sampson explaining both his and Commo. Remey’s roles on the North Atlantic Station. See, Long to Watson, 28 April 1898, Cy, DNA, RG 313 Entry 53.

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