USS Wheeling (PG-14) was a Wheeling-class gunboat acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1897. She served as a gunboat during the Spanish–American War as well as a convoy escort during World War I. As IX-28 she also served as a schoolship for the training of Naval Reservists, and, at the end of World War II, just before being struck from the Navy records, she was temporarily assigned as a barracks ship for torpedo boat crews.
Constructed in California
The first ship to be so named by the U.S. Navy, Wheeling (Gunboat No. 14) was laid down on 11 April 1896 at San Francisco, California, by the Union Iron Works; launched on 18 March 1897; sponsored by Miss Lucie S. Brown; and commissioned on 10 August 1897.
Spanish–American War service
Following a cruise to the Hawaiian Islands in the fall of 1897, Wheeling reported for duty in the northern Pacific Ocean and spent the entire period of the Spanish–American War patrolling the Alaskan coast and the Aleutian Islands. The vessel sustained major hull damage during patrols off the coast of Alaska.
Far East operations
In the spring of 1899, the gunboat was ordered to the Far East to reinforce the American fleet supporting operations to suppress the Philippine–American War. Until the spring of 1900, the gunboat patrolled the islands, enforced the blockade, convoyed troop transports, and helped the U.S. Army maintain communications between its units operating on various islands of the archipelago.
When the Boxer Rebellion broke out in March 1900, Wheeling departed the Philippine Islands to patrol the northern coast of China. From 23 March to 9 May, she cruised the Chinese coast observing conditions in that strife-torn nation as she attempted to persuade Chinese officials to respect and protect foreigners resident in China. She and ships of European navies with similar missions spent most of their time at Taku, essentially the port city for Tientsin and Peking.
On 9 May, she departed Taku and headed home, via Yokohama, Japan. The gunboat laid over at Yokohama from the 13th to the 22d and then headed back across the Pacific to North America. From early June to late August, she operated in the Aleutian Islands out of Dutch Harbor. On 25 August, she departed Dutch Harbor for a leisurely cruise south. Along the way, she visited a number of Alaskan ports and did not reach Bremerton, Washington, until 11 December. By 19 December, Wheeling was at Mare Island, California, conducting oceanographic surveys in that vicinity.
Assigned as Samoan station ship
The gunboat operated at Mare Island until the beginning of 1902, at which time she received orders to American Samoa for duty as station ship. After a cruise to Hawaii and the Philippines, Wheeling arrived in Samoa late in May. From that time until midyear 1904, the gunboat cruised the Samoan group—erecting signal installations, performing survey work, and transporting passengers between the islands.
On one occasion in January 1903, she transported Dr. Wilhelm Solf—then governor of German Samoa and later foreign minister of Germany in Prince Max von Baden's interim government at the end of World War I—and his staff from Pago Pago to Apia. The warship continued her duties in the Samoan islands until 15 June 1904 at which time she set course for the United States. On 1 July, she was decommissioned at Bremerton, Washington, and was berthed at the Puget Sound Navy Yard.
Reassigned to the Atlantic Ocean
After almost six years of inactivity, Wheeling was recommissioned at Puget Sound on 3 May 1910. In June, she made a brief cruise in Alaskan waters before starting on a voyage to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in company with Petrel. During that voyage, she nearly circumnavigated the globe.
Departing the west coast on 17 June, Wheeling sailed via Yokohama, Japan, and Singapore to the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. After transiting the canal, she steamed westward across the Mediterranean Sea, stopping at Genoa, Italy, and at the British colony at Gibraltar. On her way across the Atlantic, Wheeling made one stop—at Hamilton, Bermuda—before arriving in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 22 November.
Caribbean operations
Following voyage repairs, the gunboat embarked upon almost six years of duty patrolling the troubled waters of the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. By mid-January 1911, she was operating along the Central American coast. During 1911 and 1912, she made numerous port visits in the Caribbean Sea while engaging in training operations. On 15 July 1913, the gunboat anchored in the vicinity of Vera Cruz and Tampico, Mexico, to investigate reports of violence against Americans living there and remained to protect American property.