John Rodgers (DD 983) - Naval Cruise Book

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AMESAKES USS JOHN RODGERS CDD-9835 is the third ship named in honor of Commodore John Rodgers, his son and great grandson, all of whom served the Navy and the Nation with great distinction. The careers of these men provide the crew of JOHN RODGERS a heritage of service in the finest traditions of the United States Navy. Commodore John Rodgers served in CON- STELLATION and commanded MARYLAND during the Quasi-War with France. He com- manded JOHN ADAMS during the Tripolitan Wars and was Commodore of the Mediterra- nean Squadron in 1805. In the War of 1812, he captured 23 prizes and rendered valuable service on land, defending Baltimore during the attack on Fort Henry. Later he served as a highly successful President of the Board of Commissioners. His son, Rear Admiral John Rodgers, led the North Pacific naval expeditions just prior to distinguished service with the Union Navy during the Civil War. Following the war, he commanded the Asiatic Squadron, the Mare Island Naval Station andthe Naval Observa- tory. ' Q5 1 Commodore? Rodgers' great grandson, Com- mander .Iohn Rodgers, becamefthe Navy's second naival aviator and-receivedithe Distin- guished Sqrvice Medalffor minesweeping opera- tions in World War I. He later served as an aircraft squadron commander on the Navy's first carrierg, USS LANGLEY. He also pioneered trans-ocean, non-stop flight, par- ticipating in the first attempt at non-stop flight from California to Hawaii in 1925. Commander Rodgers served as Assistant Chief of Bureau of Aeronautics until his death in an airplane crash in 1926. ' 2 Commodore John Rodgers C1772-18385 Rear Admiral John Rodgers 41812-18883 Commander John Rodgers C1881-19263

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Each day the crew of a modern warsh1p IS faced Wllh an unparalleled challenge to functlon completely effectwely as the ult1mate team A group of d1verse men not only must mamtam and be prepared to flght a h1ghly complex sh1p but also must prov1de for every human need that each w1ll have Ach1ev1ng such spec1al1zed self suff1c1ency demands super1or profess1onal per formance mature fleX1b1l1ty and d1sc1pl1ne In any day a young seaman may swab a deck and later stand at the helm steer1ng 8500 tons of destroyer through the ocean An englneermg petty offlcer may tra1n to f1ght potent1alf1res and later oversee the operat1on of four 21 500 horsepower gas turbme engmes A technlcian may do ma1nten ance on a state of the art computer and later compute a f1re control solut1on and shoot a 5 54 gun Th1s book IS ded1cated to the spec1al group of these lughly sk1lled young profess1onals who mannedJOHN RODGERS between February 1984 and Apr1l 1985 Through an arduous North Atlant1c deployment followed by a part1cularly successful n1ne month overhaul 1n Pascagoula Mrs zppl these Through them JOHN RODGERS has done her part to mal 1ta1n Amer1ca s status as the only true symbol of power and freedom To the men who made lt happen some memor1es 7 I I . 2 1 I I .. I 1 Q . s Q 7 ' f I V. f 4 ' 7 ' ' V ' f ? , I ll I ' ' proud, resourceful petty officers, seamen and firemen consi's'tently excelled. , l l 5 , Mr ' l y D ,'TIl'f:

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LEG CY In July of 1879 JEANETTE Cq.v.D, a steamer, departed San Francisco in search of a northeast passage across the Arctic. In August she was seen in St. Lawrence Bay. From there she sailed for Wrangell Land Cnow Wrangel Islandb, and disappeared. In the same year two Whalers, MOUNT WOOLASTON and VIGILANT, of the north Pacific whaling fleet also disappeared. During the 1880 season the Revenue Marine Service steamer CORWIN unsuccessfully searched for J EAN ETTE and the two Whalers. On 3 March 1881, Congress, beseiged by constituents as well as government agencies, appropriated 8175,000 to enable the Secretary of the Navy to charter, or purchase, equip, and supply a vessel for the prosecution of a search for the stmr. 'Jeanette' and such other vessels as might be found to need assistance during said cruise, provided that the vessel be wholly manned by volunteers from the Navy. The vessel purchased was the whaler MARY AND HELEN, specifically built for arctic navigation by Goss, Sawyer, and Packard of Bath, Maine. Launched 17 July 1879, she was the first steam whaler built as such for American registry and during her first, and only, season not only justified the faith of her owner, Capt. William Lewis of New Bedford, but revolutionized the American whaling industry. Acquired by the Navy at San Francisco, MARY AND HELEN was renamed RODGERS and was commissioned 30 May 1881, Lt. Robert M. Berry in command. She sailed north on 16 June. She arrived at Petropalovsk 33 days later, where the captain of the Russian corvette STRELOCH offered any needed assistancen on behalf of his government. Continuing on,tRODGERS took on two Chukchis as hunters and dog drivers at St. Lawrence Bay and on 20 August entered the Arctic Ocean. At Herald Island, Lt. Berry found that the crew of CORWIN on her second search for JEAN ETTE, had already covered the island, unsuc- cessfully. Wrangell Land was next. As they looked for clues of the missing ship, the crew of RODGERS surveyed the area and proved that Wrangell Land was an island and not the southern edge of a polar land mass. RODGERS departed the island 13 September and moved north and west until stopped by pack ice on the 18th. Returning to Wrangell, she continued the search on another course until the 27th. Again blocked by ice, she turned south for winter quarters. The first week in October she left a party, under Master C. F. Putman, on Tiapka Island off Cape Serdze with provisions, supplies, and fuel for a yearg and a boat, dogs, and sleds to explore the coast westward in search of the crews of J EAN ETTE and the missing whalers. On 8 October, RODGERS steamed for St. Lawrence Bay, where bad weather prevented the transfer of a large part of her provisions and supplies to the shore. On 30 November fire broke out in the still tightly- packed hold. Through the day, stores were removed to ease the firefighting efforts, but at midnight, the fires still raged and the former whaler was abandoned. RODGERS drifted up the bay, her rigging and sails ablaze. Early on the 31st her magazine exploded. A temporary shore camp sheltered the crew until the next day when they moved to the village of Noomamoo, 7 miles away. Later divided into four parties, most of the crew wintered there and in three nearby villages. As the crew adjusted to life ashore, Lieutenant Berry set out to inform Putman's camp of the fire. Meanwhile, Master Putman had learned of the disaster and had started for the Bay with supplies for the relief of survivors. Putman reached St. Lawrence Bay, but on returning to his camp lost his way in a blizzard and drifted out to sea on an icefloe. An unsuccessful, month-long search for him was conducted along the coast. On 8 February 1882 a party under Lieutenant Berry, who had not yet learned of Putman's loss, set out on another search along the coast for JEANETTE's crew at Nishne and learned of the landing of part of JEANETTE's crew at the mouth of the Lena River the previous September. Berry and his party returned home from Nishne. The remaining members of the crew departed St. Lawrence Bay in May on board the New Bedford whaler NORTH STAR. On 12 March 1882, Congress appropriated 83,000 to suitably reward the natives at and about St. Lawrence Bay who housed, fed, and extended other kindness to the officers and men of U.S.S. RODGERS. The second RODGERS QTB-47 was laid down by the Columbian Iron Works Sz Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, MD., 6 May 1896, launched I0 . v i USS RODGERS Cconverted steam whalerj C1881-18815 November 1896, and commissioned 2 April 1898, Lt. J. L. Jayne in command. Fitted out at Norfolk, RODGERS began training in Chesapeake Bay in mid-April. On the 24th Congress declared war on Spain and 5 days later the torpedo boat got underway for the Caribbean. Arriving at Key West 9 May, she joined the blockading vessels off Havana on the 21st, remained with them through the 23rdg then sailed to join the fleet cruising off the north coast of Cuba to prevent the Spanish fleet from reaching the blockaded city from the east. Employed primarily as a dispatch boat, she returned to Key West in early June, only to depart again on the 15th to carry mail to the fleet convoying Major General Shafter's army to Santiago. Making rendezvous on the 16th, she remained with the force until the 21st when she moved along the coast to Guantanamo Bay to deliver dispatches. On the 22nd she returned to Santiago for picket duty at the harbor entrance, but returned to Guantanamo Bay for repairs 23 June-22 July. A short dispatch run preceded another repair period, 24 J uly-14 August, but which time RODGERS had received orders back to the United States. At Hampton Roads by the 26th, she continued on to New York, arrving on the 31st for a yard overhaul. The torpedo boat remained in port for much of the next eight years, occasionally commissioning for short periods of active duty with the 3rd Torpedo Flotilla and the East Coast Squadron. In the spring of 1906 she was transferred to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla and on 1 November she decommissioned at Norfolk. Shifted to Charleston in 1908, RODGERS was assigned to the Massachusetts Naval Militia 14 May 1910. From 8 June, when she was delivered to that organization, until 1916, she conducted training cruises out of Boston along the southern New England coast. Between 1916 and 1918, she extended her range of operations and performed coastal patrol duties as far north as the Maritime Provinces. Renamed COAST TORPEDO BOAT No. 2, 1 August 1918, she was decommissioned for the last time 12 March 19193 struck from the Navy list 28 October 19193 and sold to the U.S. Rail 8: Salvage Corp., Newburgh, N.Y., in 1920. USS RODGERS CTB-45 089819181 3