USS Badger Spanish American War Ship's Log

July 5. Cloudy and pleasant. Steamer "Tutanekai" left port at 6:25 with the Samoan High Commission. - Had morning quarters; exercised a fire drill and abandon ship. Prizes were awarded to the men for target practice. Tested searchlight. Very warm. Wrote to J.   July 6. Clear and very warm. At 6:40 the "Tanguaga" came in and anchored. At 8:00 the "Cormoran” was sighted heading for this port. Rain during latter part of forenoon. At 8:30 the "Cormoran" came in anchored. The Captain went on board the "Tanguaga". "Tutanekia”   and the " Cormoran” and thanked the officers for recognizing July 4. Had quarters and inspection at general quarters.   At 1:30 PM The "Torch" came in and anchored. Mustered at evening quarters. And turned clean hammocks.   Wrote to J.

July 7. Clear and warm. At 6:30 the British steamer ”Tovinni"    came in and anchored. Mustered at quarters and had sub caliber practice. Mustered at evening quarters. Received from the Cormoran   30 rifles from Mataafa adherents. Rain all evening. July 8. Rain all morning. The steamer "Tovinni" left at 6:30 PM. Clear toward evening. July 9. Rain all morning. Barometer falling. At 9:30 the Captain inspected the ship and crew at quarters. The “Manapowiia' came in and anchored. Sent officers on board. Clear in evening. July 10. Clear and damp. At 9:30 had quarters and exercised at divisional drills. The "Tutanekia" came in and brought the Commissioners with her. They returned to this ship. Rain between land 8 PM.   Wrote to J.

July 11. Cloudy and warm. At 6:33 got underway and stood out of harbor. At 7:50 stood in for Saluafata Harbor. At 8:05 anchored. At 9:30 had quarters and divisions were inspected. At 10 the Commissioners left the ship to be present at a "fono" (meeting) ashore. At 1:00 the Steamer “Manapouni” left Apia. At 2:25 the Steamer “Tutanekea” left Apia. At 2:50, on return of Commissioners, got underway and stood out of harbor. Heading for Fangoloa Bay. At 1:30 had quarters, and divisions were drilled for 3/4 of an hour. At 4:31 came to anchor in Fangoloa Bay. Commissioners left ship to be present at a ‘fino’ ashore, and at 6:00 upon their return got underway and stood out from Apia. At 8:36 came to anchor outside of harbor. Fired red light for Pilot – none came – upon our departure from Fangoloa, the native's brought chickens, ducks, pigs, and all sorts of fruits for Commissioners as gifts.   Wrote to J.   July 12. Cloudy but pleasant. Harbor master came aboard at 6:00 and at 6:1...

July 16 Cloudy and warm. Excursion steamer ‘Waikare’ came and loaded with tourist who visited the ship. Sent another detachment on shore.   At 9:30 had quarters. Captain inspected crew and ship. Detachment returned from shore duty during afternoon.   July 17 Clear and pleasant. At 9:30 mustered at quarters. The American, English, and German consuls visited the Commissioners. July 18 Lovely day. At 9:30 had quarters. We were almost dumbfounded when at 1:20 the word was passed “up anchor for home” and we were knocked clean off our feet at 1:25 when the word was passed - “keep fast everything”, but we got up again at 2:15 when the word was again passed “up anchor”. The English Commissioner left the ship, and we took back to the U.S. - both the German and American Commissioner. All hands cheering from all the ships in the harbor. Set our course for Hilo, Hawaii, at Commissioner's request. Had evening quarters. At 10:45 passed a large steamer, heading for Samoa.

July 13. Clear and pleasant. Warm. Had morning quarters and exercised at General Quarters. A Board of Appraisal composed of an officer from the ship – HMS “Tauranga” and SMS “Cormoran” met on board to appraise the arms delivered by the natives to the Samvan Commissioners. At 2:40, HMS “Torch” came in and took her usual berth. Wrote to J. Mail steamer, expected this evening. July 14. Damp and cloudy. Mail steamer “Moana” came in bound for San Francisco. 9:30 had quarters and exercised at divisional drills. Guards of Marines from this ship, the “Tauranga”, and “Cormoras” were sent ashore in case of trouble at a “fino” at which the Commissioners were present – Ammunition was concealed about their person in case of an outbreak. At 7:30 in the evening, another body of Marines was sent ashore to relieve the first detachment sent ashore – Wrote to J. – Mail steamer left at noon – sent all mail ashore. Clear and warm toward evening. July 15. Clear and very warm. Withdrew from shore – all the d...

July 19. Overcast and cloudy. Heavy seas – bad weather. Rain. All sails set. Mustard at morning quarters. Had fire and collision drill. Had evening quarters and exercised at physical drill, for the first time in over three months – and instead of wearing white clothes after sunset, as was our wont at Samoa, it was changed to blue. Course N26° E. Lat at noon 10° 55' S. Long at noon 169° 50' W. July 20. Cloudy – rain – bad weather. Took in all sail early part of morning. Had morning quarters. Set clicks clocks ahead 9 minutes. Had evening quarters. At 8:00 as the Navigator was plotting the ship's position the captain came in and said – Mr. “Navigator, head her for Honolulu, to hell with Hilo" – Now when the boys heard this, weren't they glad? Changed course to N 11° E instead of N 26° E – which will bring us into Honolulu. August 26th [July 26th], early in the morning – and into Frisco about Sunday morning, August 6th. Lat 6° 58' S. Long 167° 35' W. July 21. ...

July 22. Clear and pleasant – the "Badger" crossed the Equator for the 4th time in less than 5 months. Set clocks ahead 6 minutes. Had evening quarters. All 5 furled sail. Rain during evening. Lat 1° 50’ N. Long 164° 45' W. Reading ‘The Christian’ July 23. Overcast and cloudy. Rain all morning.   Arg. 30 had quarters – Captain inspected ship.   Set all clocks ahead 8 minutes.   Rain all afternoon. Lat. 6° 40’ N. Long. 163°   40' W. July 24. Clear and pleasant. Had morning quarters and exercised at divisional drills. Set clocks ahead 2 minutes. Crew shifting coal. Had evening quarters and exercised at "setting" up "drill".   Lat. 11° 35' in. Long 161° 54' W.

July 25. Clear and pleasant. Had morning quarters and exercised at company drill. Set clocks ahead 8 minutes. Had evening quarters and exercised at divisional drill – Cool towards evening. Set all sail. Lat 15° 50’N. Long 159° 54' W. July 26. Clear and pleasant. Rain toward noon. Smooth sea. Had morning quarters and exercised at fire quarters. Set clocks ahead 4 minutes. At 12:40 Oahu Island was sighted and at 2:00 Molokai was sighted on starboard bow. At 5:09 drop anchor in the harbor of Honolulu - USS "Iroquois" was found in port – Received mail – Received letters from J. Wrote to J. Lat 20° 07’ N. Long 158° 09' W.

July 27. Cloudy and damp. Captain left ship to visit American Minister. Tug   "Iroquois"  alongside giving us water. Coal lighter, containing 150 tons, came alongside. Commenced coaling at 1:30 PM. Quit coaling at 5:45 and went swimming off ship. Steam transport Commouche left for Mauilla. July 28. Cloudy and warm. Resumed coaling at 5:30. Quit coaling at 3:30 PM and went swimming. The Japanese mail steamer "Hong Kong Maru" came in and moored alongside of dock. July 29. Clear and pleasant. At 9:30 had morning quarters. At 9:55 "all hands up anchor. At 10:08 left harbor, and at 10:29, [?] left ship. Steamer insight headed for Honolulu harbor. Molokai Island in sight on starboard hand – lost sight of Molokai Island at 5:30. Smooth sea. Stiff breeze and rather cool – anticipate being in Frisco Sunday, August 6 –Wrote to J.

July 30 Clear and pleasant. Rain about 10:00. Had quarters and the Captain inspected the crew and ship. At 7:00 PM, passed a steamer going East. Rain all night Lat 23° 20’ N. Long 153° 20’ W. July 31 Cloudy and cool. Set clocks ahead 16 minutes. Raining all afternoon. Lat 25° 33’ N. Long 149° 05’ W August 1 Partly cloudy with squally weather. Rain – sighted a barque. Crew engaged sifting coal. Sat clocks ahead 19 minutes. Had evening quarters. Lat 27° 37’ N. Long 145° 00’ W. August 2 Overcast, with passing rain showers. Set clocks ahead 18 minutes. Everything running well. Lat 29° 50’ N. Long 140° 20’ W. August 3 Cloudy and cool. Still raining. Set clocks ahead 19 minutes. Had evening quarters, but no drill. Lat 32° 01’ N. Long 135° 47’ W.

August 4 Cloudy and damp. Heavy sea. Set clock ahead 17 minutes. Raining in the afternoon. Hoisted fore and main try sail. Had evening quarters. Misty about horizon   Lat 34° 13° north. Long 131° 15 west. August 5 Cloudy and still raining. Barometer falling. All sail set. Heavy sea. At 9:20 PM, passed a large steamer. Gave the Commissioners an entertainment. Lat 36 31 N. Long 126 76 W.   August 6. Overcast, cloudy, foggy, misty, and damp. At 1:00 AM, sighted Farallon Light. Slowed down.   At 5:00 passed through the Golden Gate and at 6:48 came to anchor in the harbor of San Francisco, Cal.   And after many trials and tribulations, we ended the cruise of the USS Badger, she having traveled in all 27,298 miles in less than 6 months: more miles than the earth is round. Sunday, August 6, 1899 John W. Klinger Yeoman, USN

How a ship finds her way to sea. 1st- How shall the position of a ship be found, and when found, how located? 2nd - What course shall be steered that will make the shortest and safest line to the destination? The matter of the location should be explained first, because it includes the use of the words “latitude” and “longitude”, which must be repeated frequently, here after. You see, it is necessary to get at some definite marking of a position in mid-ocean, and mid-ocean has no marks on it. Even though the navigator knew exactly how far his ship had sailed from a certain point and what direction, how could he describe the locality briefly and accurately to another? Suppose you said to a friend: "I walked up Broadway from the Battery, 3 miles, 2 rods and 1 yard, and there fell over a loose stone: be careful of that stone when you pass it”   Of what real benefit would that warning be? But if you said "look out, there's a dangerous spot in the N. W. Corner of 42nd St. and ...

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(Con’t) …determining geographical localities than this, and while the map of the world has undergone wonderful changes in that time, geographers have always retained these lines. We know them now as the “parallels” of latitude, and the “meridians” of longitude. Latitude is distance N or S. of the Equator. The Equator is latitude 0 [zero]. Longitude is distance E or W of any meridian that may be determined upon as a place to begin, counting, generally that meridian that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, Eng. Because that observatory was founded by Charles II for the purpose of determining astronomical data for the use of navigators. A line drawn around a globe is necessarily a circle, and, a, circle has 360° (° "degrees"). Consequently, there are 360° of both long. and lat. – That is, if a man could walk around the globe on the equator, he would cross 360 meridians of long., one degree (1°) apart, and, the circumference of the earth being about 25,000 miles at...

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(Con’t) …point of starting. Similarity, if he walked from the equator, due N., his latitude would increase with (about) every 69 miles, 1°. The highest latitude he could reach would be 90° N. at the North Pole, because from the equator to the pole is only 1/4 of the full circle. The goal of Arctic explorers is, therefore, 90° N. latitude. Fractions of degrees are measured in “minutes" (') and “seconds",("). Don't confuse them with the min.[utes] and sec.[onds] of time: this represents distance. A ' is 1/60th of a degree; and a “ 1/60th of a ' . A degree at the equator being about 69 land miles, * a ' would be about 1 1/7th miles, and a “ about 100 ft.   *A degree of latitude at the equator is exactly 60 nautical miles, and a ' therefore, exactly one nautical mile, commonly called a "knot." Distances at sea are always measured in knots, or nautical miles. A knot, as stated, is near enough 1 1/7 miles to call it so for the purpose of rough...

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I'm I hope thus far to have made it plain just how a locality may be fine fixed, even though it be in mid-ocean. But that is only a small part of the problem. Of what use to the sailor to know that he was in some definite lat. and long, if he didn’t know what lat. and long. He was? He approach now the task of explaining how he can, with assurance, but the point of his pencil on exactly the spot on his chart that represents the position of his ship, at the moment. It should be said at the beginning the chart is, and essential to all navigation, a government chart is a remarkable piece of work, in many respects undoubtedly the most scientifically and, carefully prepared drawing ever put on paper. It shows in picture language exactly the thing that a sailor wishes to know, so far as they can be told at all. It shows the configuration of the coast, the position of all dangers, the depth of all waters, the character of the bottom of the location of the lights and buoys and, especially, ...

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