The "New Navy" in Hawaii

Caught this image and reference on the Naval History and Heritage Command's Facebook page.  What was interesting to me was how many of these ships played important roles in the Navy's history in Hawaii.

The Boston arrived in Honolulu in August of 1892. In 1893 the crew was there to witness the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom by local businessmen with ties to the United States who were opposed to Queen Lili’uokalani’s attempt to enforce a new constitution. Captain Wilste ordered troops ashore to protect American lives and interests and it could be argued that the presence of the landing party from an American warship emboldened the revolutionaries in their efforts to usurp the Hawaiian government. On January 17, 1893 the queen was deposed and the Republic of Hawaii was established.

The Chicago would arrive in Pearl Harbor in December of 1919 as flagship/tender of Submarine Division 14. The ship would serve in that capacity until 1923. It was in the early 1920s that the Pearl Harbor Sub Base was established with Commander Chester Nimitz serving as one of the first commanding officers and the one most instrumental in the construction of the base.

Finally the gunboat Petrel, which played an instrumental role in Admiral Dewey’s defeat of the Spanish fleet in Manila in 1898, became the first warship to enter the Pearl Harbor channel in 1905.