USS MacKenzie (TB-17)

USS MacKenzie (TB-17) underway, c. 1901
History
United States
Name	MacKenzie
Namesake	Lt. Commander Alexander S. MacKenzie
Ordered	10 June 1896 (authorised)
Builder	Hillman & Sons, Philadelphia
Laid down	15 April 1897
Launched	19 February 1898
Sponsored by	Master Charles Hillman
Commissioned	1 May 1899
Decommissioned	10 March 1916
Stricken	10 March 1916
Identification	TB-17
Fate	target ship
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	MacKenzie-class torpedo boat
Displacement	65 long tons (66 t)[2]
Length	101 ft 6 in (30.94 m)
Beam	12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Draft	4 ft 3 in (1.30 m) (mean)[2]
Installed power	2 × Thornycroft boilers 850 ihp (630 kW)
Propulsion	vertical triple expansion engine 1 × screw propellers
Speed	20.1 knots (37.2 km/h; 23.1 mph) 20.11 kn (23.14 mph; 37.24 km/h) (Speed on Trial)[2]
Complement	14 officers and enlisted
Armament	1 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.46 in)) guns 1 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes

The first USS MacKenzie (Torpedo Boat No. 17/TB-17), was laid down by Charles Hillman Ship & Engine Building Company, Philadelphia, 15 April 1897; launched 19 February 1898; sponsored by Master Charles Hillman; and commissioned 1 May 1899, Lt. L. H. Chandler in command.

Departing League Island 28 May 1899, MacKenzie sailed north to Newport. Arriving on the 31st, she decommissioned and joined other torpedo boats, such as USS Du Pont and USS Winslow, in occasional employment in experimental and training duties. Recommissioned 7 November 1902, she steamed to Norfolk where she joined the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla on the 14th. Serving with that flotilla for the greater part of the next 10 years, she was occasionally used as a training ship at the US Naval Academy, and in 1908 operated off the southeastern seaboard.

She decommissioned at Charleston, South Carolina, 15 April 1912, and departed the next day for Florida. She arrived at Key West 19 April and on 7 May was turned over to the Florida Naval Militia, in which she served until returned to the Navy in November 1914. She cruised off southern Florida for the next year, cruising to Havana in October 1915. In 1916, the torpedo boat was designated as a target ship and 10 March 1916 her name was struck from the Navy list.

References[]

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Technical data from Gardiner, Robert (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Conway Maritime Press. p. 161. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.

External links[]

• Photo gallery of MacKenzie at NavSource Naval History