| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Iris |
| Namesake: | Iris |
| Builder: | A. Leslie and Company, Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Launched: | 1885 |
| Acquired: | 25 May 1898 |
| Commissioned: | 1 August 1898 |
| Decommissioned: | 2 May 1916 |
| Fate: | Transferred to the United States Shipping Board, 3 May 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Screw steamer |
| Displacement: | 1,923 long tons (1,954 t) |
| Length: | 321 ft (98 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft (12 m) |
| Draft: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Speed: | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 124 |
| Armament: | None |
USS Iris was a ship of the United States Navy which served in the Pacific in a variety of roles from 1899 until 1916. Originally fitted out as a distilling ship, she served as general utility ship, then as a collier, before being refitted as a torpedo boat tender.
The ship was built in 1885 by A. Leslie and Company, Newcastle, England, and was purchased by the United States Navy from the Miami Steamship Co. on 25 May 1898 for service in the Spanish–American War. However, reconditioning and conversion to a water distilling ship was not completed until after the end of active operations against Spain. Iris was commissioned at Norfolk Navy Yard on 1 August 1898, Lt. Arthur B. Connor in command.
The ship departed Norfolk on 31 August and arrived at Montauk Point, New York on 5 September. She departed New York Harbor on 14 October for the Philippine Islands, arriving at Manila on 18 March 1899. She acted as a general utility ship for the Asiatic Squadron in the Philippines during the occupation of the islands and during the subsequent insurrection. She decommissioned for repairs at Hong Kong on 31 January 1900, and resumed duty in May.
Iris sailed for home in the late 1903, arriving at San Francisco on 13 November and decommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard on 18 December. She was overhauled there and was placed in service as a collier for the Asiatic Squadron. For the next five years, she fueled United States vessels in the Orient.
She departed Manila on 20 May 1909 for San Francisco where she was converted to a torpedo boat tender. She was placed out of service on 15 October and recommissioned the same day. During the following years she served as parent ship for the Pacific Torpedo Fleet operating off the West Coast of the United States.
In the late 1915 disorder in Mexico threatened American citizens and interests. Iris arrived Topolobampo, Mexico on 9 December to begin patrol duty on the Mexican coast. She remained in the area ready to act in the event of any emergency until departing La Paz on 30 January 1916. She arrived San Diego, California, on 4 February and began duty towing targets off southern California.
Two months later Iris was ordered to San Francisco. After arriving on 16 April, she was decommissioned at Mare Island on 2 May 1916. Iris was transferred to the United States Shipping Board on 3 May 1917.