USS RHODE ISLAND
Publisher
Ward Bros
Datec 1908
Object number00003778
NamePostcard
MediumPaper
DimensionsOverall: 85 x 135 mm
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection
Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionThis postcard features the battleship USS RHODE ISLAND underway on the Great White Fleet world tour. This blue half tone print depicts the RHODE ISLAND broadside from starboard view with steam billowing from its funnels. It is one of a series of postcards issued by Ward Bros of Victoria that depict the battleships involved in the peace time world tour.HistoryIn December 1907 United States President Theodore Roosevelt sent a US Atlantic Battle Fleet of 16 battleships on a 14 month goodwill cruise around the world. The fleet was a chance for the Navy to practice seamanship and express America's world power. Roosevelt was also concerned about rising Japanese aggression and their expansionist foreign policy. The cruise would be a political and public relations exercise to build domestic support for more naval construction.
Led by the flagship, USS CONNECTICUT, the Great White Fleet as it became known, consisted of 16 battleships painted white, as was the practice of all US Navy ships in times of peace. The ships sailed in four divisions of four ships each. Early in the voyage the order of the ships was altered to allow the best-looking vessels to be at the front of the fleet. The cruise incorporated six continents, 26 countries and 32 ports with 614 officers and 13,504 crew. It consumed 435,000 tons of coal, more than any other naval expedition and was the largest fleet to ever accomplish a circumnavigation of the globe.
Australia was not originally on the itinerary route of the Great White Fleet, who only decided to visit after receiving a direct invitation from the Prime Minister Alfred Deakin. One quarter of the Australian population, over one million people, saw the Great White Fleet during its three-week visit to Sydney, Melbourne and Albany. Public holidays were declared and enthusiastic crowds flocked to see the ships and parades. Vast arrays of souvenirs were produced for a population caught up in the euphoria.
Launched on 17 May 1904, USS RHODE ISLAND was a Virginia-class battleship in the Second Division of the Great White Fleet. She took part in various operations between 1911 and 1917 in the western Atlantic, Caribbean and the Gulf coast of Mexico. RHODE ISLAND served in World War I, and later joined the Pacific Fleet in the west coast of the United States. RHODE ISLAND was decommissioned in June 1920 and sold for scrap in 1923.SignificanceAustralia welcomed the United States’ Great White Fleet tour in 1908 through the production of souvenir items such as this postcard, highlighting the excitement the visit generated within the Australian public. It is estimated that over 25% of the Australian population participated in some way in the public occasion which was celebrated in Sydney, Melbourne and Albany.
