US battleship GEORGIA

Datec 1908

Object number00003252

NamePostcard

MediumPaper, inks, light card, silver gelatin emulsion layer

DimensionsOverall: 89 x 139 mm

ClassificationsPosters and postcards

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Terms

DescriptionIn 1908 America sent a fleet of battleships known as the Great White Fleet on a world peace tour to demonstrate their naval strength and political power. One of the battleships USS GEORGIA is depicted in this photograph. All the 16 battleships of the American fleet featured on commemorative postcards, which were one of the most popular souvenirs of the visit.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. USS GEORGIA was a Virginia class battleship built by Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine and launched into the American Navy on 11 October 1904. GEORGIA became part of the Atlantic fleet in 1907 after conducting its shakedown cruise. In 1907 GEORGIA took part in training target exercises, and was involved in an accidental explosion that killed ten men. In December 1907 GEORGIA joined the Great White Fleet on its world peace tour which was in operation until 1909. It took part in World War I acting as a receiving vessel for new naval recruits and was decommissioned on 15 July 1920, being sold for scrap in compliance with the Washington Treaty.SignificanceAustralia welcomed the arrival of the United State’s Great White Fleet in 1908 through the production of souvenir items such as this postcard, which demonstrate the excitement the visit generated in the Australian public.