page_title: Ice Boat No. 3
section_title: Spanish–American War
hierarchical_section_title: Ice Boat No. 3 / Service history / Spanish–American War
caption_attribution_description: Massachusetts Governor, United States Secretary of the Navy w:John Davis Long.
context_page_description: City Ice Boat No. 3, commonly known as Ice Boat No. 3 or just No. 3, was a municipal sidewheel icebreaker built in 1873 to assist in keeping Philadelphia's waterways free of ice during the winter months. The vessel was also used for occasional excursions and other duties through the rest of the year.
  During the Spanish–American War, Ice Boat No. 3 was briefly commissioned into the U.S. Navy as the coastal patrol vessel USS Arctic, before returning to her normal duties under her original name. Ice Boat No. 3 was sunk in a collision with an underwater obstruction in February 1905.
context_section_description: In March 1898, in anticipation of war with Spain, the U.S. Navy began preparations for the establishment of a Naval Auxiliary Force, known colloquially as the "mosquito fleet", for the defence of the United States East Coast. In the Delaware region, the Navy requested and received plans for the three Philadelphia ice boats, with a view to determining their suitability as patrol craft. The two older ice boats were deemed unsuitable, but Ice Boat No. 3 was accepted for service. On 23 April, Spain declared war on the United States in response to the latter's blockade of Cuba. On 5 May, Ice Boat No. 3, "in first-class working order", was transferred to the Navy, and on 9 May, in a display of patriotic fervour, Philadelphia's city councillors voted to lease the ice boat to the Navy indefinitely for the nominal sum of one dollar.
  On 16 May, Ice Boat No. 3 was towed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at League Island for conversion to naval service. A couple of days later, naval officers at the yard reportedly described the vessel as slow, unwieldy, vulnerable to shellfire, and of little apparent use militarily.  Regardless, the conversion proceeded, albeit at a less than urgent pace; she was still undergoing "repairs" at the yard as late as 18 June. The conversion work included the mounting of a 60-pounder breech loading gun—converted from a Civil War Parrott rifle—and two 47 mm guns. During the time the boat was undergoing conversion, rumours circulated that she would be sent to Cuba for use as a gunboat or blockade ship,  but the Navy eventually confirmed her role as a Naval Auxiliary Force coastal patrol vessel with the Fourth Lighthouse District. 
   
  The converted ice boat was formally commissioned on 9 July 1898 as USS Arctic, the new name having been personally chosen by Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long; she was the second U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. The newly commissioned vessel was manned by six officers and 58 men from the Pennsylvania Naval Reserve, Philadelphia division, Lt. George C. Stout in command. Three additional crew members, from the Philadelphia City Ice Boat Department, were given temporary naval commissions as Assistant Engineer, First-class Machinist and Second-class Machinist respectively.
  USS Arctic appears to have made only one voyage for the Navy, to the Delaware Breakwater and back, via New Castle and Lewes, between 28 July and 16 August, but whether this constituted a formal patrol or some other mission is unclear. On 5 August she dragged anchor and stranded just inside Cape Henlopen during a gale. She was pulled off the beach by a tug without damage.  Arctic was decommissioned on 23 August 1898, reconverted to her "original condition", and on 13 September, returned to the City Ice Boat Department, where she resumed her former title of Ice Boat No. 3. The three members of the Department given temporary naval commissions also received their discharges between 1 and 16 September and were reinstated in their previous positions.
  Following the cessation of hostilities between Spain and the United States in August, a "Peace Jubilee" including a naval review was held at the port of Philadelphia on 25 October. All three ice boats participated, with No. 1 and No. 2 placed at the disposal of the review committee and their guests, and Ice Boat No. 3 assigned to representatives of the press and their families.
caption: Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long personally chose Ice Boat No. 3's commissioned name
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