USS Samar ( PG - 41 ) USS " Samar " ( PG - 41 ) was a gunboat of the United States Navy . She was initially built for the Spanish Navy , but was captured during the Spanish - American War and taken into service with the US Navy . " Samar " had two sister - ships which also served in the US Navy , USS Pampanga ( PG - 39 ) and . Spanish career . " Samar " was launched in November 1887 by the Manila Ship Co . , Canacao , Philippine Islands . She was captured on 9 November 1898 at Zamboanga by US Army personnel , brought to Manila between 13 – 20 April 1899 and commissioned at Manila on 26 May 1899 , under the command of Ensign George C . Day . US career . Philippines . Following local operations out of Manila that summer , " Samar " patrolled off Negros and Panay , assisting Army operations ashore . In November the gunboat helped escort an Army Expeditionary Brigade under Brigadier General Lloyd Wheaton to San Fabian in Lingayan Gulf , then firing on insurgent entrenchments on the landing beaches . The gunboat served out of Vigan in northwestern Luzon into the new year , cruising on patrols , carrying detachments of troops and maintaining communications in the region . On 24 April 1900 the gunboat carried Brigadier General Young on a tour of inspection from San Fernando to Vigan . In May , " Samar " carried pay and supplies to Bojeador lighthouse and , in June , carried a detachment of the 33d Infantry from Aparri to Kandon . Returning to Aparri , the crew spent a few days scaling the boiler and overhauling the engines before conducting a survey of the Kagayen River with USS " Bennington " 20 – 21 June . Following a short overhaul at the Cavite Naval Station , the gunboat sailed south to Zamboanga in southwestern Mindanao , where she patrolled from Cebu in the north to the Jolo island group in the south into 1901 . Admiral John A . Schofield , then an Ensign commanding " Samar " , later wrote the gunboat captured a banca in a cove off Paragua and rescued two " fair young maidens " who had been kidnapped by bandits from the town of Puerto Princessa . At the start of the rainy season that summer , the gunboat proceeded to Cavite , Luzon , for boiler repairs and was decommissioned on 23 September 1901 . Recommissioned on 19 June 1902 , Lt . Montgomery M . Taylor in command , " Samar " steamed south to Zamboanga , Mindanao , where she carried messages and stores for Marine detachments assisting the Army in suppressing the Moro rebellions among the southern islands . She patrolled the Sulu Archipelago as well , visiting ports throughout the island group and stopped for coal at Sandakan in British Borneo as required . The gunboat returned to Cavite in December , in preparation for fleet maneuvers with the Southern Squadron of the Asiatic Fleet in January 1903 . After fitting out for survey work at Canacao in February , " Samar " began hydrographic surveys off southern Mindanao area , conducting an extensive survey of Polloc harbor before supporting Army operations at Simpetan . Following the closing of the Naval Station at Polloc in June 1904 , the gunboat returned to Cavite and decommissioned there on 22 August 1904 . Yangtze service . Recommissioned on 11 March 1908 , Ensign Reed M . Fawell in command , " Samar " was assigned to the Pacific Fleet ' s Third Squadron , which mainly patrolled the Yangtze River and along the Chinese coast in the vicinity of Canton . The Squadrons ' purpose was to protect American missionaries , businessmen and shipping in the free - trade ports along China ' s coast and major rivers , concessions for trade and missionary activity the result of so - called " unequal treaties " forced on the Chinese government following the Boxer Rebellion . The gunboat sailed from Manila in mid - April , arriving at Hong Kong on 18 April . Assigned to Chinese river service , the gunboat patrolled the Chu - Kiang delta between Hong Kong , Macau and Canton , patrolled the Si - Kiang river up to Wuchow and cruised along the Chinese coast north to Swatow and Amoy . Every year the gunboat also sailed north to Nimrod Sound , outside Ning Po , Che - Kiang province , for target practice near the Imperial Chinese Navy ' s gunnery school . In late 1909 the gunboat changed station to Shanghai , where she regularly patrolled the lower Yangtze River up to Nanking and Wuhu . Following an anti - foreign riots in Changsha in April 1910 , which destroyed a number of missions and merchant warehouses , " Samar " sailed up the Yangtze River to Hankow and then Changsa to show the flag and help restore order . The gunboat was also administratively assigned to the Asiatic Fleet that year , which had been re - established by the Navy to better protect , in the words of the Bureau of Navigation , " American interests in the Orient . " After returning to Shanghai in August , she sailed up river again the following summer , passing Wuhu in June but then running aground off Kichau on 1 July 1911 . After staying stuck in the mud for two weeks , " Samar " broke free and sailed back down river to coal ship . Returning upriver , the gunboat reached Hankow in August and Ichang in September where she wintered over owing to both the dry season and the outbreak of rebellion at Wuchang in October 1911 . Following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the declaration of the Republic of China by Sun Yat - sen that winter , tensions eased and the gunboat turned downriver in July 1912 , arriving at Shanghai in October . " Samar " patrolled the lower Yangtze after fighting broke out in the summer 1913 , a precursor to a decade of conflict between provincial warlords in China . Following another cruise upriver to Hankow in February 1914 , the gunboat returned to Shanghai for an overhaul in March . Final years . " Samar " remained on the China Station throughout World War I , then , in July 1919 , was placed on the disposal list at Shanghai following a collision with a Yangtze river steamer that damaged her bow . A year later , she was designated PG - 41 , but was ordered inspected and appraised for sale the same day , 17 July 1920 . The following month she returned to Cavite , where she was decommissioned on 6 September 1920 and sold on 11 January 1921 .