USS Wasp ( 1898 ) The seventh USS " Wasp " was an armed yacht that served in the U . S . Navy from 1898 to 1919 and saw service in the Spanish - American War . Acquisition and commissioning . It was built as the " Columbia " in 1893 by William Cramp & Sons for Joseph Harvey Ladew , Sr . modeled on the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Pathfinder . It was launched from Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 23 August 1893 . It was used by the United States Navy , renamed USS " Wasp " , and commissioned at New York City on 11 April 1898 , Lieutenant Aaron Ward in command . Spanish - American War service . The converted yacht departed New York on 26 April 1898 and headed south for Spanish - American War duty blockading Cuba . She stopped at Key West , Florida , from 1 to 7 May 1898 and arrived off Havana later on 7 May . From there , she moved west along the northern coast to Bahia Honda , also arriving there on 7 May . On 12 May 1898 , while cruising on blockade station off the Cuban coast between Havana and Bahia Honda , " Wasp " joined a small convoy escorted by the revenue cutter USRC " Manning " and made up of merchantman SS " Gussie " and tugs " Triton " and " Dewey " . " Gussie " carried two companies of United States Army troops scheduled to land at Bahia Honda , while " Triton " and " Dewey " carried representatives of the press . Just before 1500 that afternoon , some of the soldiers from " Gussie " went ashore near Cabañas , purportedly the first American troops to land on Cuban soil . They formed a skirmish line and started their advance through dense underbrush . At about 1515 , Spanish Army forces counterattacked the American troops and opened fire on the ships in the bay . " Wasp " returned fire with her portside six - pounders , carefully avoiding the area occupied by friendly forces . At that point , she received word that the 100 or so soldiers fighting ashore were heavily outnumbered and outflanked to the west . The only course of action open to them was to disengage the enemy and reembark in " Gussie " . During that operation , " Wasp " joined " Manning " and recently arrived unarmored cruiser " Dolphin " in providing covering gunfire for the evacuation . When another landing , scheduled for the following day , did not occur , " Wasp " lobbed a few shells at an adobe watch - tower from which Spanish riflemen had taken the ships under fire , and then she resumed her patrol station off the coast . On 15 May 1898 , the converted yacht departed the Cuban coast to return to Florida . She arrived at Key West that same day and remained in the Florida Keys , either at Key West or Sand Key , almost until the end of May 1898 . " Wasp " returned to the blockade , at Cienfuegos , briefly on 29 May 1898 but was back at Key West on 31 May 1898 . During June 1898 , the yacht moved from blockade station to blockade station , returning periodically to the Florida Keys for necessities . From 9 June 1898 to 11 June 1898 , she stood off Havana . After a three - day return to Key West , " Wasp " took station off the southeastern coast of Cuba on 20 June 1898 , patrolling between Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo Bay . At the beginning of July 1898 , she paid a five - day visit to Key West , returning to the Santiago de Cuba area again on 10 July 1898 . On 19 July 1898 , the converted yacht cleared Guantanamo Bay for Nipe Bay on Cuba ' s northeastern coast . She arrived at Nipe Bay late on the morning of the 21 July 1898 and , on orders to reconnoiter the bay in company with armed tugboat USS " Leyden " , started in toward Port Nipe . Upon entering , " Wasp " sighted a Spanish warship at anchor some four miles up the bay . She fired several shots at the signal station located at the entrance , then sped forward to engage the enemy ship . At 1244 , the Spanish ship opened fire at extreme range , and " Wasp " returned fire immediately . " Leyden " , followed by gunboats USS " Annapolis " and USS " Topeka " , quickly joined in . As the range decreased , American gunfire became more accurate , and all four ships began scoring telling hits on the enemy . Finally , at 1312 , the Spaniard ' s colors disappeared . " Wasp " and her three colleagues ceased fire and watched their quarry , the sloop " Jorge Juan " , sink at 1342 . After making a complete reconnaissance of the southern and western portions of the bay , " Wasp " anchored there for the night . On 23 July 1898 , " Wasp " departed Cuba , bound for Puerto Rico , and arrived off Fajardo that same day . For the next seven weeks , she cruised the coasts of Puerto Rico in company with auxiliary cruiser USS " Dixie " , " Annapolis " , and gunboat USS " Gloucester " . Throughout the entire period , only one noteworthy event occurred . On 27 July 1898 , the four ships encountered three Spanish brigantine s at Ponce but evaluated them as too insignificant even to take as prizes . On 8 September 1898 , " Wasp " departed San Juan to return to the United States . After a five - day stop at Charleston , South Carolina , she continued her voyage north on 18 September 1898 and entered the Norfolk Navy Yard at Norfolk , Virginia , on 21 September 1898 . On 27 September 1898 , she was decommissioned there and laid up . Peacetime service . On 15 December 1898 , the yacht was loaned to the Florida Naval Militia for training purposes . That tour of duty lasted until 21 June 1899 , at which time she was returned to the U . S . Navy . She resumed her retirement to serve as station ship at Port Royal , South Carolina . In July 1902 , she returned to Norfolk to be decommissioned once again on 23 July 1902 . On 2 October 1902 , " Wasp " went into commission again and received orders to the 8th Naval District . During her service there as a district tender , she made infrequent cruises in the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies . In 1906 , she moved from the Gulf of Mexico to Newport , Rhode Island , for a tour of duty at the Torpedo Station . In 1907 , she visited East Coast , Gulf Coast , and Mississippi River ports of the United States during a cruise to spur enlistments in the U . S . Navy . In 1908 , " Wasp " began a nine - year assignment , again training naval militiamen , this time on loan to the New York Naval Militia . World War I Service . That duty ended early in 1917 , as the United States moved closer to war . On 7 April 1917 , the day after the American declaration of war on the German Empire that brought the United States into World War I , " Wasp " began patrolling the coast of Long Island . Throughout the first year of the war , the yacht cruised the coastal waters of the 3d Naval District as a unit of , and later as flagship for , Squadron 8 , Patrol Force . In April 1918 , " Wasp " received orders detaching her from the 3d Naval District and assigning her to duty at Annapolis , Maryland . She arrived in Annapolis on 9 May 1918 and , but for periodic runs to Norfolk , remained there for the remainder of her naval career . Disposal . Struck from the Navy List on 13 November 1919 , " Wasp " was formally decommissioned at Norfolk on 1 December 1919 . On 20 September 1921 , she was sold to Mr . Halsted P . Layton of Georgetown , Delaware .