USS Alliance ( 1875 ) The second USS " Alliance " was a screw gunboat that was in service from 1877 - 1911 with the United States Navy . Laid down as Huron , a screw gunboat of the third rate , in 1873 at the Norfolk Navy Yard , " Alliance " was launched on 8 March 1875 . She was sponsored by Miss Eulalie Boush , whose father , Naval Constructor George R . Boush , was superintending the warship ' s construction . However , before " Huron " joined the fleet , she was renamed Alliance to honor the Revolutionary War frigate . Ultimately , " Alliance " was commissioned on 18 January 1877 , Commander Theodore F . Kane in command . Service history . 1877 — 1878 . On 25 August 1877 , " Alliance " sailed from Smyrna for Salonika in company with Rear Admiral John L . Worden ' s flagship , , and reached that port five days later . She returned to Smyrna , and then again visited Constantinople , where she remained into December . She sailed thence back to Smyrna , the new year 1878 finding her in that port . Having spent eight months in the eastern Mediterranean , " Alliance " sailed for Villefranche in early January 1878 , but returned to Smyrna on 24 February , bringing with her quantities of stores to be distributed among the ships of the squadron . A few hours after " Alliance " s arrival , arrived at the Piraeus bearing Ulysses S . Grant on his world tour . During ex - President Grant ' s stay , " Alliance " rendered honors to him on 13 March . Less than two weeks later , while she lay at the Piraeus , the ship received the King and Queen of Greece , who , after inspecting the flagship , " remained a considerable time on board " " Alliance " , and departed on 26 March . Sailing from Havre on 6 August , " Alliance " reached Cherbourg , France , on the 7th , and remained there for a day , before pushing on for Gibraltar on the 9th . She proceeded thence to Villefranche , arriving there on the 19th . After returning to the eastern Mediterranean , visiting Leghorn , Italy , between 20 and 27 September , she sailed on a cruise " in eastern waters , making Smyrna her headquarters . " " Alliance " later visited Messina , Italy and Volo , Turkey ; after " finding affairs there ( at Volo ) quiet , " the gunboat sailed for Smyrna , arriving there on 11 October . " Alliance " remained there into December . 1878 — 1904 . In 1879 , " Alliance " carried out much the same routine as in her previous time with the European Squadron , returning to the U . S . late in the year . Reaching Boston on 8 December 1879 , " Alliance " sailed for Norfolk the following day , arriving there on the 14th . For the next five months , the ship lay under repairs at Norfolk , before she received orders at the end of April 1880 , to proceed to the Newfoundland Banks , to " search for and establish positions ( if found ) of the rocks and shoals " reported by shipping in that area . In 1881 , " Alliance " sailed north on an arctic cruise looking for survivors of the " Jeannette " expedition which had been wrecked that summer near the De Long Islands north of Russia . After that the ship found herself in the Caribbean monitoring the Colombian civil war in 1885 . That year , she captured the one - gun Colombian privateer brigantine " Ambrose Light " , which was filled with heavily - armed sailors and ammunition . " Ambrose Light " was flying a strange flag , so the Americans assumed the ship to be a pirate . The ship was taken as prize but later released . " Alliance " resumed her activities , training landsmen , soon thereafter , attached to the Atlantic Training Squadron . In 1902 , the ship visited Queenstown , Ireland ; Lisbon , Portugal ; Algiers , and Madeira before undergoing voyage repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard ; subsequently , the ship sailed south to Trinidad , St . Kitts , San Juan , and Jamaica , before arriving back in Hampton Roads on 13 June 1903 . In 1904 , " Alliance " was among the ships reviewed by President Theodore Roosevelt at Oyster Bay , Long Island , on 17 August 1904 . 1904 — 1911 . The ship ' s last duty commenced soon thereafter , when she was dispatched to Culebra , Puerto Rico , to serve as station ship and store ship at the naval station there . Regarded as " unserviceable for war purposes " , she was decommissioned at San Juan on 7 July 1911 , and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 August 1911 . Her hulk , however , remained in government hands until disposed .