USS Machias ( PG - 5 ) The first USS Machias ( PG - 5 ) , a schooner - rigged gunboat , was laid down in February 1891 by Bath Iron Works , Bath , Maine . She was launched on 8 December 1891 . She was sponsored by Miss Ethel Hyde , daughter of President Hyde of Bath Iron Works and commissioned at Portsmouth Navy Yard , Kittery , Maine , 20 July 1893 , Comdr . Charles J . Train in command . Service . Following shakedown along the east coast and service on the North Atlantic station , " Machias " departed Portsmouth in November 1894 for the Asiatic station , sailing via the Azores , Gibraltar , Malta , Suez , Aden , Ceylon , and Singapore , arriving Hong Kong 6 March 1895 . For the next 2 years , the gunboat remained in the Far East , protecting American Interests in Korea and Japan during the Sino - Japanese War , making intermittent visits to treaty ports up the Yangtze River , and , in general , showing the flag from Port Arthur to Saigon , until departing Hong Kong 16 December 1897 to return home the way she came , arriving Boston on 18 March . Sailing for Key West , Fla . , on 7 April , the ship Joined the North Atlantic Fleet blockading Cuba and participated in the engagement of Cardenas on 11 May , leading gunboats " Wilmington " , " Hudson " , and torpedo boat " Winslow " against three Spanish gunboats in the bay . Continuing on blockade duty through September , in addition serving as a transport for Army troops and supplies , Machias sailed north to Boston and then Portsmouth for repairs until 15 January 1899 . The gunboat then returned to the Caribbean , operating off Cuba , in the West Indies and along the coast of Central America , showing the flag and protecting American interests until sailing for Washington , D . C . , to join in the celebration in honor of Adm . George Dewey 24 September . She returned to the Caribbean in January 1900 , resuming her patrols and , in addition , carrying the U . S . Minister to Venezuela on a diplomatic mission until ordered home 8 July , arriving Boston on the 17th . and decommissioning there 14 August . " Machias " was recommissioned on 24 July 1901 and sailed 15 days later to return to the Caribbean on patrol operations off Panama and Colombia during the Panamanian Revolution , protecting American lives and property off Panama through the end of the year ; and then , following repairs at Boston , landing troops at Boca del Toro , Colombia , 17 to 19 April 1902 . Attached to the Caribbean Patrol Squadron 4 October , the gunboat remained in Latin American waters until 8 January 1903 when she was assigned to the European Squadron and sailed on the 12th from San Juan , P . R . , for the Mediterranean . Steaming via Bermuda , the Azores , and Gibraltar , she arrived off the Riviera in late March and remained there on patrol until sailing in mid - May for a trip to northern Europe , visiting Southampton , England , and transiting the Kiel Canal , returning to the Mediterranean 30 June . From 21 November to 18 January 1904 the ship made a good will visit to Djibouti , Abyssinia , and then , 1 March , was detached from the European Squadron and sailed for home , arriving Pensacola on the 26th . She decommissioned there 14 May and remained there until assigned to the Connecticut Naval Militia 19 November 1907 . " Machias " departed Pensacola on 17 January 1908 for New York and following refit was turned over to the Connecticut Naval Militia on 27 June . Based at New Haven , the gunboat continued on this duty , making a cruise once a year off New England until withdrawn on 25 April 1914 and taken to New York where she once again was placed in full commission on the 27th . Assigned to the Special Service Squadron , the warship sailed 17 May for the Caribbean , patrolling off the Dominican Republic and Haiti through the end of 1914 when she was placed in reserve at New York 1 February 1915 . While in Haiti , she saw active duty , silencing government forces bombarding Puerto Plata . Reactivated on 1 April , the gunboat sailed for Mexico , arriving at Veracruz on 14 June to join the fleet protecting American lives and property during a revolution . She then returned to Mobile and New Orleans for repairs from October 1915 to February 1916 . Repaired , she returned to Mexico and evacuated a number of Americans from Tuxpan , where there were disturbances , and took the evacuees to Tampico . The ship continued her operations in the Caribbean , basing out of New Orleans and patrolling off Cuba , the Dominican Republic , and the Danish West Indies . The patrols of the Danish West Indies was to protect American neutrality prior to U . S . entry into World War I in April 1917 . " Machias " departed New Orleans 22 July for Gibraltar , steaming via Key West , Bermuda , and the Azores , arriving Gibraltar 22 August . Assigned to the patrol force in European waters , she operated out of Gibraltar on antisubmarine patrol through July 1918 , and was then ordered home , departing for New London 20 August and then sailing to Charleston where she refitted . The veteran gunboat departed Charleston in April 1919 for the Pacific , transiting the Panama Canal and operating along the west coast of Central America until 27 August when she arrived Mare Island Navy Yard for inactivation . Fate . " Machias " was decommissioned there on 3 October 1919 and was sold , 29 October 1920 , to the Mexican Navy . Renamed " Agua Prieta " , the old gunboat served as a transport and coast guard ship along the West coast of Mexico for the next 15 years . The Mexican Navy finally disposed of her in late 1935 .