USS Alert ( AS - 4 ) The third USS " Alert " was an iron - hulled screw steamer gunboat in the United States Navy . The lead ship in her class , " Alert " was destined for a long naval career , serving from 1875 to 1922 , a period of 47 years , including service as a submarine tender in World War I . Toward the end of her career she received the designation AS - 4 . " Alert " was laid down in 1873 by John Roach & Sons at Chester , Pennsylvania in 1873 . Launched on 18 September 1874 , " Alert " was commissioned for the first time on 27 May 1875 , Commander William T . Sampson in command . Service history . First commission , 1875 - 82 . Training ship . The screw steamer spent the first year of her Navy career attached to the North Atlantic Station . During the summer , she wore the flag of Rear Admiral C . R . Perry Rodgers , Superintendent of the Naval Academy , and hosted cadet - midshipmen on board for practical training in the operation of steam propulsion equipment — all as a part of the Academy ' s practice cruise for 1875 . Atlantic and Asiatic stations . " Alert " operated out of ports on the Atlantic coast during the fall and winter of 1875 and 1876 until departing New York on 26 May 1876 on the first leg of a voyage to the Asiatic Station . Proceeding by way of the Mediterranean Sea and the relatively new Suez Canal , she stopped at Gibraltar , Malta , and Aden before reaching Hong Kong on 11 September . For almost three years , the ship cruised the waters around Japan and along the Chinese coast , showing the flag at such places as Yokohama , Nagasaki , Kobe , and Hakodate in Japan , and Hong Kong , Shanghai , Amoy , and Swatow in China . Unlike modern goodwill visits , her port calls frequently could be measured in terms of weeks and months rather than days . When at sea , she charted hydrographic features , investigated maritime disasters , and performed humanitarian services for the victims of those disasters . On 4 January 1879 , " Alert " departed Yokohama on her way back to the United States . She arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 24 February and began a six - month repair period . On 30 August 1879 , the warship set sail from San Francisco on her way back to the Asiatic Station . The steamer arrived in Yokohama on 6 October and commenced 32 months of service in the Far East . In addition to the normal port visits and wreck investigations , she did survey work in the Bonin Islands during the spring and summer of 1881 . On 11 January 1882 , " Alert " stood out of Hong Kong and embarked upon a voyage that took her to a number of places in the Orient that she had not previously visited . Her itinerary during that cruise included Saigon , Bangkok , and Singapore in southeast Asia ; Batavia ( now Djakarta ) and Sarawak in the Netherlands East Indies ( now Indonesia ) ; and Labuan , Iloilo and Manila in the Philippines . Collision with Japanese Emperor ' s yacht . She returned to Japan via Hong Kong , and , on 15 April 1882 , while steaming from Kobe to Yokohama , suffered damage as a result of being rammed by the Japanese Emperor ' s yacht . On 15 June , the ship left Yokohama again for the United States . She arrived in San Francisco on 18 July , and on the 31st she was placed out of commission at Mare Island . Asiatic station , 1883 - 86 . The warship remained inactive at Mare Island until recommissioned on 8 October 1883 for another tour of duty on the Asiatic Station . On 23 November , she put to sea on the long voyage to the Orient . She arrived in Nagasaki , Japan , on 18 February 1884 and spent the next 20 months operating almost exclusively in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea , calling frequently at Nagasaki and at Chemulpo ( now Inchon ) , Korea . " Alert " widened her horizons in the fall of 1885 with more frequent visits to Chinese ports ; and , during the early months of 1886 , extended her range still farther to include southeast Asian ports , notably Bangkok and Singapore . In March 1886 , she stopped at Hong Kong and Canton . On 19 April , the warship returned to Japan at Yokohama . That port and Hakodate served as the foci of her operations until the first week in August . " Alert " put to sea from the latter on 5 August , beginning a voyage back to the United States . She entered San Francisco on 10 September and went out of commission there on 23 September . Pacific station , 1887 - 90 . Recommissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 15 January 1887 , for service on the Pacific Squadron , the warship departed San Francisco on 23 February and headed down the coast of Mexico toward Central and South America . She arrived off the coast of Panama — then still a province of Colombia — on 7 May . For the next 15 months , " Alert " plied the waters along the west coast of Central and South America between Panama and Peru . On 11 August 1888 , she set sail from Callao , Peru , bound for Hawaii — then still an independent kingdom but heavily influenced by American residents . " Alert " arrived in Honolulu on 15 September and remained in the islands until the spring of 1889 . Samoan mercy mission . The ship ' s departure from Hawaii came in response to a maritime disaster at Samoa . Diplomatic relations strained by efforts to achieve political dominance in Samoa had brought together in Apia , Samoa , seven warships belonging to three nations . The naval strength gathered there consisted of the American ships , , and ; the Germans SMS " Adler " , SMS " Eber " , and SMS " 0 - 90 " ; and the lone British man - of - war . On 15 March 1889 , a hurricane struck Apia trapping the three American and three German warships in the harbor . Only HMS " Calliope " succeeded in escaping to sea early on the 16th . By the morning of the 16th , the storm increased in ferocity and battered the six remaining vessels unmercifully . All three German ships sank , as did " Trenton " and " Vandalia " . " Nipsic " , though severely damaged , managed to beach and survive the storm . " Alert " left Honolulu on 18 April and set a course for Samoa to provide assistance and to escort " Nipsic " to a repair facility . She reached Apia on 3 May and remained there six days . On 9 May , she stood out of Apia with Nipsic bound for Auckland , New Zealand , but heavy seas forced the two warships back to Apia . From there , they moved to Pago Pago , whence they departed on the 31st . " Alert " left " Nipsic " at Fanning Island on 14 June and continued on alone to Honolulu . She returned a month later , and the two warships put to sea for the last leg of the voyage to Honolulu where they arrived on 2 August . The steamer remained in the Hawaiian Islands until she set sail for the United States on 21 November . She arrived in San Francisco on 9 December and was decommissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 6 February 1890 . Various stations , 1890 - 93 . " Alert " remained there , inactive , until recommissioned on 9 October 1890 , Cdr . R . D . Hitchcock in command . She served initially on the Pacific Squadron , but departed Mare Island on 18 June 1891 for a summer of duty with the Bering Sea Squadron discouraging seal poachers before continuing on to permanent duty on the Asiatic Station . The warship left Unalaska on 22 August and arrived in Yokohama on 10 September . She spent the next two years cruising the waters along the Japanese , Korean , and Chinese coasts and visiting most of the major ports in the area . As in the past , her primary missions consisted of keeping an eye on American interests and showing the flag . In the summer of 1893 , orders arrived sending the ship back to the United States . She departed Yokohama on 15 August ; arrived in San Francisco on 21 September ; and , two days later , was placed out of commission at the Mare Island Navy Yard . Pacific station , 1894 - 98 . On 2 April 1894 , " Alert " was recommissioned , Cdr . W . A . Morgan in command . Assigned to the Pacific Squadron once again , she returned to the Bering Sea late in May for a summer of duty suppressing seal poachers . The warship finished that assignment in mid - September and arrived back at San Francisco on the 27th . The following day , she moved to the Mare Island Navy Yard and remained there through the end of the year . On 24 January 1895 , " Alert " , departed Mare Island to take up duty off the Pacific coasts of Central and South America . Proceeding via San Diego and Acapulco , she reached Puerto San José on 15 February . The vessel cruised along the Latin American littoral between Guatemala and Peru for over 16 months keeping watch over U . S . interests in the region . On 2 June 1896 , she departed La Libertad , Salvador ( now El Salvador ) , to return home . After stops at several Mexican ports and at San Diego , she reached San Francisco on 17 July . The steamer remained in the San Francisco Bay area almost two months , spending about half that time at the Mare Island Navy Yard . From 10 September - 10 October , she made a round - trip cruise to Port Angeles , Washington . On 18 November , she stood out of San Francisco Bay on her way to conduct drills and gunnery exercises in the Hawaiian Islands . The warship arrived in Honolulu on 9 December and remained in the islands through most of the first three months of 1897 . On 22 March 1897 , she left Honolulu , set a course for California , and reentered San Francisco harbor on 4 April . After almost two months at San Francisco — five weeks of which were spent at the Mare Island Navy Yard — she embarked upon a voyage to Sitka , Alaska , and back . The ship returned to San Francisco on 13 July and commenced a two - month sojourn there . On 18 September , she headed back down the west coast to Central American waters and operated off the coast of Guatemala from 4 October - 6 November before heading back to San Francisco . " Alert " arrived there on 29 November and did not put to sea again until sailing for Nicaraguan waters on 8 January 1898 . She patrolled the Pacific coast of Nicaragua for almost four months before heading north once more on 29 April . " Alert " reached San Francisco on 21 May , moved to the Mare Island Navy Yard on the 23d , and was decommissioned there on 4 June 1898 . Training ship , 1901 - 1907 . Following nearly three years of inactivity , the veteran steamer was recommissioned on 11 May 1901 , Cdr . Gottfried Blocklinger in command and was assigned to the Pacific Station as a training vessel for apprentice sailors . In that capacity , she made short cruises along the California coast until decommissioned again on 10 December 1903 . She was berthed in the Mare Island Navy Yard until transferred on loan to the California Naval Militia sometime early in 1907 . Submarine tender , 1910 - 1922 . Although returned to the Navy on 27 February 1910 , " Alert " was not reactivated until almost two years later . On 25 January 1912 , she was placed in commission , in reserve , Lieutenant Charles E . Smith in command , in connection with her fitting out for service as a submarine tender . She was placed in full commission on 1 July 1912 , Lt . Charles E . Smith still in command . " Alert " tended submarines for the Torpedo Flotilla , Pacific Fleet , until late in 1917 . In executing her new duties , she made short voyages along the California coast in much the same manner as she had done while serving as an apprentice training vessel . World War I and after . The entry of the United States into World War I necessitated an increase of American naval strength in the Atlantic . Thus , in December 1917 , the ship steamed south from San Diego , transited the Panama Canal , and proceeded to Bermuda where she took up duty as base and repair ship . In April 1918 , " Alert " returned to the west coast and resumed duties as a Pacific Fleet Torpedo Flotilla submarine tender based at San Pedro , California . That assignment occupied her for the remaining four years of her naval career . When the Navy adopted the alphanumeric system of hull designations on 17 July 1920 , she was classified AS - 4 . Final decommission . On 9 March 1922 , " Alert " was placed out of commission at the Mare Island Navy Yard . She was sold to A . Bercovich Company , Oakland , California , on 29 July .