USS Zafiro (1884) and Its Connection to the Spanish-American War-- Part 1

I wrote about this ship in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog the last two days in connection to a man named Charles V. Gridley, who was a naval officer during the Civil War, but also, more famously, the Spanish-American War.  He was the man that Commodore George Dewey said "You may fire when you are ready" to at the start of the Battle of Manila Bay which led to the destruction of the Spanish fleet.

Charles Gridley was the commander of the USS Olympia which was serving as Dewey's flagship.  Unfortunately, Gridley became sick soon afterwards and died almost a month and a half later.  He was transferred off the Olympia on the USS Zafiro.

You can read about Gridley's career in my Running the Blockade blog this week.  Go to the My Blogs column and click on this blog.

I'd never heard of this ship, so Wikipedia here I come.

USS ZAFIRO

It was a collier, bulk cargo ship,  that served in the U.S. Navy from 1898 to 1904.

It was constructed in the United Kingdom, but George Dewey purchased her for the U.S. Navy in Hong Kong on 9 April 1898, just before his Asiatic Squadron sailed for  the Philippines at the beginning of the Spanish-American War.

--Cooter