Months of preparation came to fruition soon after dawn on the bright, sunny morning of 16 December 1907. Sixteen great combat ships, every modern battleship in the Atlantic Fleet, lay at anchor off Old Point Comfort, on the northern side of Hampton Roads, Virginia. During the previous two weeks, their crew members had coaled ship and loaded stores while Fleet Commander in Chief Robley D. Evans and his staff completed the extensive planning and paperwork that is an inescapable part of any major Navy operation. Ashore the ships' officers and men did their Christmas shopping, participated in a round of Fleet Championship football games, and enjoyed an active social life. President Theodore Roosevelt, whose vision had set the entire process in motion, was embarked in the yacht Mayflower, steaming down Chesapeake Bay from Washington, D.C. His arrival would set in motion the largest Naval deployment of the steam and steel warship era.
Midshipman Harold M. Bemis, an officer in USS Maine, described the day's events:
Thus began a voyage that would not be concluded for more than fourteen months, would cover some 44,000 nautical miles and bring the Atlantic Fleet into more than two-dozen ports of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, plus the Mediterranean Sea. During its fourteen months, some 14,000 men would gain the right to say that they had truly "Joined the Navy and seen the World". In turn, much of the World would have seen them, and also the biggest battle fleet ever to circumnavigate the Globe.
This page features views concerning the "Great White Fleet"'s departure from Hampton Roads, Virginia on 16 December 1907, at the beginning of its cruise around the World.
For further pictorial coverage of the "Great White Fleet":
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions. |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 100349 USS Connecticut (Battleship # 18) Leading the Atlantic Fleet's battleships out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, probably at the start of the "Great White Fleet" cruise around the World in December 1907. Photo printed on a stereograph card, copyrighted by Underwood & Underwood. Donation of Louis Smaus, 1985 U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 85KB; 635 x 675 pixels A stereo pair version of this image is available as Photo # NH 100349-A Online Image of stereo pair: 60KB; 675 x 350 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 106192 "Great White Fleet" World Cruise, 1907-1909 Fine screen halftone reproduction of a photograph showing the Atlantic Fleet flagship, USS Connecticut (Battleship # 18), leading the "Great White Fleet"'s other fifteen battleships out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, at the beginning of the cruise around the World, 16 December 1907. Copied from "The New Navy of the United States", by N.L. Stebbins, (New York, 1912). Donation of David Shadell, 1987. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 132KB; 900 x 655 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 78238 USS Connecticut (Battleship # 18), at right Leads the Atlantic Fleet out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, at the start of the "Great White Fleet" World cruise, December 1907. Photographed by O.W. Waterman. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 111KB; 900 x 545 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 1572 "Great White Fleet" World Cruise, December 1907 -- February 1909 Atlantic Fleet battleships steaming out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, at the start of their World cruise, 16 December 1907. The nearest ship is USS Maine (Battleship # 10). Next astern is USS Missouri (Battleship # 11). U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 126KB; 740 x 475 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41650 Old Point Comfort, Hampton Roads, Virginia A crowd watches from a pier near the Chamberlin Hotel, as the Atlantic Fleet departs for its World cruise, December 1907. Collection of Lieutenant Commander Richard Wainwright, 1928. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 112KB; 740 x 475 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 106193 "Great White Fleet" World Cruise, 1907-1909 President Theodore Roosevelt (right) shakes hands with Lieutenant Walter R. Gherardi, Commanding Officer of USS Yankton. Photographed during the President's visit to Yankton on 16 December 1907, as the Atlantic Fleet departed Hampton Roads, Virginia, to begin its cruise around the World. Commander William S. Sims is partially visible at the far right. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. Donation of Captain Marion Eppley, 1945. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 66KB; 585 x 675 pixels |
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The following two photographs (one a cropped version of the other) were probably NOT taken when the "Great White Fleet" steamed out of Hampton Roads on 16 December 1907, and may well date from some months earlier. However, they have long been identified with the Fleet's departure and so are presented here:
Photo #: NH 59537 U.S. Atlantic Fleet Battleships steaming in column USS Connecticut (Battleship # 18), at right, leads Atlantic Fleet battleships, circa 1907-1908. She is followed by USS Kansas (Battleship # 21), in center, and USS Vermont (Battleship # 20), next astern of Kansas. Panoramic photograph by C.E. Waterman, 215 55th Street, Chicago, Illinois. Note: Individual copies of this image bear conflicting identifications. One (written in pencil on its reverse side) states that the photograph shows the Fleet entering San Francisco Bay, California, on 6 May 1908. Another is captioned (printed in ink on the mounting mat): "The Atlantic Fleet standing into Hampton Roads at the conclusion of preliminary maneuvers, August 30th, 1907". Given the Waterman Family's long association with the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area, the latter identification may be more credible. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 169KB; 2000 x 640 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 92091 U.S. Atlantic Fleet Battleships Steaming in column, probably while departing Hampton Roads, Virginia, at the start of their cruise around the World, December 1907. Photographed by C.E. Waterman, Hampton, Va. USS Kansas (Battleship # 21) is at left, followed by USS Vermont (Battleship # 20). Collection of Roy D. France. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 490 pixels |
![]() Note: for comments concerning alternative dates and locations for this photograph, see: Photo #: NH 59537 (NH 92091 is a cropped version of NH 59537). |
For further pictorial coverage of the "Great White Fleet":
NOTES:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions. |
Page made 21 October 2008
Coding updated 13 April 2009