USS General Alava

{{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=AG-5 General Alava.jpg |image_caption= }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country= |flag= |name= ''General Alava'' |namesake= [[Miguel Ricardo de Álava]] |owner= *1895: {{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Restoration (Spain)|Spanish Government]] *1900: {{flagicon|USA|1900}} [[United States Department of War|US Department of War]] |operator= *1900: [[United States Navy]] |ordered= |awarded= |builder= A McMillan & Son, [[Dumbarton]] |original_cost= |yard_number= 334 |way_number= |laid_down= |launched= 8 May 1895 |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |captured= by US forces, 21 February 1900 |commissioned= by US Navy, 9 March 1900 |decommissioned= 28 June 1929 |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |identification= from 1920: US Navy [[pennant number]] AG-5 |renamed= |refit= |struck= |homeport= |motto= |nickname= |honors= |fate= Sunk as a target ship, 17 July 1929 |notes= |badge= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |type= [[cargo ship]] |tonnage= *as built: {{GRT|794}}, {{NRT|476}} |displacement= |length= {{cvt|212.0|ft|abbr=on}} |beam= {{cvt|30.0|ft|abbr=on}} |draft= {{cvt|13|ft|abbr=on}} |depth= {{cvt|17.8|ft|abbr=on}} |power= 118 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]] |propulsion= [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]] |speed= {{convert|10+1/2|kn|km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}} |range= |capacity= |complement= in US Navy service: 76 |armament= *in US Navy service: *1 × [[QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss|6-pounder gun]] *2 × [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|3-pounder guns]] |notes= }} }}

'''USS ''General Alava'' (AG-5)''' was a [[Cargo ship|cargo]] [[steamship]] that was built in [[Scotland]] in 1895 and sunk in the [[Pacific Ocean]] in 1929. She was built for the [[Restoration (Spain)|Spanish Government]]; however, in 1900 United States forces captured her in the [[Spanish–American War]]. She spent most of her career in the [[United States Navy]].

==Building== Archibald McMillan & Son built ''General Alava'' at [[Dumbarton]], Scotland, launching her on 8 May 1895.<ref name=SBS>{{cite web |url= https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?&ref=13950 |title=General Alava |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref> She was named after [[Miguel Ricardo de Álava]], who had been a [[brigadier general]] in the [[Spanish Army]] in the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and in 1835 briefly served as [[Prime Minister of Spain]].

The ship's registered length was {{cvt|212.0|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|30.0|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|17.8|ft|abbr=on}}. Her [[tonnage]]s were {{GRT|794}} and {{NRT|476}}.<ref>{{cite book |year=1898 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I–Steamers |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |at=GEN |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1899ST/page/n397/mode/1up |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref> She had a single [[Propeller|screw]], driven by a three-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]] built by David Rowan & Son of [[Glasgow]]. It was rated at 118 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]] and gave her a speed of {{convert|10+1/2|kn|km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=SBS/>

==Capture and initial US service== US forces captured ''General Alava'' in the Spanish–American War. She was transferred from the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] to the Navy on 21 February 1900, and commissioned at [[Cavite]], [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)|Philippines]] on 9 March 1900. In US Navy service her tonnage was revised to {{GRT|1390}}.<ref name=SBS/>

She served in the Philippines as a transport ship and [[lighthouse tender]]. She carried [[United States Marine Corps|US Marines]] between various garrisons in the Philippines, making a voyage to [[Guam]] in November 1900 to return survivors of ''Yosemite'' — lost at sea in a [[typhoon]] — to Cavite. After a tour of the [[Archipelago]] with the [[Army Board]] for selection of a [[leper colony]] site, she carried a [[United States Naval Observatory|Naval Observatory]] party to [[Pendang]], [[Sumatra]], to observe a partial eclipse of the Sun on 16 May 1901. From 3 to 26 September 1901 she cruised with [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] C.C. Remey on inspection of the southern islands. She carried Governor [[William Howard Taft]] from [[Manila]] to [[Singapore]] and back from 5 to 22 August 1902. She again sailed from Manila on 29 October, transporting a Forestry Commission to the southern islands, Northern [[Luzon]], [[Taiwan|Formosa]] and [[Nagasaki]], Japan. She returned to [[Subic Bay]] on 30 December and was decommissioned at Cavite on 24 January 1903.

==Recommissioning== ''General Alava'' was recommissioned on 11 June 1904 for transport service between the islands until May 1905, when she left for the coast of [[China]]. She returned to Cavite from [[Shanghai]] on 21 November and decommissioned on 26 February 1906.

''General Alava'' recommissioned on 18 December. She was mainly used to carry passengers between Cavite and [[Olongapo]] until February 1925. This service was interrupted from May to November 1919 by a cruise to [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]], [[Saigon]], and [[Sulawesi|Celebes]] to show the flag. With the assignment of hull classification and numbers to ships in 1920, she was designated a [[United States Navy Designations (Temporary)|miscellaneous auxiliary]] "(AG-5)". The transport departed Manila on 18 February 1925 once again to show the flag at Batavia and Saigon and to proceed via [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] to Shanghai, arriving on 24 April.

==China service== For the next two years, ''General Alava'' carried passengers between Chinese ports, twice returning to the Philippines for brief visits. In several inspection cruises from Shanghai, she carried the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|US Asiatic Fleet]] Commander to such ports as [[Dalian]], [[Yantai]], [[Qingdao]], [[Tianjin]], and [[Qinhuangdao]]. On 24 August 1927, she became receiving ship at Shanghai for transient officers of the [[Yangtze Patrol]] and from time to time made inspection trips along the river.

==Decommissioning== ''General Alava'' returned from her last cruise on the river to [[Nanjing]] on 3 June 1929 and decommissioned at Shanghai on 28 June. She was used as a target during gunnery practice off the Asiatic coast and sunk on 17 July 1929.<ref name=SBS/>

==References== {{reflist}} {{DANFS}}

==External links== * [https://archive.today/20011005083318/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/#Anchor-Editoria-14954 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships] * {{navsource|09/49/49005}}

[[Category:1895 ships]] [[Category:Steamships of Spain]] [[Category:Spanish–American War ships of Spain]] [[Category:Spanish–American War auxiliary ships of the United States]] [[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]] [[Category:Cargo ships of the United States Navy]] [[Category:Lighthouse tenders of the United States]] [[Category:World War I auxiliary ships of the United States]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1929]] [[Category:Ships sunk as targets]] [[Category:Shipwrecks of China]]