Archives West Finding Aid

On October 2, 1895, the United States Navy Pacific Squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Lester A. Beardslee, dropped anchor in the harbor at Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. In addition to Beardslee's flagship Philadelphia , six Navy warships—the double turreted monitor Monadnock , the coast defense armored vessel Monterey , the corvette Alert and the gunboat cruiser Bennington —marked their entrance into the harbor with cannon shots and band music. The Pacific Squadron had been invited to Port Angeles as part of a major countywide celebration that later evolved into the Clallam County Fair. Beardslee surprised the city by accepting the invitation. In the days following their arrival, the crews of the warships stayed in tents erected around the city, gave drill exhibitions during the day and band concerts at night.

Captain Charles Stanhope Cotton served as Beardslee’s Chief of Staff and commanded the cruiser Philadelphia . Captain George W. Sumner was at the helm of Monadnock , Captain Nicoll Ludlow of Monterey , Commander Franklin Hanford of Alert , and Commander George W. Pigman of Bennington . Port Angeles was chosen for having a splendid harbor, good anchorage for maneuver work, and a gun range of twenty miles. Townspeople would lower their windows so they did not shatter during target practice. Also on schedule for the Pacific Squadron were small boat operations, torpedo service, determining the tactical diameter of the ships, and landing naval brigades. Plans were made to land 1,300 “bluejacket” sailors ashore for a camp of instruction and to practice throwing up and manning entrenchments. The use of Navy sailors as infantry (and artillerymen ashore) was common during the 19th century. Training ashore was practiced at a level comparable to fleet exercises. During the naval reform debates in the late 19th century, use of the Navy as infantry was unanimously viewed as required. Arguments centered instead on how to use them most efficiently. While ashore, sailors trained in traditional Army roles and were often joined in drills by Army infantrymen and/or Marines.

Navy Fleet visits to Port Angeles continued under Beardslee and his successors until the 1930s.

Some photographs in the collection are indentified as being by Thomas, a photographer from Port Angeles. It is likely that most of the photographs are by him. Several photographs of the Monadnock are located in the Early Photographers Photograph Collection PH334 under "Thomas."