Figure 1: USS Monterey (BM-6) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, during the 1890s. Copied from the Journal of Naval Cadet C.R. Miller, USN, page 51. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS Monterey (BM-6) at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, in 1895. The yard's coal sheds are in the background. Other ships are not identified. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: Broadside view of USS Monterey (BM-6) at Mare Island Navy Yard, California, in August 1897. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: Bow on view of USS Monterey (BM-6) in harbor with a steam launch coming alongside, probably at Mare Island, California. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Monterey (BM-6) is seen off Mare Island Navy Yard, California, June 1898, ready for her voyage to the Philippines. The old monitor USS Comanche is visible beyond Monterey's after turret. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: Main deck is awash while USS Monterey (BM-6) is making a full power run, probably during her crossing of the Pacific in August of 1898 to join Admiral George Dewey's fleet in the Philippines. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: USS Monterey (BM-6), center, and USS Charleston (C-2), right, in Manila Bay, the Philippines, circa 1898-1899. Courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS, 1967. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: Stern view of the USS Monterey (BM-6) while in dry dock in China, circa 1900-1904. Photograph from the collection of George Henry Snow, courtesy of Mark Kozak. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: Stern view of the USS Monterey (BM-6) while in dry dock in China, circa 1900-1904. Photograph was probably taken during the summer because of the awning covering her stern section. Photograph from the collection of George Henry Snow, courtesy of Mark Kozak. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: View of the waterfront of the Olongapo Naval Station, the Philippines, circa 1914-1916. Ships present are (from left to right): USS Monadnock, USS Monterey, USS Bainbridge, USS Decatur, USS Pampanga, and USS Piscataqua. From the collection of C.A. Shively, 1978. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after a city in California, USS Monterey (BM-6) was a 4,084-ton, twin-turreted monitor built by the Union Iron Works at San Francisco, California. She was one of the first ships built for America’s New Steel Navy and was laid down on 20 December 1889. Monterey was launched on 28 April 1891 and was commissioned on 13 February 1893. The ship was approximately 260 feet long and 59 feet wide, had a top speed of 13.6 knots, and had a crew of 210 officers and men. Monterey was armed with two 12-inch guns in the forward turret, two 10-inch guns in the aft turret, six 6-pounders, and four 1-pounders.
Monterey was designed primarily for harbor and coastal defense. From 1893 to 1898, she was attached to the US Navy’s Pacific Squadron and patrolled off the west coast of the United States while based at the Mare Island Navy Yard near San Francisco. In 1895, Monterey made a rare extended voyage down the west coast of South America and visited ports in Peru and Panama.
After the start of the Spanish-American War and Commodore George Dewey’s major victory at Manila Bay on 1 May 1898, Monterey was ordered to steam to the Philippines to support Dewey and the Asiatic Squadron. Although not designed for steaming across an open ocean, Monterey left San Diego, California, for the Philippines on 11 June and was escorted by the collier Brutus. After making stops at Honolulu, Hawaii, and Apra, Guam, Monterey completed her 8,000-mile journey and arrived at Cavite, the Philippines, on 13 August. The monitor supported the occupation of Luzon, the Philippines, well into 1899 and in September of that year she joined the gunboats USS Charleston and USS Concord in destroying a rebel Filipino gun battery. Monterey stayed in the Philippines until 6 April 1900, when she was ordered to go to Hong Kong for an overhaul. From July 1900 to September 1901, Monterey served as the station ship at Shanghai, China, and made a voyage up the Yangtze River to Nanking in July 1902, transporting Commissioner T.S. Sharretts on a special diplomatic mission. After that, Monterey remained in China and patrolled the waters between Chefoo and Hong Kong, as well as serving as the station ship at Shanghai for brief periods of time. Monterey returned to Cavite in the spring of 1903 and was decommissioned there on 15 December 1904.
On 28 September 1907, Monterey was re-commissioned at Olongapo, the Philippines, but was placed in reserve. She made occasional trips to Cavite and Manila for overhauls and target practice and was placed in full commission on 9 November 1911. Monterey returned to China in November and visited numerous ports there, including Foochow, Swatow, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. She returned to Cavite in 1913 and was placed back in reserve.
After World War I began in Europe, Monterey steamed from Olongapo to Cavite on 11 August 1914. She patrolled the waters around the Philippine Islands throughout the war, serving primarily as a coastal defense ship and gunboat. Monterey left Cavite on 13 November 1917, along with the collier Ajax, and sailed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, arriving there on 19 December. The aging monitor became the station ship at Pearl Harbor and remained there until she was decommissioned for the last time on 27 August 1921. USS Monterey was sold for scrapping on 25 February 1922.
