IRIS Screw Steamer

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Built as Screw Steamer 1885
Purchased by US Navy from Miami Steamship Co. 25 May 1898


1. USS IRIS (Distilling Ship)
Commissioned 1 August 1898 as Distilling Ship - Decommissioned for repairs 31 January 1900
Recommissioned May 1900 - Decommissioned 18 December 1903


2. IRIS (Collier)
Placed In Service as Collier for the Asiatic Squadron 1904 - Out of Service 15 October 1909


3. USS IRIS (Torpedo Boat Tender)
Recommissioned as Torpedo Boat Tender 15 October 1909 - Decommissioned 2 May 1916

Transferred to United States Shipping Board (USSB) 3 May 1917 for disposal

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS IRIS Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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3rd Commissioning as Torpedo Boat Tender 15 October 1909 to 2 May 1916

 

Locy Type 2r (AC)

1913-11-20

Picture postcard of the State Normal School, San Diego, CA

 

Locy Type 2r (AC)

1913-11-20

Picture postcard of the State Normal School, San Diego, CA

 

Locy Type 3r (C) "GUAYMAS / MEXICO"

1915-12-12

N/A

Cut piece

 

Other Information

USS IRIS earned the Philippines Campaign Medal, the China Relief Expedition Medal and the Mexican Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Iris - In Greek Mythology the personification and goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods.

Five ships of the US Navy have borne the name IRIS - USS Iris (1847), USS Iris (1863), USS Iris (1869), USS Iris (1885) and USS Iris (1897).

 

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If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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