Topics in Chronicling America - Theodore Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet”

On the warm, cloudy morning of December 16, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet," a force of sixteen battleships bristling with guns and painted sparkling white, steam out of Hampton Roads, Virginia to begin its 43,000-mile, 14-month circumnavigation of the globe "to demonstrate to the world America's naval prowess." The four-mile-long armada's world tour included 20 port calls on six continents, and is widely considered one of the greatest peacetime achievements of the U.S. Navy. Read more about it!

The information and sample article links below provide access to a sampling of articles from historic newspapers that can be found in the Chronicling America: American Historic Newspapers digital collection (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). Use the Suggested Search Terms and Dates to explore this topic further in Chronicling America.

Jump to: Sample Articles

Important Dates:

• July 1907: President Theodore Roosevelt commissions sixteen new battleships from the U.S Atlantic Fleet to make a voyage around the world to the Pacific.
• December 16, 1907: The Atlantic Fleet leaves Hampton Roads, VA headed towards South America. The fleet stops in Trinidad, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Mexico before returning to the U.S.
• May 7, 1908: The Fleet arrives in San Francisco, CA.
• July 7, 1908: The Fleet departs San Francisco bound for eastern Asia. It stops in Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, and China.
• December 1, 1908: The Fleet leaves the Philippines, stopping in Ceylon, Egypt, Italy, and Gibraltar before returning to the U.S.
• February 22, 1909: The Fleet arrives in Hampton Roads, VA, completing its voyage.

Suggested Search Strategies:

• [Try the following terms in combination, proximity, or as phrases using Search Pages in Chronicling America.] Roosevelt, Atlantic Fleet, battleship, cruise, Admiral Robley Evans, Pacific.
• For articles relating to specific countries and cities that the Fleet visited, also include that country in your search. Countries and territories visited include Trinidad, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, China, Ceylon, Egypt, Italy, and Gibraltar. The Fleet also traveled to Hampton Roads, VA, San Francisco, CA, Hawaii, and Washington State.
• To narrow results, search between the dates July 1907 and February 1909

Sample Articles from Chronicling America:

• "Practice Cruise Asserts Metcalf," The Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA), July 10, 1907, Page 1, Image 1, col. 2.
• "Massing the Navy in the Pacific," The National Tribune (Washington, DC), July 11, 1907, Page 1, Image 1, col. 1.
• "Eager to Sail," The Washington Herald (Washington, DC), December 15, 1907, Page 1, Image 1, col. 7.
• "Fleet Steams Southward as Cannons Fire Salute to Commander-in-Chief," The Washington Times (Washington, DC), Decmber 16, 1907, Page 1, Image 1, col. 3.
• "Wireless Phones make Battleship Fleet one Gigantic Chain," The Washington Times (Washington, DC), December 29, 1907, Page 3, image 35, col. 1.
• "Uncle Sam's Pacific Fleet," The Leavenworth Echo (Leavenworth, WA), January 3, 1908, Page 8, Image 8, col. 1.
• "Welcome Come In!," The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA), April 26, 1908, Page 1, Image 1, col. 1.
• "Japan Resumes Normal Tenor, Well Pleased," The Los Angeles Herald (Los Angeles, CA), October 26, 1908, Page 1, Image 1, col. 6.
• "Atlantic Fleet Weighs Anchor," The Winchester News (Wichester, KY), December 1, 1908, Page 1, Image 1, col. 6.
• "Battleship Fleet Starts on Last Lap of Famous Cruise," The Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) , February 7, 1909, Page 1, Image 1, col. 1.
• "Old Dominion Welcomes World-Circling Fleet on its Return to Virginia Waters," The Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA), February 22, 1909, Page 1, Image 1, col. 1.
• "The Greatest Cruise in History," The Citizen (Berea, KY), February 25, 1909, Page 3, Image 3, col. 1.
• "Around the World with the Fleet," The Los Angeles Herald (Los Angeles, CA), March 7, 1909, Pages 5-9, Image 39, col. 1.