The story of the U.S.S. "Yosemite" in 1898, compiled from available records by Joseph S. Stringham.

THE U. S. S. "YOSEMITE"

The Dean, a Sailor
By Granger Whitney, Seaman
The Dean one time was a sailor bold and sailed in the Caribbee;
He'd shiver his main connecting rod, when the wind was on the lee.
He sailed as chief from the foot of Brush on a Grand Trunk battleship
With a crew of dry-land sailormen, who'd joined him on the trip.
He stood in the seagoing engine's cab and merrily heaved the lead,
He winked a wunk at the engineer and this is what he said,
"Remember the 'Maine' and to hell with Spain and you need a little more
draft
"What I need is speed and a little more feed and a pipe and an awning aft."
He stood on the deck of the "Franklin" ship, in the Norfolk Navy Yard,
He lived on goose eggs, scouse and tea and said that life was hard.
The crew had gone across the bay where the liberty men got tight,
But they sailed away at the break of day on the tin-clad "Yosemite."
The force in the engine-room got sore, when they found they had no bread.
But the Chief said, "War is hell, my lads," and this he also said,
"Remember the 'Maine' and to hell with Spain and this prehistoric craft,
"What I need is speed and plenty of feed and a pipe and an awning aft."
We were dobbing along in our old tin can in the trades of the Caribbee,
When the man at the masthead hails the deck, "A ship in sight I see."
"Now, where away," says Captain Bill. "Three pints abaft the beam."
And the Captain told the Chief at once, to get up some more steam.
The Chief says, "Bill, my shipmate bold, a fight at sea I dread;
But if you fight, in this poor light, it's best you go ahead."
But "Remember the 'Maine' and to hell with Spain and this prehistoric
craft,
"What I need is speed and something to read and a pipe and an awning aft."
The Chief sat down in the engine-room with his hand upon the throttle,
He whispers low to the piston rod, "I wish it was a bottle;"
For the steam was low and the screw was slow and the tailshaft pit was foul,
While the lights went flickering up and down to the dynamos' spit and
growl.
He shifted his quid and swore an oath and gravely shook his head,
And shiver my blooming cylinder heads, but this is what he said,
"Remember the 'Maine' and to hell with Spain and this prehistoric craft,
"What I need is speed and plenty of feed and a pipe and an awning aft."
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