USS Newport, a 1153-ton Annapolis class gunboat, was built at Bath, Maine. Commissioned in October 1897, her first assignment was to the Caribbean area, where she was active through the Spanish-American War. Her subsequent Navy service was as a training ship for the Naval Academy, Naval Militia and the New York Public Marine School. Redesignated IX-19 in 1921, Newport was stricken from the Navy List in October 1931. She was turned over to the city of Aberdeen, Washington, in 1934 for further use as a training ship.