The USS Somers (Torpedo Boat No. 22/TB-22/Coast Torpedo Boat No. 9) was a steel torpedo boat built in Germany by Friedrich Schichau in Elbing, launched in 1897 as yard No. 450. Designed as a private speculation, she was purchased by the U.S. Navy on 25 March 1898, shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. The vessel was commissioned on 28 March 1898 and was named Somers the following day. Constructed with steel hull construction, the Somers was an early torpedo boat intended for coastal defense and naval tactics of the era. Upon purchase, she sailed to England on 30 March 1898, manned by a German contract crew, with intentions to cross the Atlantic escorted by the gunboat Topeka. However, due to safety concerns voiced by the British crew, her initial attempts to sail were unsuccessful, and she was laid up at Falmouth until the end of the Spanish-American War. After arriving in New York aboard SS Manhattan on 2 May 1899, Somers remained at the New York Navy Yard until October 1900. She then moved to League Island, Pennsylvania, and was decommissioned there. Subsequently, she was assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Norfolk Navy Yard, where she served from 1901 to 1909. Beginning in 1909, she was loaned to the Maryland Naval Militia for periodic training cruises from Baltimore, continuing this role until 1914. Recommissioned in August 1914, she was transferred to the Illinois Naval Militia and decommissioned in October 1914 for transfer to Illinois, where she was renamed and redesignated Coast Torpedo Boat No. 9 to free the name Somers for a future destroyer. She served as a training vessel during World War I and was returned to Navy custody after the war. The vessel was decommissioned for the final time on 22 March 1919, struck from the Naval Vessel Register in October 1919, and sold for scrapping in July 1920. The USS Somers played a notable role as an early steel torpedo boat during a transitional period in naval warfare, serving primarily in training and reserve capacities over her career.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.