San Francisco (Cruiser No. 5 : 1888)

The first San Francisco, a steel protected cruiser, was laid down on 14 August 1888, at San Francisco, Calif., by the Union Iron Works; launched on 26 October 1889; sponsored by Miss Edith W. Benham, daughter of Commodore Andrew E. K. Benham, Commandant, Mare Island (Calif.) Navy Yard; and commissioned on 15 November 1890, Capt. William T. Sampson in command.

Assigned to the South Pacific Squadron, San Francisco moved south and became the squadron's flagship on 31 March 1891. Five months later, as an eight-month-old civil war drew to a close in Chile, she landed a force of sailors and marines on 28 August to protect the U.S. Consulate at Valparaiso. September brought an end to the war, and San Francisco resumed her cruising off the South American coast. With the New Year 1892, she sailed north and west and arrived at Honolulu on 27 February as political differences deepened between monarchists and republicans. Through the spring, friction increased, and San Francisco, with others of the unofficial international "police force," deterred extreme action. The unrest, complicated by diplomatic maneuvering, continued through the year and was climaxed by the January 1893 revolution. San Francisco, having departed Hawaii, in August 1892, was then en route to Norfolk, where she arrived in February 1893.

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