USS Villalobos

USS Villalobos (PG-42) was a steel screw gunboat originally built for the Spanish Navy as Villalobos but captured by the United States Army in 1898 during the Spanish–American War and commissioned into the United States Navy in 1900. The ship spent almost all of her life as an American gunboat in the Yangtze Patrol on the Yangtze River.

The ship was constructed in Hong Kong for the Spanish Navy. After completion in July 1896 she was based at Cavite, Philippine Islands, at the time of the Spanish–American War and the following Philippine–American War.

Captured by the United States Army along with near-sisters General Alava and Quiros, Villalobos was transferred to the United States Navy on 21 February 1900 and commissioned at Cavite on 5 March 1900 as Villalobos (Gunboat No. 42). The ship was reclassified as Villalobos (PG-42) on 17 July 1920.

Departing Cavite on 13 March, Villalobos patrolled off the coast from Cape Santiago to Point Cueva, Buriad Island, maintaining a communication link with the marines guarding lighthouses at Santiago and Malabrigo and looking for traffic supplying the Philippine insurgents. Before the ship returned to her home port on the 26th, she had destroyed seven bancas (small native boats) with cargo worth $935.00 and also seized a brigantine, a schooner, and a banca which had all been engaged in smuggling.

After a brief rest at Cavite from 26 March to 1 April, Villalobos patrolled the coastline between Niac and Laguimanoc and cooperated with an Army detachment from Taal in seizing three bancas in the barrio of Hanahana and 11 at the barrio of San Luiz, towing them to Taal for not having licenses. The gunboat also seized a sloop and a banca with two Americans on board and arrested them for cruising without proper identification and papers. Her third patrol from Cavite, commencing on 14 April, saw the ship transporting stores to the guards at Cape Santiago, Cape Malabrigo, and Cabra Island lighthouses before resuming routine communication duties with Army detachments at Batangas, Lucena, and Laguimanoc.

Her fourth patrol from Cavite found her returning to the vicinity of Laguimanoc, along the southwest coast of Luzon. She cooperated with USS Indiana and USS Helena in supporting the 29th Army Division in securing Marinduque Island. The gunboat then carried dispatches from Marinduque to Batangas before returning with emergency rations for the troops. Furnishing supplies to the lighthouse keepers again occupied the ship before she returned to commerce-watching duties during which she seized three bancas for cruising without licenses. The ship also communicated with Army posts at Taal, Batangas, Laguimanoc, Buac, Santa Cruz, and visited Gazan.

She returned to Cavite on 10 May for a ten-day respite. Underway again on the 20th, she headed for the familiar region of the southwest coast of Luzon to resume her watch on local banca traffic and to serve as a communication link for Army posts with the "outside world." Villalobos seized three more bancas for operating without licenses and one for having insurgent papers on board, establishing a link between the last boat owner and forces then fighting the new American occupiers.

Army-cooperation duties included supporting the Army's landing detachments including the 30th Infantry at Bana Layley, and the 38th and 29th Infantry at Santa Cruz and Marlango. She then steamed back to Buac before supporting operations of the 30th Infantry at Unisan. During the land operations of the 28th Infantry, Villalobos blockaded Maricabau Strait and subsequently served on blockade duty off Nasugbu at the request of the American military governor there before carrying dispatches to Buac.