Series 26. Lt. Robert William Henderson (1907-1908)
Scope and Content
The series consists of a scrapbook of materials collected during the American Fleet's 1907-1908 cruise to the Pacific by Lieutenant Robert William Henderson (1877-1921), who served as Admiral W. H. Emory's flag lieutenant (aide de camp) during part of the cruise. It includes invitations to balls, dinners, dances, and other social gatherings; passes for private clubs, events, and ship access; place cards, programs, menus, and dance cards; caricatures and uncaptioned photographs, including some of earthquake damage in Messina, Sicily.
Historical Note
The United States battle fleet's first ever global circumnavigation, involving some 14,000 sailors and stops in 20 international ports, departed Hampton Roads, Virginia, on December 16, 1907. The 16 battleships and escorts (nicknamed "The Great White Fleet") made stops in Trinidad and Cuba before sailing along South America's east coast, through the Straits of Magellan, and north up the west coast to rendezvous in Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The fleet arrived in San Francisco in May. From there it called at Honolulu, Hawaii; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, Australia; Manila; Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan; Amoy, China; Hong Kong; and reached Suez, Egypt, on January 3, 1909. In Italy, crew members offered aid to victims of a recent earthquake there. The fleet departed Italy January 9, 1909, making a stop in Gibraltar and arriving at Hampton Roads on February 22.