Rhode Island Picture Post Cards
1906 Undivided Back Postcard from Newport, RI
Receiving Ship USS Reina Mercedes at Newport (1905-1912)
(Scroll down for History and Background Information)

This Undivided Back Postcard, (issued from 1901 to 1907) was mailed from Newport, Rhode Island on June 12, 1906 to Mrs. Ellen Young in Matinicus, Maine. Matinicus is an island off the Coast of Maine, about 20 miles southeast of Rockland. 

Judging from the message on the face of the card, the young man who sent it was most likely a sailor serving at Newport.

The Reina Mercedes was an Alfonso XII Class Cruiser. She was originally commissioned in 1887. When the Spanish American War began, she was stationed at Santiago, Cuba. During the war, the Reina Mercedes acted as a guard ship in Santiago Harbor. She had been partially disarmed in order to provide guns for the coastal defense batteries. During the Naval Battle of July 3, 1898 she was scuttled to block the entrance to the harbor, but was later raised by the U. S. Navy after the war ended.

She was renamed the USS Reina Mercedes and converted to a barracks ship. It was initially planned to convert the cruiser to a seagoing training ship, however this plan was scrapped and she became a receiving ship at Newport, RI in May 1905. She remained there until 1912 after which, she served as the station ship for the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis until scrapped in 1957.

SEE ALSO: 1898 Registered Letter from Minor R. Jacobs, USS Vesuvius for further information
concerning the Battle of Santiago and the Spanish American War.

VIEW: Reina Mercedes as Originally Configured - 1890

The text of the message at the bottom of the postcard reads as follows: 

I am well and kicking have got 5 months to go.