In March 1907, Ensign William F. Halsey reported to the Navy’s newest battleship, the USS Kansas (BB-21), then nearing completion at the New York Shipbuilding Company. After her commissioning and shakedown cruise, on 16 December the Kansas joined a column of 18 battleships at Hampton Roads, Virginia, to pass in review before President Theodore Roosevelt, embarked in the presidential yacht Mayflower.
As the column steamed by, Roosevelt was heard to say it was a “magnificent fleet,” and indeed it was. Their hulls were painted a brilliant white, symbolizing the peaceful nature of their upcoming mission and earning them the sobriquet “Great White Fleet.” With their buff-colored superstructures, teak decks, and gilded scrollwork, they might have passed for yachts of the very rich were it not for their heavy-caliber guns.
The ceremony marked the beginning of what would become a 15-month circumnavigation of the globe, covering more than 40,000 miles and 40 ports of call on six continents. There were several reasons for Roosevelt’s decision to send this impressive force to foreign shores.
Recognizing the power projection capabilities of naval forces, Roosevelt believed showing the U.S. Navy to the world was in keeping with his philosophy “speak softly and carry a big stick.” The cruise also would test the ships’ seakeeping on long voyages and confront the logistical challenges faced by the coal-burning behemoths.
But perhaps the most important reason was the growing power of the Imperial Japanese Navy and recent events that had strained relations between the two nations. By sending this powerful fleet to Japanese waters on a peaceful mission, Roosevelt hoped the Japanese would be reassured diplomatically while also noting the fleet’s many big guns.
Ensign Halsey was one of 14,500 sailors making the cruise, and he and his shipmates enjoyed numerous port visits. After circumnavigating South America and stops in Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and the Philippines, the fleet arrived in Japan.
As hoped, public reports of the visit were favorable. Tokyo’s Asahi Shimbun declared the Japanese people felt a special friendship with the “open-hearted, kind Americans,” and the newspaper Jiji Shimpo reported that the U.S. sailors appreciated “the goodwill of the Japanese people.” But Bill Halsey felt otherwise. In his autobiography decades later he wrote, “Despite the entertainments . . . I felt [the Japanese] meant none of their welcome, that they actually disliked us.”
Among the various celebratory events was a reception on board the famed Japanese battleship Mikasa attended by many dignitaries, including U.S. Ambassador Thomas O’Brien; Rear Admiral Charles Sperry, commander of the American fleet; and Admiral Heihachirō Tōgō, hero of the Russo-Japanese War. Also included were a few American junior officers, including Ensign Halsey, who remembered:
When the party reached its climax, our hosts insisted on paying their highest compliment to Mr. O’Brien and Rear Adm. Sperry. . . . We were alarmed when [the Japanese] laid hands on them . . . but all they got was three gentle tosses accompanied by banzais. Naturally, we had to return the compliment to Admiral Tōgō. We were big, and he was a shrimp, so instead of tossing him gently, we gave him three real heaves. If we had known what the future held, we wouldn’t have caught him after the third one.
When the fleet completed its tour on 22 February 1909, its peaceful intentions had been achieved, along with the less sanguine ones. Halsey recalled it as
a success by every standard. Navally, it brought the fleet to the peak of perfection. Nationally, it increased the prestige of the United States in every country where we showed our flag. And diplomatically, it is not inconceivable that our appearance in Japanese waters at this time prevented a war, or at least postponed it.
Years later, Halsey would again visit the Mikasa:
The next time I stepped on board the Mikasa, history had made some radical changes: she was no longer afloat but was reverently preserved in concrete at the Yokosuka Naval Base, near Tokyo; and I, I was the commander of a conquering fleet.
