David Glasgow Farragut, born at Campbell's Station, near Knoxville, Tenn., 5 July 1801, entered the Navy as a midshipman 17 December 1810. When only 12 years old, he was given command of a prize ship taken by Essex, and brought her safely to port. Through the years that followed, in one assignment after another he showed the high ability and devotion to duty which was to allow him in the Civil War to make an overwhelming contribution to victory and to write an immortal page in the history of not only the United States Navy but of military service of all times and nations. In command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, with his flag in Hartford he disproved the theory that forts ashore held superiority over naval forces, when in April 1862 he ran past Forts Jackson and St. Philip and the Chalmette batteries to take the great city and port of New Orleans (a decisive event in the war) and later that year passed the batteries defending Vicksburg. Port Hudson fell to him 9 July 1863, and on 5 August 1864 he won a great victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, passing through heavy minefields (the torpedoes of his famous quotation) as well as the opposition of heavy batteries in Forts Morgan and Gaines to defeat the squadron of Admiral Franklin Buchanan. His country honored its great sailor by creating for him the rank of Admiral, never before used in the United States Navy. Admiral Farragut's last active service was in command of the European Squadron with Franklin as his flagship, and he died at Portsmouth, N.H., 14 August 1870.

(TB-11: dp. 279; l. 214'; b. 20'8"; dr. 6'; s. 30 k.; cpl. 66; a. 2 18" tt., 4 6-pdr.; cl. Farragut)

Farragut (Torpedo Boat No. 11) was launched 16 July 1898 by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, Calif sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Ashe, Admiral Farragut's niece; and commissioned 5 June 1899, Lieutenant Commander R. F. Nicholson in command.

Farragut's first operations were between Mare Island and Sausalito in San Francisco Bay, and occasionally south to San Diego, in target and torpedo practice. She was decommissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard 4 September 1902; in commission in reserve from 8 October 1904; and restored to full commission 28 March 1908 for duty with the Pacific Torpedo Fleet.

She resumed her operations along the coast of California aside from 30 May to 10 June 1908, when she sailed to visit Portland Oreg. Farragut was placed in reserve 18 September 1909 and recommissioned 10 May 1911, again for service in the San Francisco area aside from a cruise to Bremerton, Wash., that summer. Once more, on 1 July 1912, she went into reserve, and then on 26 March 1914, into ordinary.

Between 12 January 1916 and 14 April 1917, Farragut was assigned to the San Pedro Division of the California Naval Militia as a training ship. Returning then to full commission, Farragut sailed for the Canal Zone 11 July 1917, and for the remainder of World War I, patrolled both the Atlantic and Pacific entrances to the Panama Canal, and carried troops and supplies in the Balboa area.

Renamed Coast Torpedo Boat No. 5 on 1 August 1918, she completed her service in the Canal Zone 30 December, and arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard 18 January 1919. There she was decommissioned 13 March 1919 and sold 9 September 1919.