Manileno

The Spanish name for an inhabitant of Manila, capital of Luzon and all the Philippine Islands. The first retained her former name.

I

(Gbt: dp. 142; 1. 105'; b. 18'; dr. 5'10"; a. 6.5 k.; cpl. 27; a. 1 6-pdr., 2 37mm., I Colt, 2 Gatling guns.)

The first Manileno, an unarmored gunboat, was laid down in 1885 by Hongkong & Whampoa Dock Co., Hong Kong, British Crown Colony completed in 1887; purchased by the War Department from the Filipinos who captured it from Spain in 1899; acquired by the Navy the same year; and commissioned at Manila 26 May 1899, Ens. Charles F. Preston in command.

Departing for the southern Philippines shortly after commissioning, Manileno patrolled the waters off Panay, Negros, and Cebu. She returned to Manila 27 October 1899, and underwent complete overhaul at Cavite Navy Yard until sailing for Zamboanga, Mindanao, in January 1900. For the next 9 months, the gunboat cruised in the Mindanao Sea. Based at Zamboanga, she patrolled the coast, served as a messenger vessel, and carried troops and supplies in support of Army units engaged in suppressing the insurrection in Mindanao, Basilan, and the Sulu Archipelago. Manileno returned to Manila in October 1900, and decommissioned at Cavite on the 31st. She remained at that yard until struck from the Navy list 11 February 1905 and sold 8 June 1906.