Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1909 — WILL BE OUR FASTEST SHIP [ARTICLE]

WILL BE OUR FASTEST SHIP

Torpedo Boat Destroyer Smith, Named For Civil War Hero,, Is Launched. Philadelphia, April 20.—A little vessel, which will be, when she is completed, the fastest ship in the United States navy, was launched here today. She is the torpedo boat destroyer Smith; the first of a new type. She is expected to have greater speed and a wider steaming radius than any other destroyer on the naval list. The Smith is named after Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith, who was in command of the warship Congress when that vessel was sunk in Hampton Roads by the Confederate Ironclad Virginia, March 8, 1862. Lieutenant Smith was killed in the action. Mrs. Edward B. Richardson of Brookline, Mass., a relative of Lieutenant Smith, acted as sponsor at the naming of the little vessel when she slid off the ways.