USS Galveston (C-17/PG-31/CL-19) was a protected cruiser in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the first Navy ship named for the city of Galveston, Texas. Galveston was laid down 19 January 1901 by William R. Trigg Company, Richmond, Virginia; launched 23 July 1903; sponsored by Miss Ella Sealey; and commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, 15 February 1905. Service history 1905–1918 Galveston departed Norfolk on 10 April 1905 for Galveston, Texas, where on 19 April she was presented a silver service by citizens of her namesake city. Returning to the East Coast 3 May, she departed New York 18 June for Cherbourg, France, where she arrived 30 June and took part in the ceremonies commemorating the return of the remains of John Paul Jones to the U.S. Naval Academy, reaching Annapolis on 22 July. She next joined and as one of the host ships for the Russo-Japanese Peace Conference (4–8 August) serving at Oyster Bay, New York; Newport, Rhode Island, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. From 13 August to 11 September 1905 the cruiser had special duty with Minister Plenipotentiary Hollander's State Department cruise from Norfolk to the West Indies ports of Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince, followed by preparations for foreign service at Norfolk and New York. Galveston departed Tompkinsville, New York, on 28 December 1905 for service in the Mediterranean with the European Squadron until 28 March 1906 when she set course from Port Said to join the fleet at Cavite in the Philippines for service on the Asiatic Station. She was a part of the fleet reception for Secretary of War William H. Taft at Manila on 13 October 1906 and served in his honor escort to Vladivostok, Siberia, the next month. Galveston spent the following years in cruises among ports of the Philippines, China and Japan. She arrived in San Francisco, California, from the Philippines on 17 February 1910; was decommissioned in the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 21 February; and recommissioned there on 29 June 1912 for service that included a training cruise to Alaska. She left the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 19 September 1913, touching San Francisco, Hawaii and Guam on her way to Cavite, where she joined the Asiatic Fleet on 2 November. Galvestons tour on the Asiatic Station was largely taken up with convoy service for supply ships and troop transports shuttling Marines and other garrison forces and stores between the