Great White Fleet Sails–December 16, 1907

On December 16, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt assembled the entire class of sixteen American battleships in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and launched them on a training cruise around the world. Labeled the "Great White Fleet," in reference to the ships' new coat of white paint, the fleet visited Japan and China, passed through the Suez Canal, and called at several Mediterranean ports. Roosevelt scheduled the fleet to return to Hampton Roads on February 22, 1909, ten days before he left office. The President intended the voyage to be the glorious capstone to his administration's accomplishments.

As President, Roosevelt had built the U.S. Navy into one of the largest in the world, by convincing Congress to add battleships to the fleet and increase the number of enlisted men. He had many reasons for sending the fleet on a worldwide tour. Roosevelt wanted to allow the Navy to gain the experience of an international tour and to draw attention to his naval program. He hoped the impressive show of naval strength and prowess would rally congressional support. He also wanted to impress other countries around the world with U.S. naval power. American relations with Japan had soured greatly in 1906 after the San Francisco public school board voted to segregate Japanese immigrant children; at the same time, Californian politicians lobbied for Washington to restrict Japanese entry into the country. Roosevelt hoped the Great White Fleet's arrival in Japan would signify his desire for continued friendly relations, and yet he also sought to remind the Japanese of America's ascendant naval might. Japanese crowds cheered the fleet upon its arrival in Tokyo Harbor.

The Great White Fleet also announced to the world the growing global reach of American military power, especially its new and modern navy. In this way, Roosevelt used the fleet to represent what he saw as America's arrival as a great nation on the world stage. A devotee of naval theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan, who equated international power with naval might, Roosevelt supported new battleship construction, the modernization of ship armaments, and the adoption of new marksmanship techniques. In doing so, he greatly expanded the reach of American power-a process his predecessor, President William McKinley, began in earnest.

For more information, please visit the Theodore Roosevelt home page or go to more Events in Presidential History.