It was reported in the Chicago Marine Review that the torpedo boat Dahlgren (length 151 feet 4 inches overall, beam 16 feet 5 inches; draught 4 feet 8 inches) built by the Bath Ironworks, Bath, for the United States Government had maintained a speed of 29.76 knots with the engines operating at 300 revolutions per minute, and a pressure of 3 inches of water gauge, on a measured course in the Kennebec River off Georgetown on the 22nd of July 1899. The builders were confident that the Dahlgren would be able to exceed 31 knots on her official speed trial.