US Navy pre-dreadnaught Battleships: Connecticut class: USS Connecticut (BB-18), USS Louisiana (BB-19), USS Vermont (BB-20), USS Kansas (BB-21), USS Minnesota (BB-22), USS New Hampshire (BB-25)
(Naval Historical Centre Photo)
USS Connecticut (BB-18)
USS Connecticut (BB-18), the fourth United States Navy ship to be named after the state of Connecticut, was the lead ship of her class of six pre-dreadnought battleships. Her keel was laid on 10 March 1903; launched on 29 September 1904, Connecticut was commissioned on 29 September 1906, as the most advanced ship in the US Navy.
Connecticut served as the flagship for the Jamestown Exposition in mid-1907, which commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony. She later sailed with the Great White Fleet on a circumnavigation of the Earth to showcase the US Navy’s growing fleet of blue-water-capable ships. After completing her service with the Great White Fleet, Connecticut participated in several flag-waving exercises intended to protect American citizens abroad until she was pressed into service as a troop transport at the end of World War I to expedite the return of American Expeditionary Forces from France.
For the remainder of her career, Connecticut sailed to various places in both the Atlantic and Pacific while training newer recruits to the Navy. However, the provisions of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty stipulated that many of the older battleships, Connecticut among them, would have to be disposed of, so she was decommissioned on 1 March 1923, and sold for scrap on 1 November 1923. (Wikipedia)
(U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photo)
USS Connecticut (BB-18) running speed trials off the Maine coast, 1906. Note sailors crowding the rails, watching the photographer’s boat, which is about to be swamped by the battleship’s bow wave.
(N.R. Gardner Photo)
USS Connecticut (BB-18) in dry dock, Brooklyn Navy Shipyard Spring 1909. Connecticut was overhauled sometime after 8 March 1909; it was on this date that she “cleared Hampton Roads for the New York Naval Yard”. This image was presumably taken during that time in drydock.
(University of Washington Photo)
USS Connecticut (BB-18), 1908.
(Library of Congress Photo)
USS Connecticut (BB-18).
(U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photo)
USS Connecticut (BB-18), probably in San Diego harbor, California, in 1908.
(USN Photo)
USS Louisiana (BB-19)
USS Louisiana (BB-19) was a Connecticut-class battleship of the United States Navy. She was the second member of the class of six pre-dreadnought battleships, and the third ship to carry her name. Louisiana was laid down in February 1903, launched in August 1904, and commissioned in June 1906. She was a 16,000-long-ton (16,000 t) battleship capable of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Her main armament consisted of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns supported by a mixed secondary battery of 7 in (178 mm) and 8 in (203 mm) guns.
Louisiana primarily operated along the east coast of the United States and in the Caribbean during her career. In 1908–1909, she took part in the world cruise of the Great White Fleet. A pair of trips to European waters took place in 1910 and 1911. From 1913, she began to become involved in the Mexican Revolution, as the US Navy began to send ships to protect American interests in the country. This activity culminated in the US occupation of Veracruz in April 1914. During World War I, Louisiana was employed as a training ship before serving as a convoy escort in late 1918. After the war ended that year, she was used to ferry American soldiers back from France. With this work completed, she was decommissioned in October 1920 and broken up for scrap at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1923. (Wikipedia)
(Library of Congress Photo)
USS Louisiana (BB-19) off New York City during the Fleet Review, 3 October 1911.
(Library of Congress Photo)
USS Louisiana (BB-19), between 1900 and 1917.
(USN/NARA Photo)
Battleships USS Louisiana (BB-19) and USS New Hampshire (BB-25) dock at Hoboken, New Jersey. They are shown in their slip at Pier 4, upon arrival from overseas with troops of the 59th Regiment, Coast Artillery preparing to debark. The regiment was in action 68 days, but lost only two men killed in action.
(USN Photo)
USS Vermont (BB-20), 20 August 1907.
USS Vermont (BB-20), a Connecticut-class battleship, was the second ship of the United States Navy named after the 14th state. She was the third member of the class, which included five other ships. The Connecticut-class ships were armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and had a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Vermont was laid down in May 1904 at the Fore River shipyard and launched in August 1905. The ship entered service with the Atlantic Fleet in March 1907.
Shortly after she entered service, Vermont joined the Great White Fleet for its circumnavigation of the globe in 1908–1909. She took part in the international Hudson–Fulton Celebration in New York in 1909 and made trips to Europe in 1910 and 1913. Thereafter, the ship became involved in interventions in several Central American countries, including the United States occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution, where two of her crew earned the Medal of Honor. During the United States’ participation in World War I from April 1917 to November 1918, Vermont served as a training ship for engine room personnel. From November 1918 to June 1919, she made a series of trips to return American soldiers from Europe before being decommissioned in June 1920. She was sold for scrap in November 1923 according to the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. (Wikipedia)
(USN Photo)
USS Vermont (BB-20), 1908.
(USN Photo)
USS Vermont (BB-20) underway in heavy seas, ca 1907-1909, possibly during the cruise around the World of the Great White Fleet.
(USN Photo)
USS Vermont (BB-20) following her modernization in 1909.
(RWC Photo)
View of the Bow and 12″/45 guns, with sub-caliber rifles and gun sight training devices mounted on the front of the turret of USS Vermont (BB-20) during washday (white on port, darks on starboard ) during 1911.
(Université de Caen Normandie Photo)
USS Vermont (BB-20), 11 Nov 1913.
(USN Photo)
USS Vermont (BB-20), 1919-1920.
(Library of Congress Photo)
USS Vermont (BB-20).
(USN Photo)
USS Kansas (BB-21).
USS Kansas (BB-21) was a US Connecticut-class pre-dreadnought battleship, the fourth of six ships in the class. She was the second ship of the United States Navy named Kansas, but the only one named in honor of the state of Kansas.[a] The ship was launched in August 1905 and commissioned into the fleet in April 1907. Kansas was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and was capable of a top speed of 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph).
Shortly after she entered service, Kansas joined the Great White Fleet for its circumnavigation of the globe in 1908–1909. She made trips to Europe in 1910 and 1911 and after 1912, became involved in suppressing unrest in several Central American countries, including the United States occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Kansas was employed as a training ship for new personnel. In September 1918, she began escorting convoys to Europe. After the war ended in November, she then began a series of trips to France to bring American soldiers home.
The ship’s postwar career was short. She conducted training cruises for US Naval Academy cadets in 1920 and 1921, the first to the Pacific and the second to Europe. During this period she served briefly as the flagship of the 4th Battleship Division. After returning from the second cruise, Kansas was decommissioned and sold for scrap in August 1923 according to the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. (Wikipedia)
(USN Photo)
USS Kansas (BB-21), photographed soon after completion, circa 1907.
(USN Photo)
USS Kansas (BB-21) making 18.294 knots while running trials in 1906. Note that the ship’s 7-inch broadside guns have not yet been installed.
(USN Photo)
USS Kansas (BB-21).
(USN Photo)
The US battleship USS Kansas (BB-21) in Brest, France, 1919. USS New Hampshire (BB-25) (left) and USS Connecticut (BB-18) (right) are visible in the distance.
(USN Photo)
USS Kansas (BB-21) Underway in a harbor, circa 1912. Note the civilian sailboat off Kansas’ starboard side.
(Library of Congress Photo)
USS Kansas (BB-21), 1914.
(USN Photo)
USS Kansas (BB-21).
(USN Photo)
USS Minnesota (BB-22), 1907.
USS Minnesota (BB-22), the fifth of six Connecticut-class pre-dreadnought battleships, was the first ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 32nd state. She was laid down at the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia in October 1903, launched in April 1905, and commissioned into the US fleet in March 1907, just four months after the revolutionary British battleship HMS Dreadnought entered service. Minnesota was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and a secondary battery of twenty 7 and 8 in (178 and 203 mm) guns, unlike Dreadnought, which carried an all-big-gun armament that rendered ships like Minnesota obsolescent.
Shortly after she entered service, Minnesota joined the Great White Fleet for its circumnavigation of the globe in 1908–1909. The years from 1909 to 1912 were uneventful, but thereafter the ship began to become involved in conflicts in the Caribbean. She supported efforts to put down an insurrection in Cuba in 1912 and patrolled the coast of Mexico in 1913–1914 during the Mexican Revolution. In 1916, the ship was placed in reserve, though she quickly returned to service when the United States entered World War I in April 1917. During the war, she trained naval personnel; while cruising off the eastern coast of the United States in September 1918, she struck a naval mine laid by a German U-boat. The extensive damage required lengthy repairs that kept her out of service for the rest of the war. She helped to return American soldiers from Europe in 1919 before resuming her training ship duties in 1920–1921, before being decommissioned in December 1921 and broken up for scrap at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1924. (Wikipedia)
(USN Photo)
USS Minnesota (BB-22), June 1907.
(USN Photo)
USS Minnesota (BB-22), ca 1907-1908.
(USN Photo)
USS Minnesota (BB-22) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, ca 1919.
(USN Photo)
USS Minnesota (BB-22).
(USN Photo)
USS Minnesota (BB-22), Galveston, Texas, 1910-1917.
(USN Photo)
USS New Hampshire (BB-25), ca 1910
USS New Hampshire (hull number BB-25) was the sixth and final Connecticut-class pre-dreadnought battleship, the last vessel of that type built for the United States Navy. Like most contemporary battleships, she was armed with an offensive armament that consisted of four large-caliber 12-inch (305 mm) guns and several medium-caliber 7 and 8-inch (178 and 203 mm) guns. The ship was laid down in May 1905, launched in June 1906, and commissioned in March 1908, a little over a year after the revolutionary all-big-gun HMS Dreadnought rendered ships like New Hampshire obsolescent.
Despite being rapidly surpassed by new American dreadnoughts, New Hampshire had an active career. She made two trips to Europe in 1910 and 1911, and she sank the old battleship USS Texas, which had been converted into a target ship. New Hampshire was particularly active in the Caribbean during this period, as several countries, including Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico devolved into internal political conflicts. These actions included the United States occupation of Veracruz, during which the ship’s commander was awarded the Medal of Honor.
After the United States entered the First World War in April 1917, the ship was used primarily to train gunners and engine room personnel, as the US Navy had expanded significantly to combat the German U-boat campaign. She escorted convoys in late 1918, and after the war ended she took part in the effort to bring American soldiers back from France. New Hampshire remained in service for only a few years after the war, as the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty significantly reduced the navies of the signatories; as a result, the ship was sold for scrap in November 1923. (Wikipedia)
(Library of Congress Photo)
USS New Hampshire (BB-25).
(USN Photo)
USS New Hampshire (BB-25) firing a broadside on the target ship San Marcos, March 1911.
(USN Photo)
(USN Photo)
USS New Hampshire (BB-25) anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, 1911.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/25a.htm
(Harry Flowers Photo)
Crewmen wait on the forward deck of the Battleship USS New Hampshire (BB-25) between 1908 and 1910. This photo was taken before the installation of the cage masts. It gives some detail on how a Connecticut-class ship looked from the bow looking aft. with the forward 12″ gun turret on center line and 2 – 8″ gun turrets to the port and starboard on main deck and at least 10 – 3″ guns visible on the 01 and 02 levels above (known as the upper and bridge decks at the time ), the New Hampshire was Commissioned 19 March 1908, Decommissioned 21 May 1921 due terms of the Washington Naval Treaty and scraped in 1923
Standard type battleships: The so-called “Standard-type” was a series of battleships ordered between 1911 and 1916, and incorporating a number of new features including “all or nothing” armor. Twelve of these battleships were constructed across five classes, and were commissioned between 1916 and 1923. The older ships underwent major reconstructions during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Battleships USS Nevada (BB-36) to USS Kentucky (BB-66) are listed separately on this website.
The United States Navy began the construction of battleships with USS Texas in 1892, although its first ship to be designated as such was USS Indiana. USS Texas and USS Maine, commissioned three years later in 1895, were part of the New Navy program of the late 19th century, a proposal by then Secretary of the Navy William H. Hunt to match Europe’s navies that ignited a years-long debate that was suddenly settled in Hunt’s favour when the Brazilian Empire commissioned the battleship Riachuelo.
In 1890, Alfred Thayer Mahan’s book The Influence of Sea Power upon History was published and significantly influenced future naval policy—as an indirect result of its influence on Secretary Benjamin F. Tracy, the Navy Act of 30 June 1890 authorized the construction of “three sea-going, coast-line battle ships” which became the Indiana class.
The Navy Act of 19 July 1892 authorized construction of a fourth “sea-going, coast-line battle ship”, which became USS Iowa. Despite much later claims that these were to be purely defensive and were authorized as “coastal defense ships”, they were almost immediately used for offensive operations in the Spanish–American War. By the start of the 20th century, the United States Navy had in service or under construction the three Illinois-class and two Kearsarge-class battleships, making the United States the world’s fifth strongest power at sea from a nation that had been 12th in 1870.
Except for the USS Kearsarge, named by an act of Congress, all U.S. Navy battleships have been named for states, and each of the 48 contiguous states has had at least one battleship named for it except Montana; two battleships were authorized to be named Montana but both were cancelled before construction started. Alaska and Hawaii did not become states until 1959, after the end of battleship building, but the battlecruiser, or “Large Cruiser,” USS Alaska was built during the Second World War and her sister, USS Hawaii, was begun but never completed. The pre-dreadnoughts USS Zrinyi (formerly the Austrian SMS Zrínyi), USS Radetzky (formerly the Austrian SMS Radetzky), and the dreadnought USS Ostfriesland (formerly the German SMS Ostfriesland), taken as prizes of war after the First World War, were commissioned in the US Navy, but were not assigned hull classification symbols.
No American battleship has ever been lost at sea, though four were sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Of these, only USS Arizona (BB-39) and USS Oklahoma (BB-37) were permanently destroyed as a result of enemy action. Several other battleships have been sunk as targets, and USS Utah, demilitarized and converted into a target and training ship, was permanently destroyed at Pearl Harbor. The hulk of the USS Oklahoma was salvaged, but was lost at sea while being towed to the mainland for scrapping. Two American-built pre-dreadnought battleships, USS Mississippi (BB-23) and her sister USS Idaho (BB-24), were sunk in 1941 by German bombers during their Second World War invasion of Greece. The ships had been sold to Greece in 1914, becoming Kilkis and Lemnos respectively. (Wikipedia)
USS Maine and USS Texas were part of the “New Navy” program of the 1880s. Texas and BB-1 to BB-4 were authorized as “coast defense battleships”, but Maine was ordered as an armoured cruiser and was only re-rated as a “second class battleship” when she turned out too slow to be a cruiser. The next group, BB-5 Kearsarge through BB-25 New Hampshire, followed general global pre-dreadnought design characteristics and entered service between 1900 and 1909. The definitive American pre-dreadnought was the penultimate class of the type, the Connecticut class, sporting the usual four-gun array of 12-inch (305 mm) weapons, a very heavy intermediate and secondary battery, and a moderate tertiary battery. They were good sea boats and heavily armed and armoured for their type. The final American pre-dreadnought class, the Mississippi-class, were an experiment in increasing numbers with slower ships of limited range. The Navy soon rejected the concept and within 6 years of commissioning, sold these to Greece in 1914 to pay for a new super-dreadnought USS Idaho (BB-42).
The dreadnoughts, BB-26 South Carolina through BB-35 Texas, commissioned between 1910 and 1914, uniformly possessed twin turrets, introduced the superimposed turret arrangement that would later become standard on all battleships, and had relatively heavy armor and moderate speed (19–21 knots, 35–39 km/h, 22–24 mph). Five of the ten ships used the established vertical triple expansion (VTE) propulsion rather than faster direct-drive turbines, used by the British which had higher fuel consumption. The ships had 8 (South Carolina class), 10 (Delaware and Florida) or 12 (Wyoming class) 12-inch guns, or 10 (New York class) 14-inch (356 mm) guns. The dreadnoughts gave good service, the last two classes surviving through World War II before being scrapped. However, they had some faults that were never worked out, and the midships turrets in the ten and twelve-gun ships were located near boilers and high-pressure steam lines, a factor that made refrigeration very difficult and problematic in hot climates. One of their number, Texas (BB-35), is the last remaining American battleship of the pre–Second World War era and the only remaining dreadnought in the world.
Next came the twelve Standards, beginning with BB-36 Nevada, commissioned over the period 1914 to 1920. The last ship commissioned was BB-48 West Virginia (BB-49 through 54 were also Standards, but were never commissioned, and scrapped under the Washington Naval Treaty). Oklahoma (BB-37) was the last American battleship commissioned with triple expansion machinery; all the other Standards used either geared steam turbines (Nevada, the Pennsylvania class, Idaho and Mississippi) or turbo-electric propulsion (New Mexico, the Tennessee and Colorado classes). The Standards were a group of ships with four turrets, oil fuel, a 21-knot (39 km/h; 24 mph) top speed, a 700-yard (640 m) tactical diameter at top speed, and heavy armor distributed on the “All or Nothing” principle. Armament was fairly consistent, starting with ten 14-inch guns in the Nevada class, twelve in the Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Tennessee classes, and eight 16-inch (406 mm) guns in the Colorado class. (Wikipedia)
After the 1930s “builders holiday,” the USN commissioned ten more battleships of an entirely new style, the so-called fast battleship. These ships began with BB-55 North Carolina and the last ship laid down was BB-66 Kentucky (the last completed ship was BB-64 Wisconsin). These ships were a nearly clean break from previous American design practices. All ten ships were built to a Panamax design (technically post-Panamax, as they exceeded normal Panamax beam by two feet, but they were still able to transit the canal). They were fast battleships, and could travel with the aircraft carriers at cruising speed (their speed was not intended for that role, but rather so they could run down and destroy enemy battlecruisers). They possessed almost completely homogeneous main armament (nine 16-inch guns in each ship, the sole difference being an increase in length from 45 to 50 calibers with the Iowa-class vessels), very high speed relative to other American designs (28 knots, 52 km/h, 32 mph in the North Carolina and South Dakota classes, 33 knots, 61 km/h, 38 mph in the Iowa class), and moderate armor. The North Carolina class was of particular concern, as their protection was rated as only “adequate” against the 16-inch super-heavy shells. They had been designed with, and armored against, a battery of three quadruple 14-inch guns, then changed to triple 16-inch guns after the escalator clause in the Second London Naval Treaty had been triggered. Secondary armament in these ships was almost homogeneous as well: Except for South Dakota, configured as a flagship, the other nine ships of this group sported a uniform 20-gun 5-inch (127 mm) secondary battery (South Dakota deleted two 5-inch mounts to make room for flag facilities).
Visually, the Second World War ships are distinguished by their three-turret arrangement and the massive columnar mast that dominates the superstructure. The last ship, Wisconsin (BB-64), commissioned in 1944 (Wisconsin was approved last; however, Missouri (BB-63) was commissioned three months later, due to delays from additional aircraft carrier construction). Missouri (BB-63), famous for being the ship on which the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed, was the last battleship in the world to be decommissioned on 31 March 1992. Seven of these ten ships are still in existence. South Dakota, Washington and Indiana were scrapped, but the remainder are now museum ships. There was intended to be another class of five of these ships, the Montana class (BB-67 Montana through BB-71 Louisiana), but they were cancelled before being laid down in favor of a greater number of aircraft carriers. The Montana-class ships would have been built to a 60,000-ton post-Panamax design, and carried a greater number of guns (twelve 16-inch guns) and heavier armour than the other ships; otherwise they would have been homogeneous with the rest of the Second World War battleships. In October 2006, the last battleships, (USS Iowa and USS Wisconsin), were stricken from the Naval Registry. (Wikipedia)