Pennsylvania-class cruiser

	Color-tinted postcard of USS Pennsylvania, circa 1905–1908
Class overview
Name	Pennsylvania class
Builders	William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia; Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia; Union Iron Works, San Francisco;
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	USS Brooklyn (ACR-3)
Succeeded by	Tennessee class
Built	1901–1908
In commission	1905–1927
Completed	6
Active	0
Lost	1
Scrapped	5
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Armored cruiser
Displacement	13,680 long tons (13,900 t) (standard); 15,138 long tons (15,381 t) (full load);
Length	504 ft (153.6 m)
Beam	69 ft 6 in (21.2 m)
Draft	26 ft 1 in (7.95 m)
Installed power	16 × Niclausse boilers in Pennsylvania and Colorado); 23,000 kW) (design);
Propulsion	2 × vertical, inverted, triple-expansion engines; 2 × screws;
Speed	22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Complement	830
Armament	4 × 8 in (203 mm)/40 caliber Mark 5 guns (2 × 2); 14 × 6 in (152 mm)/50 cal Mark 6 guns; 18 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal rapid fire (RF) guns; 12 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) RF guns; 2 × saluting guns; 2 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes;
Armor	Belt: 6–5 in (152–127 mm); Turrets: 6.5 in (165 mm); Deck: 4 in (102 mm) slope, 1.5 in (38 mm) flat; Conning Tower: 9 in (229 mm);
General characteristics (1911)
Armament	4 × 8 in/45 cal Mark 6 guns (2 × 2), remainder of armament unchanged
General characteristics (1919)
Armament	4 × 8 in/45 caliber Mark 6 guns (2 × 2) ; 4 × 6 in/50 caliber Mark 6 guns; 10 × 3 in/50 caliber RF guns; 2 × 3 in/50 caliber anti-aircraft guns; All 3-pounder guns removed;

USS *South Dakota* with a cage foremast, circa 1911–1916

The Pennsylvania class of six armored cruisers served in the United States Navy from 1905 to 1927. All six were renamed for cities 1912–1920, to make the state names available for the new battleships beginning with the Pennsylvania-class battleships. All of these served during World War I, with California (then San Diego) being the only ship of the class to be lost. The remaining five armored cruisers were scrapped between 1930 and 1931 in accordance with the London Naval Treaty.

Design and construction

These ships were ordered in

dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers left the armored cruisers unable to successfully engage the newer capital ships.^[5]

Armament

These ships were originally armed with four

saluting guns and two 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes were also carried.^[1]

Armor

In the development of these ships Captain Sigsbee, formerly of the ill-fated Maine, successfully argued for adequate armor protection at the expense of speed.^[5] The belt armor was 6 in (152 mm) at the waterline with a 5 in (127 mm) upper belt, but was only 3.5 in (89 mm) at the ends. The turrets had up to 6.5 in (165 mm) on the faces. The protective deck had 4 in (102 mm) on the sloped sides and 1.5 in (38 mm) in the flat middle. The conning tower was 9 in (229 mm) thick.^[1]^[5]

Engineering

The engineering plant included 16 coal-fired

kW) for 22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph) as designed. On trials South Dakota achieved 22.24 kn (41.19 km/h; 25.59 mph) at 28,543 ihp (21,285 kW).^[5] The normal coal allowance was 900 tons, but this could be increased to 2,000 tons.^[1]

Refits

In 1909–1911 the ships' original 8-inch/40 caliber guns were replaced with four

Eugene Ely, who had performed the first takeoff from a ship on USS Birmingham (CL-2) two months earlier.^[1]^[5] From 1915 to the American entry into World War I in April 1917, Huntington and two Tennessee-class ships had catapults for seaplanes (which disabled the after turret) and carried up to four aircraft; Huntington could also tether an observation balloon, which was used during convoy escort duty in the war. However, by late 1917, the aircraft program was cancelled and the catapults removed.^[5]

During the US participation in

anti-aircraft guns were added.^[11] However, the official Ships' Data Book series indicates that by 1921 all of the 6-inch guns were remounted, only to be dismounted again by 1929.^[5]^[12]

By 1919 the 32 Niclausse boilers in Pittsburgh (ex-Pennsylvania) and Pueblo (ex-Colorado) were replaced by 20 Babcock & Wilcox boilers.[3] By 1921, Pueblo had 16 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, while Pittsburgh had 12 Babcock & Wilcox and eight "modified Niclausse" boilers.^[12] In 1922, Pittsburgh's forward funnel and the associated boilers were removed, leaving her with 12 Babcock & Wilcox boilers.^[1]

In 1922–1923 modernization of the eight survivors of these ships and the Tennessee class was considered but not implemented. Possible upgrades would be new boilers and engines for a speed of 25–27 kn (46–50 km/h; 29–31 mph), a more seaworthy bow, protection improvements, and new triple

8-inch/55 caliber gun turrets as in the Pensacola class.^[5]

Service

The Pennsylvanias spent the years prior to 1917 patrolling Latin America and the Western Pacific. Colorado landed troops in a 1912

receiving ship" in the early 1920s; however, Pittsburgh and Huron continued to operate for most or all of that decade. All were sold for scrap in 1930–1931 in compliance with the limits of the London Naval Treaty. Huron survived as a floating breakwater in Powell River, British Columbia until wrecked by a storm in 1961. Her wreck remains in place.^[14]

Ships in class

The six ships of the Pennsylvania class were:[4]

Ship	Hull no.	Shipyard	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Fate
Pennsylvania	ACR-4	William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia	7 August 1901	22 August 1903	9 March 1905	10 July 1931	Sold for scrap 21 December 1931
West Virginia	ACR-5	Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia	16 September 1901	18 April 1903	23 February 1905	1 September 1920	Sold for scrap 30 August 1930
California	ACR-6	Union Iron Works, San Francisco	7 May 1902	28 April 1904	1 August 1907		Mined or torpedoed by U-156 off Fire Island, NY, 19 July 1918,^[1] wreck remains in place
Colorado	ACR-7	William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia	25 April 1901	25 April 1903	19 January 1905	28 September 1927	Sold for scrap 2 October 1930
Maryland	ACR-8	Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia	29 October 1901	12 September 1903	18 April 1905	14 February 1922	Sold for scrap 11 February 1930
South Dakota	ACR-9	Union Iron Works, San Francisco	30 September 1902	21 July 1904	27 January 1908	17 June 1927	Sold for scrap 11 February 1930, used as floating breakwater in British Columbia until wrecked 18 February 1961, wreck remains in place^[14]

The Pennsylvania class was renamed 1912–1920 to free their names for new battleships; they were given the designation CA (armored cruiser) on 17 July 1920 with the USN's adoption of the hull-number system^[4]

Original Name	Commission Date	Renamed	Rename Date	Reclassed	Reclassed Date
Pennsylvania (ACR-4)	9 March 1905	Pittsburgh (ACR-4)	27 August 1912	Pittsburgh (CA-4)	17 July 1920
West Virginia (ACR-5)	23 February 1905	Huntington (ACR-5)	11 November 1916	Huntington (CA-5)	17 July 1920
California (ACR-6)	1 August 1907	San Diego (ACR-6)	1 September 1914	sunk before reclassified	N/A
Colorado (ACR-7)	19 January 1905	Pueblo (ACR-7)	9 September 1916	Pueblo (CA-7)	17 July 1920
Maryland (ACR-8)	18 April 1905	Frederick (ACR-8)	9 November 1916	Frederick (CA-8)	17 July 1920
South Dakota (ACR-9)	27 January 1908	Huron (ACR-9)	7 June 1920	Huron (CA-9)	17 July 1920

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Gardiner and Chesneau, p. 148
^ ^a ^b "Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1911". US Navy Department. 1912. pp. 28–35. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1919". US Navy Department. 1 November 1918. pp. 32–37. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bauer and Roberts, pp. 133–135
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Friedman, pp. 50–60, 467
^ ^a ^b DiGiulian, Tony, 8"/35 and 8"/40 USN guns at NavWeaps.com
^ ^a ^b DiGiulian, Tony, 8"/45 US Navy guns at NavWeaps.com
^ DiGiulian, Tony, 6"/50 Mark 6 and Mark 8 USN guns at NavWeaps.com
^ DiGiulian, Tony, early 3"/50 USN guns at NavWeaps.com
^ DiGiulian, Tony, 3-pounder USN guns at NavWeaps.com
^ DiGiulian, Tony, later 3"/50 USN guns at NavWeaps.com
^ ^a ^b "Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels". US Navy Department. 1 July 1921. pp. 46–53. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
^ "McGUNIGAL, PATRICK". Army of Medal of Honor website. 2009-08-03. Archived from the original on 2008-10-18. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
^ ^a ^b USS South Dakota page at Coast Artillery Corps Unit Histories in WWI

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Bibliography

ISBN 0-313-26202-0
.

ISBN 0-87021-718-6
.

Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books.
ISBN 0-8317-0302-4
.

External links

[Conways1-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Gardiner and Chesneau, p. 148

[ships11-2] "Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1911". US Navy Department. 1912. pp. 28–35. Retrieved 8 February 2016.

[ships19-3] "Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels, 1919". US Navy Department. 1 November 1918. pp. 32–37. Retrieved 10 February 2016.

[Register1-4] Bauer and Roberts, pp. 133–135

[Friedman1-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Friedman, pp. 50–60, 467

[NavWeaps1-6] DiGiulian, Tony, 8"/35 and 8"/40 USN guns at NavWeaps.com

[NavWeaps2-7] DiGiulian, Tony, 8"/45 US Navy guns at NavWeaps.com

[8] DiGiulian, Tony, 6"/50 Mark 6 and Mark 8 USN guns at NavWeaps.com

[9] DiGiulian, Tony, early 3"/50 USN guns at NavWeaps.com

[10] DiGiulian, Tony, 3-pounder USN guns at NavWeaps.com

[11] DiGiulian, Tony, later 3"/50 USN guns at NavWeaps.com

[ships21-12] "Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels". US Navy Department. 1 July 1921. pp. 46–53. Retrieved 10 February 2016.

[AMOHW-13] "McGUNIGAL, PATRICK". Army of Medal of Honor website. 2009-08-03. Archived from the original on 2008-10-18. Retrieved 2009-08-23.

[freepages.military.rootsweb.com-14] USS South Dakota page at Coast Artillery Corps Unit Histories in WWI

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v t e Pennsylvania-class cruisers
Pennsylvania / Pittsburgh West Virginia / Huntington California / San Diego Colorado / Pueblo Maryland / Frederick South Dakota / Huron
Preceded by: USS Brooklyn Followed by: Tennessee class
List of cruisers of the United States Navy

v t e United States naval ship classes of World War I
Dreadnought battleships	South Carolina Delaware Florida Wyoming New York Nevada Pennsylvania New Mexico Tennessee^C Colorado^C South Dakota^X
Pre-dreadnought battleships	Indiana Iowa^S Kearsarge Illinois Maine Virginia Connecticut
Battlecruisers	Lexington^X
Armored cruisers	New York^S Brooklyn^S Pennsylvania Tennessee
Protected cruisers	Chicago^S Baltimore^S San Francisco^S Olympia^S Cincinnati Columbia New Orleans Denver St. Louis
Scout cruisers	Chester
Unprotected cruisers	Montgomery
Destroyers	Bainbridge Truxtun Smith Paulding Cassin Aylwin O'Brien Tucker Sampson Caldwell Wickes Clemson^C
Submarines	Plunger B C D E F G H K L M-1^S AA-1 N O R
Auxiliaries	Boston^S Recruit^S
S Single ship of class C Completed after the war X Cancelled