USS Chicago (1885)

USS Chicago in 1891
History
United States
Name	Chicago (1885–1928) Alton (1928–1936)
Namesake	City of Chicago, Illinois City of Alton, Illinois
Ordered	3 March 1883
Awarded	26 July 1883
Builder	Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania
Cost	$889,000 (contract price of hull and machinery)
Laid down	29 December 1883
Launched	5 December 1885
Sponsored by	Edith Cleborne
Commissioned	17 April 1889
Decommissioned	30 September 1923
Renamed	Alton 16 July 1928 and reclassified IX-5
Reclassified	CA-14, 17 July 1920 CL-14, 8 August 1921 IX-5, 16 June 1928
Identification	Hull symbol:CA-14 Hull symbol:CL-14 Hull symbol:IX-5
Fate	sold 15 May 1936, Foundered under tow 8 July 1936
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Protected cruiser
Displacement	4,500 long tons (4,572 t)
Length	342 ft 2 in (104.29 m) oa 325 ft (99 m) pp
Beam	48 ft 3 in (14.71 m)
Draft	19 ft (5.8 m)
Installed power	14 × 100 psi (690 kPa) coal-fired boilers
Propulsion	2 × compound overhead beam steam engines 5,084  kW ) 2 × screws
Sail plan	Schooner
Speed	14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Capacity	830 short tons (750 t) of coal
Complement	45 officers and 356 enlisted men
Armament	4 × 8-inch (200 mm)/30 caliber Mark 2 guns (4x1) 8 × 6-inch (150 mm)/30 caliber Mark 2 guns (8x1) 2 × 5-inch (130 mm)/31 caliber Mark 1 guns (2x1) 2 × 6-pounder 57 mm (2.24 in) guns 4 × 3-pounder 47 mm (1.85 in) guns 2 × 1-pounder 37 mm (1.46 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon 2 × .45 caliber (11.4 mm) Gatling guns
Armor	Gun shields: 4 in (100 mm) Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) Conning tower: 3 in (76 mm)
General characteristics (1895 & 1902 rebuild)
Displacement	5,000 long tons (5,080 t)
Installed power	2 × Triple expansion engines 9,000  kW )
Propulsion	6 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 4 × Single ended boilers 2 × screws
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (Speed on Trial)
Armament	4 × 8 in (200 mm)/35 caliber Mark 4 guns (4x1) 14 × 5 in (130 mm)/40 caliber Mark 3 guns (2x1)

The first USS Chicago (later CA-14) was a protected cruiser of the United States Navy, the largest of the original three authorized by Congress for the "New Navy" and one of the U.S. Navy's first four steel ships.

She was launched on 5 December 1885 by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of Chester, Pennsylvania, sponsored by Edith Cleborne (daughter of Navy Medical Director Cuthbert J. Cleborne) and commissioned on 17 April 1889.

Design and construction

Chicago was ordered as part of the "ABCD" ships, the others being the cruisers

She had 4 in (100 mm) of armor on her gun shields, 1.5 in (38 mm) on her deck, and 3 in (76 mm) on her conning tower.^[5]

Rebuilds and refits

In 1895–99 Chicago was refitted at the

On 7 December 1889, Chicago departed Boston for Lisbon, Portugal, arriving on 21 December. The cruiser served in European and Mediterranean waters as the flagship of the Squadron of Evolution until 31 May 1890, when she sailed from Funchal, Madeira to call at Brazilian and West Indian ports before returning to New York on 29 July.

Chicago operated along the east coasts of North and

Alton was sold on 15 May 1936. She foundered in mid-Pacific on 8 July 1936 while being towed from Honolulu to San Francisco for delivery to her buyers.[12]

Gallery

• 
  Officers of USS Chicago, photographed on her deck ca. 1903.
• 
  Chicago as barracks ship USS Alton (IX-5) at Pearl Harbor, 1926.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

Library resources about
USS Chicago (1885)

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• Resources in your library
• Resources in other libraries

Bibliography

• Rentfrow, James C. Home Squadron: The U.S. Navy on the North Atlantic Station. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2014.
  OCLC 865711810
• Spears, John Randolph. A History of the United States Navy. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1908.
  OCLC 3467048
• Taylor, Michael J.H. (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. Studio.
  ISBN 1-85170-378-0
  .
• The White Squadron.
  OCLC 45112425

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Chicago (ship, 1885).

• Photo gallery of USS CHICAGO (Protected Cruiser) at NavSource.org
• Navy photograph of Chicago
• Additional Chicago info
• Journal of the Cruise of U.S.S. Chicago, 1893–1895 MS 408 held by Special Collection & Archives Archived 18 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Nimitz Library Archived 18 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine at the United States Naval Academy Archived 6 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine