USS Iowa (BB-4)
Iowa early in her career
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Iowa |
Namesake | State of Iowa |
Builder | William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia |
Laid down | 5 August 1893 |
Launched | 28 March 1896 |
Commissioned | 16 June 1897 |
Decommissioned | 30 June 1908 |
Recommissioned | 2 May 1910 |
Decommissioned | 23 May 1914 |
Recommissioned | 23 April 1917 |
Decommissioned | 31 March 1919 |
Stricken | 27 March 1923 |
Fate | Sunk as a target ship, 23 March 1923 |
Class overview | |
Preceded by | Indiana class |
Succeeded by | Kearsarge class |
General characteristics | |
Type | Pre-dreadnought battleship |
Displacement |
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Length |
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Beam | 72 ft 3 in (22.02 m) |
Draft | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Range | 5,140 nmi (9,520 km; 5,920 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Armor |
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USS Iowa was a
Upon entering service in June 1897, Iowa conducted training operations in the Atlantic Ocean before moving to the Caribbean in early 1898 as tensions between the United States and Spain over Cuba grew, leading to the
Iowa was modernized between 1908 and 1910; she thereafter served as a
Design
In the early 1880s, the
The Board concluded that the distance between Europe and North America would hamper European naval attacks, but the power of the British Royal Navy and the possibility of future political developments warranted the construction of a powerful American battle fleet. The Policy Board issued a call for a fleet that would consist of eight first-class battleships, ten slightly smaller second-class battleships, and five third-class ships, along with substantial numbers of lesser craft to support them. The fleet would be tasked with defending the East Coast of the United States, which required an operational range that could cover as far south as the Caribbean Sea, as the Board had determined that any hostile power would need to seize advance bases there to effectively operate against the United States. The three vessels already authorized—Maine, Texas, and what became the armored cruiser New York fit in the third category, so larger and more powerful vessels would have to be built to meet the Board's recommendations.[2]
Congress, dismayed by the Board's conclusions, nevertheless approved funding for three of the first-class battleships in April 1890, which became the Indiana-class battleships. These were low-freeboard vessels intended for local, coastal defense. They were badly overweight when completed, and as a result suffered from serious problems, including belt armor that was fully submerged when the ships were fully loaded, a tendency to ship excessive amounts of water, and poor handling characteristics. Changes in the control of Congress in late 1890 led to delays for the next ship to be authorized until 19 July 1892, when funds were allocated for a "seagoing coastline battleship". The vessel was to be built with a displacement of around 9,000 long tons (9,100 t).[3]
The Policy Board had intended in its original plan that the seagoing ship would trade armor for greater range, but the
General characteristics and machinery
Iowa had a
Her hull featured a
The ship was powered by a pair of 3-cylinder, vertical
Armament
Iowa was armed with a main battery of four
The primary armament was supported by a
Six
As was standard practice for capital ships of the era, Iowa carried four above-water, 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes in her hull, two on each broadside. These launched the Howell torpedo,[5][7] which had a range of 400 yards (370 m) and traveled at a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph). They carried a 400 lb (180 kg) warhead.[12]
Armor
Iowa was protected with Harvey armor, which was fabricated with a new type of process that produced steel that was significantly stronger than traditional compound armor. The main
Iowa's main battery turrets were protected with 15 in (381 mm) on the sides and 2 in thick crowns; the rears of the turrets were 17 in (432 mm) thick, with the greater weight being used to balance the turret. Their barbettes were also 15 in thick on the exposed sides and reduced to 12.5 in (318 mm) where it was protected by the belt. The secondary turrets had 8 in on the outboard sides and 6 in (152 mm) on the inboard sides, where they were less vulnerable. They also had 2-inch roofs. Their barbettes were 8 in thick. Her conning tower had 10 in (254 mm) thick sides.[6][7]
Service history
The
She made one last port call, in
Spanish–American War
On 22 April,
The Americans searched the harbor at Puerto Rico on 12 May, but found no Spanish warships, and so bombarded the port, focusing their fire on Castillo San Felipe del Morro, an old coastal fortress. Iowa led the American line of battle on several passes in front of the fort, and she was struck once by a Spanish shell that wounded three men and inflicted minor splinter damage to the ship. During her last 12-inch salvo, one of her forward guns inflicted blast damage to the deck and parts of the superstructure. One man was killed aboard Brooklyn and three more were wounded aboard other vessels, but none of the ships was seriously damaged by Spanish fire; American shelling was equally ineffective. Assuming that Cervera was headed for Havana, Sampson took his squadron there, but while en route he learned that the Spanish had been coaling in Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies. Sampson instead decided to take his ships back to Key West, arriving there on 18 May, while Cervera reached Santiago de Cuba the following day. Sampson detached Iowa to reinforce the Flying Squadron under Commodore Winfield Scott Schley, which was conducting the blockade of Cuba. She joined the squadron off Cienfuegos on 22 May.[12]
The Flying Squadron, which by then consisted of Iowa, Texas, the battleship
The next day, Sampson arrived on the scene and boarded New York to take command of the blockade. The approach to Santiago de Cuba was guarded by coastal artillery and mines, which prevented Sampson's ships from breaking into the inner harbor without taking serious damage. But the American squadron was too powerful for the Spanish to attempt to break out. Both sides spent the next month in the resulting stalemate; the Americans preferred to wait until ground forces could attack the port from the land side and seize the coastal batteries. During this period, Iowa withdrew to Guantánamo Bay from 18 to 28 June, which had been seized by American forces by that time. She returned to bombard the coastal fortifications on 1 and 2 July in company with Indiana and the battleship Oregon. By early July, American troops were beginning to approach the hills outside Santiago de Cuba, threatening the coastal batteries that protected Cervera's ships, and prompting the Spanish command to order him to attempt a break out. Cervera did not believe he possessed a significant chance of success, as his ships were in poor condition by that time and most of his ships' crews were poorly trained. He nevertheless complied with the directive and sent a gunboat to surreptitiously clear a path in the minefield on the night of 2 July.[12]
Battle of Santiago de Cuba
At 08:45 on 3 July, Cervera sortied with his flag aboard the cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa, followed by Cristóbal Colón, Vizcaya and Almirante Oquendo and the destroyers Plutón and Furor. Iowa was in her blockade station, steaming at about 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) when her men were called from their quarters for the morning inspection at 09:15. The Spaniards cleared the roadstead at 09:35; luckily for the Spanish, New York was out of position at the time and Massachusetts was replenishing her coal at Guantánamo Bay. Toward the end of inspection aboard Iowa, lookouts aboard Brooklyn spotted Cervera approaching and fired one of her guns to warn the other American ships, which quickly ordered their crews to general quarters. As the Spanish ships attempted to break out to the west, Cervera charged at Brooklyn with Infanta Maria Teresa to delay the American pursuit and give his other ships time to escape. The Spanish coastal batteries also contributed their fire in the first stage of the battle but had little effect.[12]
Iowa, Brooklyn, and Texas opened fire at about 09:40 at a range of about 6,000 yards (5,500 m). Iowa quickly got steam in her boilers up to increase speed to close with the fleeing cruisers; the range fell steadily until she was just 2,500 yards (2,300 m) away from Infanta Maria Theresa. Iowa fired a broadside at the cruiser and then turned to port to
By this point in the battle, heavy American gunfire had set Infanta Maria Theresa on fire, and, fearing a magazine explosion, Cervara ordered her run aground at 10:25. Almirante Oquendo's captain issued similar instructions five minutes later, as his ship, too, was burning badly. Vizcaya was also forced ashore shortly thereafter, but her flag remained flying, so Iowa continued to bombard the vessel until she hauled it down at 10:36, a sign of surrender. Meanwhile, the two Spanish destroyers had also been badly damaged by the American battleships; Indiana had nearly cut Plutón in half with a 13-inch shell, forcing her to run aground, where she exploded. And Furor had been savaged by Iowa's, Oregon's, and Indiana's secondary batteries, leading her crew to surrender to the gunboat Gloucester. Cristóbal Colón managed to break away from the American fleet for a time, but she also ran aground later in the day.[12]
At around 11:00, Iowa lowered five of her cutters to pick up the crews of the wrecked cruisers. Among the men rescued was Captain Antonio Eulate, Vizcaya's commander; he attempted to surrender his sword to Evans, but he returned it to Eulate. In total, Iowa picked up 23 officers and 248 enlisted men, of whom 32 were wounded. Her crew also recovered the bodies of five men who were then buried with military honors. In addition, Iowa's boats also transferred men to other vessels in the American fleet. On 20 July, four days after the Spanish garrison at Santiago de Cuba surrendered, Iowa suffered a boiler accident while she was patrolling off the city. The manhole gasket on one of her boilers blew out, sending boiling water out into the boiler room. The crew set a board across a bucket and Fireman 2nd Class Robert Penn climbed across to shut off the boiler, risking being badly burned, and he was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.[12]
1898–1904
Iowa left Cuban waters after Spain surrendered in August, arriving in New York on 20 August. Captain
In early February 1902, she was transferred to the
On 23 December, Iowa was recommissioned and underwent a refit that included replacing the 4-inch guns on her aft superstructure with a pair of 6-pounder guns in early January 1904. She then joined the North Atlantic Squadron, which was then in European waters. She visited
1905–1908
After emerging from dry dock, Iowa rejoined the fleet on 3 January 1905 at Hampton Roads and Captain Benjamin Franklin Tilley took command of the vessel on 14 January. The ship then took part in a series of maneuvers with the rest of the squadron off Culebra in mid January, Guantánamo Bay from 19 February to 22 March, and then Pensacola from 27 March to 3 May. She then returned to Hampton Roads on 7 May for repairs at Norfolk that lasted from 9 May to 24 June. She helped to test the new floating dry dock Dewey from 25 to 30 June, thereafter returning to Newport News for periodic maintenance from 30 June to 3 July. Iowa then sailed north to New England, visiting several ports, including Provincetown, Newport, Bar Harbor, Boston, and New York over the course of the next four months. She arrived back in Hampton Roads on 13 October, where she remained until the end of the month, when she sailed to visit Annapolis, Maryland, from 30 October to 7 November.[12]
Iowa then steamed to
The ship next moved to Tompkinsville in early July, coaling there before being dry-docked at the New York Navy Yard for repairs from 6 to 15 July. She then joined the ships of the Second Division of what was now the Atlantic Fleet for a tour of New England, stopping in a series of ports in the region through the end of August. She was present for a fleet review held on 1–2 September, which was observed by President Theodore Roosevelt. She then returned to New England waters for shooting practice in late September and early October, after which she steamed south to Norfolk for repairs. She took part in tests with equipment that would allow the ship to replenish coal while underway in mid-December. The ship ended the year cruising with the rest of the fleet off the central East Coast, putting in at Hampton Roads on 31 December. The fleet steamed south to Cuba in early January 1907 for maneuvers that were held off Guantánamo Bay from 7 January to 10 February. Iowa then visited Cienfuegos in mid February and Guantánamo from mid-February to mid-March. Further gunnery practice was held from 16 March to 6 April.[12]
Iowa was present for the
1910–1919
Iowa was moved to the New York Navy Yard, where she was recommissioned on 2 May 1910, with Commander
On 3 May 1911, Iowa returned to active service for another cruise with the Naval Academy Practice Squadron from 13 May to 5 June.
Iowa was recommissioned in July 1912 for a training cruise for
After the
Target ship
With no further use for the ship by 1919, the Navy decided to convert Coast Battleship No. 4 into a radio-controlled target ship. She was briefly struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 4 February 1920 before the order was reversed six days later. She was subsequently turned over to the captain of the battleship USS Ohio on 2 August.[12] Coast Battleship No. 4 was converted for radio control in Philadelphia, with a wireless receiver that could control both the steering and speed of the ship as well as pumps to control the boilers, which were replaced with oil-fired versions. She was then moved from Philadelphia to Hampton Roads under radio control, departing on 17 August without any crew aboard, her speed and course being directed from the deck of Ohio. Tests to determine the effectiveness of control from Ohio were conducted there through 10 September, when the Navy was informed of their success.[17][18]
In June 1921, the Navy and Army conducted a series of bombing tests off the
Coast Battleship No. 4 was then
Footnotes
- ^ Friedman 1985, pp. 17, 20–23.
- ^ Friedman 1985, pp. 23–25.
- ^ Friedman 1985, pp. 24–29.
- ^ Friedman 1985, pp. 29–30.
- ^ a b c d Herder, p. 29.
- ^ a b c d e Campbell, p. 141.
- ^ a b c d e f Friedman 1985, p. 426.
- ^ a b c d Friedman 1985, pp. 30, 426.
- ^ Friedman 2011, pp. 167–168.
- ^ Friedman 2011, pp. 174–176.
- ^ Friedman 2011, p. 187.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa DANFS Iowa (BB-4).
- ^ "Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1901". Washington: Government Printing Office. 1901. p. 22. Retrieved 10 April 2020 – via Haithi Trust.
- ^ Friedman 2011, p. 167.
- ^ The New York Times.
- ^ Jones, p. 206.
- ^ Everett, p. 121.
- ^ Everett, p. 124.
- ^ Everett, p. 127.
References
- Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "United States of America". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 114–169. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
- Evans, Mark L. (1 October 2015). "Iowa II (Battleship No. 4)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- Everett, H. R. (2015). Unmanned Systems of World Wars I and II. Cambridge: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-33177-7.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Annapolis: ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-715-9.
- Herder, Brian Lane (2019). US Navy Battleships 1886–98: The Pre-dreadnoughts and Monitors That Fought the Spanish-American War. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-3503-1.
- Johns, E. B. (1920). "Radio Control of Ships". Sea Power. IX (4). Washington, D. C.: Navy League of the United States: 206. ISSN 0199-1337.
- "Sunk in Sea Crash; 319 Persons Saved" (PDF). The New York Times. 13 May 1911. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
- "Underwater Archeology Branch Sifts through the Sands of Time with Howell Torpedo". Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
Further reading
- Alden, John D. (1989). American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-248-2.
- Reilly, John C. & Scheina, Robert L. (1980). American Battleships 1886–1923: Predreadnought Design and Construction. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-524-7.
External links
- Photo gallery of Iowa at NavSource Naval History
- Naval Historical Center – USS Iowa (Battleship # 4), 1897–1923. Later renamed Coast Battleship # 4