USS Newark (C-1)

	USS Newark port side, 1891.
History
United States
Name	Newark
Namesake	City of Newark, New Jersey
Builder	William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
Yard number	258
Laid down	12 June 1888
Launched	19 March 1890
Sponsored by	Miss Annie Boutelle
Commissioned	2 February 1891
Decommissioned	16 June 1913
Stricken	26 June 1913
Identification	Hull symbol:C-1
Fate	7 September 1926, sold for scrap
General characteristics
Type	Protected cruiser
Displacement	4,083 long tons (4,149 t)
Length	311 ft 6 in (94.95 m) lwl; 328 ft (100 m) oa;
Beam	49 ft 2 in (14.99 m)
Draft	18 ft 8 in (5.69 m) (mean); 22 ft 8 in (6.91 m) (max);
Installed power	4 × boilers; 2 × horizontal triple expansion engines; 8,500 kW);
Propulsion	2 × shafts
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range	3,922 nmi (7,264 km; 4,513 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	34 officers, 350 enlisted men
Armament	12 × 6-inch (152 mm)/30 caliber Mark 3 guns; 4 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) guns; 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) guns; 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) guns; 4 × .45 caliber (11.4 mm) Gatling guns;
Armor	Gun shields: 2 in (51 mm); Main deck: 3 in (76 mm); Conning Tower: 3 in (76 mm);

The first USS Newark (C-1) was a United States Navy protected cruiser, the eighth protected cruiser launched by the United States. In design, she succeeded the "ABC" cruisers Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago with better protection, higher speed, and a uniform 6-inch gun armament. Four additional protected cruisers (C-2 through C-5) were launched for the USN prior to Newark.^[1]^[2]

She was laid down by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia on 12 June 1888, launched on 19 March 1890, sponsored by Miss Annie Boutelle, the daughter of Representative Charles A. Boutelle of Maine, and commissioned on 2 February 1891, Captain Silas Casey III in command.^[3]

Design and construction

Newark was designed in 1885 by the Navy's

Naval Advisory Board's design was inadequate.^[4] Newark's uniform main armament of twelve 6-inch guns resulted from the need to mount guns in sponsons to increase their arc of fire. Rear Admiral Edward Simpson, president of the Naval Advisory Board, commented that it was impossible to mount 8-inch guns on sponsons in a 4,000-ton ship.^[4] She also had a complete armored deck in accordance with European practice.^[1]

Newark was armed with 12

Hotchkiss revolving cannon, two 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and four .45 caliber (11.4 mm) Gatling guns.^[1]^[4] Six 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes were included in the design but never mounted.^[2]

Newark had 2 in (51 mm) gun shields and a 3 in (76 mm) conning tower. The complete armored deck was up to 3 in (76 mm) on its sloped sides and aft, 2 in (51 mm) amidships and forward.^[1] This was a significant improvement from the 1.5 in (38 mm) partial deck of Chicago.^[1]

The engineering plant included four coal-fired

kW) driving two shafts for a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).^[1]^[2]^[4] Like other US Navy ships of the 1880s, she was built with a sail rig to increase cruising range, later removed. The ship carried up to 400 tons of coal, with a cruising range as built of 3,922 nmi (7,264 km; 4,513 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph); this could be increased to 850 tons for a range of 8,333 nmi (15,433 km; 9,589 mi).^[4]

Refits

In 1898 Newark's 6-inch guns were converted to

3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber guns.^[2] The 3-inch guns were removed in 1908, and all armament was removed prior to her service as a hospital ship beginning in 1913.^[2]

Service history

North & South Atlantic, 1891–1897

Newark operated off the

South Atlantic Squadron, on 25 June.^[3]

She departed on 17 July for

Niña and sailing on 18 February for home. Transferred to the Naval Review Fleet for temporary duty on 1 March, the cruiser arrived at Havana on 21 March, parting with Niña there, thence sailing to Hampton Roads and New York where she picked up the caravel once more and proceeded down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec, leaving the little ship there on 11 June and returning to Norfolk on 22 June.^[3]

Newark next sailed on 20 September, this time for

North Atlantic Station on 4 May, she joined her squadron at New York 25 June and engaged in patrol duty and exercises off the southeastern coast until decommissioning at Norfolk 6 March 1897.^[3]

Spanish–American War, 1898

Marines manning the secondary battery, circa 1898.

Following extensive overhaul, Newark recommissioned on 23 May 1898, shortly after the declaration of war on Spain, she sailed on 13 June for Key West and then Cuba, joining the blockade on 30 June. Cruising in Cuban waters throughout the summer, the warship bombarded the port of Manzanillo on 12 August and on the following day accepted its surrender. After the battle of Santiago de Cuba, she participated in the final destruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet through bombardment of the burned hulks. Newark returned to New York on 26 November 1898.^[3]

Philippine–American War, 1899

Departing New York on 23 March 1899, the cruiser steamed down the coast of South America on patrol, stopping at numerous ports along the way. In the middle of her cruise, on 7 April, she was ordered to proceed through the

Aparri on 10 December, receiving the surrender of insurrectionists in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Bataan.^[3]