USS South Dakota (ACR-9)
USS South Dakota (ACR-9), port bow view at anchor, location and date unknown.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name |
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Namesake |
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Ordered | 7 June 1900 |
Awarded | 10 January 1901 |
Builder | Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California |
Cost | $3,750,000 (contract price of hull and machinery) |
Laid down | 30 September 1902 |
Launched | 21 July 1904 |
Sponsored by | Miss F. Pardee |
Commissioned | 27 January 1908 |
Decommissioned | 17 June 1927 |
Renamed | Huron, 7 June 1920 |
Reclassified | CA-9, 17 July 1920 |
Stricken | 15 November 1929 |
Identification |
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Fate |
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General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length | |
Beam | 69 ft 6 in (21.18 m) |
Draft | 24 ft 1 in (7.34 m) (mean) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | |
Complement | 80 officers 745 enlisted 64 Marines |
Armament |
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Armor |
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General characteristics (Pre-1911 Refit)[1] | |
Armament |
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General characteristics (Pre-1921 Refit)[2] | |
Armament |
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The first USS South Dakota (ACR-9/CA-9), also referred to "Armored Cruiser No. 9", and later renamed Huron, was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser.
South Dakota was laid down on 30 September 1902 by the
Design
An act of Congress authorized South Dakota on 7 June 1900. The ship's hull and machinery cost a contract total of $3,750,000. Her plant consisted of vertical triple expansion engines and 16 Babcock and Wilcox boilers, which powered two propellers. Four funnels, one cage mast, and one military mast provided a distinctive silhouette. One Type J submarine signal receiving set equipped the ship. Capt. Charles E. Fox reported on board as the ship's General Inspector on 30 August 1907. The cruiser completed her preliminary acceptance on 19 November.[3]
Shakedown cruise
South Dakota began her
She then made for the Pacific Northwest to accomplish work associated with her shakedown, reaching
Service history
Pre-World War I
South Dakota sailed easterly courses to operate in Central and South American waters in September. In the autumn of 1909, she deployed westward with the Armored Cruiser Squadron. The force called at ports in the Admiralty Islands, the Philippines, Japan, and China, before returning to Honolulu on 31 January 1910.[3]
In February, South Dakota joined Tennessee to form a Special Service Squadron which cruised off the Atlantic coast of South America and then returned to the Pacific late in the year.
Following operations along the Pacific coast during much of 1911, South Dakota began a cruise in December with the Armored Cruiser Squadron which took her from California to the Hawaiian Islands, the
Detached from the
World War I
Transferred to the Atlantic after the United States entered World War I, South Dakota departed Bremerton on 12 April. She joined
Post-war
In the summer of 1919, South Dakota was ordered back to the Pacific to serve as flagship of the
Ordered home, Huron departed Manila on 31 December 1926 and arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 3 March 1927. She was decommissioned on 17 June and remained in reserve until she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 November 1929. She was sold on 11 February 1930 for scrapping in accordance with the London Naval Treaty for the limitation and reduction of naval armament, for scrapping to Abe Goldberg and Co., Seattle, Wash.[3]
Huron was stripped down to the waterline and then sold to the Powell River Company, Ltd. In August 1931, the ship was towed to Powell River, British Columbia, Canada, to serve as a floating breakwater for a large logging mill. She was preceded the previous year by the former cruiser Charleston. Huron was anchored into position and rainwater was periodically pumped out to ensure she remained afloat. On 18 February 1961, a storm flooded the hulk of the old cruiser, and she sank in 80 ft (24 m) of water, where she remains to this day. Coincidentally, some of the iron for her hull came from Texada Island, merely 5 mi (4.3 nmi; 8.0 km) from her Powell River resting place. [6]
References
Citations
- ^ "Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels". US Naval Department. 1 January 1914. pp. 24–31. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ "Ships' Data, U.S. Naval Vessels". US Navy. 1921. p. 50. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f "South Dakota I (Armored Cruiser No. 9)". Naval History and Heritage Command. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- ^ "U.S. cruiser aground". The Times. No. 43896. London. 26 February 1925. col E, p. 11.
- ^ "U.S. Cruiser refloated". The Times. No. 43897. London. 27 February 1925. col C, p. 11.
- ^ USS South Dakota page at Coast Artillery Corps Unit Histories in WWI
Bibliography
- Alden, John D. 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, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989. ISBN 0-87021-248-6
- Friedman, Norman. U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1984. ISBN 0-87021-718-6
- Musicant, Ivan. U.S. Armored Cruisers: A Design and Operational History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0-87021-714-3
- Taylor, Michael J.H. (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. Studio. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS 'South Dakota' at NavSource Naval History
- hazegray.org: USS South Dakota
- USS South Dakota page at Coast Artillery Corps Unit Histories in WWI - includes accounts of some crew members