USS Washington (ACR-11)
USS Washington (ACR-11) off Seattle, Washington, with the Olympic Mountains in the distance, 1908.
| |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name |
|
Namesake |
|
Ordered | 1 July 1902 |
Awarded | 10 February 1903 |
Builder | New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey |
Cost | $4,035,000 (contract price of hull and machinery) |
Laid down | 23 September 1903 |
Launched | 18 March 1905 |
Sponsored by | Miss Helen Stewart Wilson |
Commissioned | 7 August 1906 |
Decommissioned | 28 June 1946 |
Renamed | Seattle, 9 November 1916 |
Reclassified |
|
Stricken | 19 July 1946 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Sold for scrap 3 December 1946 |
General characteristics (as built)[1] | |
Class and type | Tennessee-class armored cruiser |
Displacement | |
Length | |
Beam | 72 ft 10+1⁄2 in (22.212 m) |
Draft | 25 ft (7.6 m) (mean) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion |
|
Speed | |
Complement | 83 officers 804 enlisted 64 Marines |
Armament |
|
Armor |
|
General characteristics (1921)[2] | |
Armament |
|
General characteristics (1935)[3] | |
Armament |
|
The seventh USS Washington (ACR-11/CA-11/IX-39), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 11", and later renamed Seattle and reclassified CA-11 and IX-39, was a
Pre-World War I
Washington was fitted out there until 1 November when she got underway for
Washington departed
Washington departed Hampton Roads on 11 June and proceeded via Bradford, Rhode Island, to Newport where she joined Tennessee before heading across the Atlantic on the 14th, bound for European waters. The sister ships visited the French ports of Royan, Île-d'Aix, La Pallice, and Brest from 23 June – 25 July, before returning to Tompkinsville in August to run speed trials.[4]
Following those trials and a period of yard work at the New York Navy Yard, Washington set sail for the Pacific Station, again in company with Tennessee. The two armored cruisers subsequently called at Hampton Roads;
Washington operated off the west coast into 1909 before she made preparations to sail in company with the
After visiting Woosung (near Shanghai), China, from 14–30 December 1909, Washington and her sisters called at Yokohama, Japan, from 3–20 January 1910, and Honolulu from 31 January – 8 February, before returning to the west coast. Washington made port back at San Francisco via Port Discovery, Washington and Bremerton on 3 March. She then returned to Bremerton where she commenced a period of repairs on 21 March.[4]
Washington next operated off the west coast into the autumn of 1910, holding target practices off
Washington's next area of operations was the Tidewater area of Virginia – especially Hampton Roads and
The armored cruiser operated off the northeastern seaboard through the summer, holding exercises and maneuvers in areas ranging from
The cruiser then participated in a search problem out of Newport, R.I. from 9–18 November before she sailed for the West Indies in company with North Carolina, arriving at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on 26 November. Washington subsequently returned home to Hampton Roads in company with her sister ship and went into drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard three days before Christmas of 1911.[4]
After returning to the Fleet and participating in maneuvers in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in late January and early February 1912, Washington steamed back to the Norfolk Navy Yard where, between 13 and 19 February, she underwent special preparations to embark the
The high point of the spring of 1912 for Washington was her service as temporary
In the late spring and early summer, a rebellion on that Caribbean island occasioned a show of force by the United States. Washington accordingly departed Key West on 10 June and arrived at Havana later that day. She remained there on "duty in connection with the Cuban rebellion" until 1 July, when she shifted to Guantánamo. The rebellion on the island was put down by the Cuban Government, resulting in the withdrawal of the American naval and marine representation there. Accordingly, Washington sailed to Hampton Roads, where she discharged her marines and equipment and went into "first reserve" at the Portsmouth Navy Yard on 9 July.[4]
Washington remained inactive until 8 October, when she sailed for New York to participate in the
The armored cruiser was placed in commission again on 23 April 1914, Captain
Once again there was unrest in the Dominican Republic. A revolution in the northern province of Santiago, against the rule of Provisional President
On 1 May, Petrel had been ordered to Dominican waters, but a further show of force seemed to be in order. Accordingly, Washington was chosen to "show the flag" in those troubled waters. She departed Key West on 4 May and arrived at the beleaguered city of Puerto Plata on 6 May to protect American interests, joining the Petrel. Six days later, Captain Eberle invited representatives of both warring parties – the insurgents and the government – out to his ship, in an attempt to persuade both sides to come to an amicable settlement.[4]
Unfortunately, the attempt failed, and the fighting continued. The insurgents were aided by a recent large consignment of guns and ammunition smuggled across the
Washington departed Puerto Plata on 6 June with the conflict between the insurgents and the government of President Valdes still unresolved. Her place had been taken by
Washington remained at Cap-Haïtien into July. In the meantime, the situation in the Dominican Republic had worsened when government shellings of rebel positions in Puerto Plata resulted in an inevitable "incident". On 26 June, a stray shell killed an English woman in Puerto Plata causing the gunboat Machias to shift to a berth in the inner harbor and shell one of President Valdes' batteries, silencing it with a few well placed shots. During early July, Machias again fired her guns in anger when stray shots hit the ship.[4]
In view of those developments, Washington returned to Puerto Plata on 9 July and remained there into the autumn, keeping a vigil to protect American lives and property and standing by to land her landing force if the situation required it. That August, Captain Eberle's attempts to bring about a conference finally bore fruit. The United States government sent a commission – consisting of
Both sides ultimately accepted the American suggestions which provided for the establishment of a constitutional government and the institution of elections under United States "observation."[4]
Washington left Santo Domingo on 20 November; but, later that month, continued high feelings over the closely contested election resulted in further unrest – unrest met by the dispatch of additional Marines to Santo Domingo. For Washington, however, her part in the Dominican intervention of 1914 was over. She sailed for home and arrived at Philadelphia on 24 November and became flagship of the Cruiser Squadron.[4]
Following an overhaul at the Portsmouth Navy Yard from 12 December 1914 – 11 January 1915, Washington sailed – via President Roads, Massachusetts (where she took on ammunition on 11 January) — for Hampton Roads, arriving there on 14 January. After a five-day visit, during which she took on stores and provisions and an expeditionary force of Marines, Washington sailed for the Caribbean once more.[4]
Two revolutions had rocked Haiti in 1914; a third, in January 1915, led by General
Washington conducted sub-caliber practices, observed political conditions, and conducted torpedo practices off the ports of Tampico, Tuxpan, Progreso, and Veracruz into the summer. Receiving provisions and stores from the supply ship Celtic off Progreso on 26–27 June, the armored cruiser sailed for Guantánamo where she coaled and took on water on 30 June. She sailed the same day for Cap-Haïtien, as all reports from the American minister there indicated that yet another crisis was brewing.[4]
While Washington awaited further developments at Cap-Haïtien, events in Port-au-Prince deteriorated, moving American chargé d'affaires Davis to send a telegram on 27 July to the Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, reporting the troubled conditions. He reported that President Sam and some of his men had been surrounded in the presidential palace and that the presence of American war vessels was desirable.[4]
In accordance with that message, the Navy dispatched Washington to that port. Meanwhile, Sam took refuge in the French legation where he hoped that diplomatic immunity would prevail. The mobs of angry Haitians, however, were not concerned with such international niceties: they invaded the legation at 10:30 on 28 July 1915, forcibly removed former President Sam, killed and dismembered him, and paraded portions of his body on poles around the city.[4]
Washington arrived at Port-au-Prince that day. Upon reviewing the situation, Admiral Caperton acted quickly. He ordered marines and a landing force ashore from his flagship to protect not only American interests but those of other foreign nations as well. Washington remained at Port-au-Prince into the winter. During that time, the United States effectively ran Haiti. On 12 August, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave was elected president; and his government was recognized by the United States on 17 September.[4]
Ending that lengthy in-port period, Washington departed Port-au-Prince on 31 January 1916 and arrived at Guantánamo the following day. There, she transferred passengers and stores to other ships of the Fleet and later transferred a company of Marines to Norfolk soon after her arrival in Hampton Roads on 5 February. The armored cruiser steamed north, via New York and Boston; reached Portsmouth, New Hampshire on 29 February; and began an overhaul in the navy yard there which lasted until the end of March. Then, on 31 March, she was placed in reserve.[4]
The ship was renamed Seattle on 9 November 1916—in order that her original name might be used for the new Colorado-class battleship USS Washington (BB-47)---but retained her classification as Armored Cruiser No. 11. She was simultaneously taken out of reserve and recommissioned for duty as flagship of the Destroyer Force.[4]
World War I
Seattle's peacetime duties as flagship for the Destroyer Force were short. On 6 April 1917, the United States, after attempting to remain neutral despite repeated incidents on the high seas, finally entered World War I.[4]
Seattle arrived at New York on 3 June to be fitted out at the New York Navy Yard for war service. She sailed on 14 June as an
Shortly before the convoy was attacked, Seattle's helm jammed; and she sheered out of formation sharply, sounding her whistle to warn the other vessels. A few minutes later, the ship was brought back on course. Soon lookouts noted a white streak in the water 50 yd (46 m) ahead of the vessel, crossing from starboard to port at right angles to Seattle's course. Admiral Gleaves, asleep in the
Subsequently, the destroyer Wilkes attacked an enemy submersible but failed to sink the German submarine. Later information indicated that the enemy, probably aware of the approach of the first American expeditionary forces, had dispatched a pair of submarines to lie in wait for it. The attack, conducted under "ideal" conditions, was, fortunately for the Americans, unsuccessful. Admiral Gleaves, in his report to the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, on 12 July, reported unequivocally: "their [the enemy's] failure to score hits was probably due to the attack being precipitated by the fortuitous circumstances of the Seattle's helm jamming and the sounding of her whistle, leading the enemy to suppose he had been discovered."[4]
Seattle operated on comparatively uneventful escort duties for the remainder of World War I, completing her ninth round-trip voyage at New York on 27 October 1918.[4]
Inter-war period
After the armistice of 11 November 1918, Seattle — like many other ships – was fitted with extra accommodations to enable her to function as a transport, and she brought back doughboys from France until 5 July 1919. Later, after all of her special troop fittings had been removed, Seattle sailed for the west coast to join the Pacific Fleet.[4]
Reviewed by President
Placed in full commission again on 1 March 1923, Captain George
Subsequently returning to the Atlantic in June 1927, Seattle passed in review before President Calvin Coolidge on 3 June. After a cruise along the east coast, the ship arrived at New York on 29 August to assume duties as the receiving ship at that port. On 1 July 1931, the ship's classification was changed to "unclassified."[4]
As
On 17 February 1941, the erstwhile armored cruiser was again reclassified, this time as IX-39 and served as
Awards
- Mexican Service Medal
- Haitian Campaign Medal
- World War I Victory Medal with "ESCORT" clasp
- American Defense Service Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
References
- ^ "Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels". US Naval Department. 1 January 1914. pp. 24–31. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels, 1921-". US Naval Department. 1 July 1921. p. 50. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels". US Naval Department. 1 July 1935. p. 231. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ 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 ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq "Washington". Naval History and Heritage Command. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
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.
- Sieche, Erwin F. (1990). "Austria-Hungary's Last Visit to the USA". Warship International. XXVII (2): 142–164. ISSN 0043-0374.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS 'Washington' (ACR-11) at NavSource Naval History
- USS Washington from the Flickr Commons