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Frederic Logghe
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ACR 4 Pennsylvania


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The second USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4), also referred to "Armored Cruiser No. 4", and later renamed Pittsburgh and numbered CA-4, was a United States Navy armored cruiser, the lead ship of her class.

She was laid down 7 August 1901 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, launched 22 August 1903, sponsored by Miss Coral Quay (daughter of Senator Matthew S. Quay of Pennsylvania), and commissioned 9 March 1905, Captain Thomas C. McLean in command.

Pennsylvania operated on the East Coast and in the Caribbean until 8 September 1906 when she cleared Newport for the Asiatic Station, returning to San Francisco 27 September 1907 for west coast duty. She visited Chile and Peru in 1910. On January 18, 1911, a plane flown by Eugene Ely landed on a platform constructed on her afterdeck, opening the era of naval aviation. While in reserve at Puget Sound between 1 July 1911 and 30 May 1913, the cruiser trained naval militia. She was renamed Pittsburgh 27 August 1912 to free the name "Pennsylvania" for a new battleship.

Recommissioning, Pittsburgh patrolled the west coast of Mexico during the troubled times of insurrection which led to American involvement with the Veracruz landing in April 1914. Later, as a symbol of American might and concern, she served as flagship for Admiral William B. Caperton, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, during South American patrols and visits during World War I. Cooperating with the British, she scouted German raiders and acted as a powerful deterrent against their penetration of the eastern Pacific.

Returning to the east coast, Pittsburgh prepared for duty as flagship for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in the eastern Mediterranean, for which she sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 19 June 1919. Cruising the Adriatic, Aegean, and Black Seas, she joined in the massive relief operations and other humanitarian concerns with which the Navy carried out its quasi-diplomatic functions in this troubled area. (what was this all about?) In June 1920, she sailed north to visit French and British ports and cruise the Baltic Sea on further relief assignments before returning to decommission at Philadelphia 15 October 1921.

Recommissioned 2 October 1922, Pittsburgh returned to European and Mediterranean waters as flagship of Naval Forces in Europe, then arrived New York 17 July 1926 to prepare for flagship duty with the Asiatic Fleet. She sailed 16 October for Chefoo, arriving 23 December. Early in January 1927, she landed sailors and Marines to protect Americans and other foreigners in Shanghai from the turmoil and fighting of the Chinese power struggle. When Chiang Kai-shek's Cantonese Army won control of Shanghai in March, Pittsburgh resumed operations on patrol and exercises with the Asiatic Fleet. Closing her long career of service, she carried the Governor General of the Philippines, Dwight F. Davis on a courtesy cruise to such ports as Saigon, Bangkok, Singapore, Belawan, Batavia (Jakarta), Surabaya, Bali, Makassar, and Sandakan, returning to Manila 15 April 1931. Six days later, she steamed for Suez en route Hampton Roads, arriving 26 June 1931. Decommissioning 10 July 1931, she was sold for scrapping under the terms of the London Naval Treaty to Union Shipbuilding, Baltimore, Maryland, 21 December 1931. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)

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ACR 5 West Virginia


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The first USS West Virginia (ACR-5), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 5", and later renamed Huntington (CA-5), was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser.

The ship was launched 18 April 1903 by Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia, sponsored by Miss Katherine V. White, and commissioned 23 February 1905, Captain C. H. Arnold in command.

After shakedown training, West Virginia cruised with the New York Naval Militia as a unit of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet until 30 September 1906 when she sailed for duty with the Asiatic Squadron. The ship remained with the Asiatic Squadron on training operations for 2 years, and after overhaul at Mare Island in 1908 joined the Pacific Fleet for similar exercises along the West Coast of the United States. During 1911 and 1912, she made a cruise with the Fleet to Hawaiian waters and in 1914 steamed on special duty off the west coast of Mexico for the protection of American interests. She remained off Mexico during the Veracruz crisis, and returned to Bremerton, Washington, to become a part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

West Virginia remained at Bremerton until 20 September 1916 when she again sailed to Mexico for the protection of American lives and property and to back up U.S. diplomacy. While on this service, she was renamed Huntington 11 November to permit the assignment of her old name to a newly-authorized battleship, the West Virginia (BB-48). After, 5 months service off Mexico, she steamed to Mare Island for the installation of catapult devices on the quarterdeck and equipment to accommodate four seaplanes on the boat deck ways.

Huntington was detached from the Reserve Force and placed in full commission 5 April 1917. She departed Mare Island 11 May and steamed to Pensacola, Florida, via the Panama Canal. Detached from the Pacific Fleet after her arrival in Florida 28 May, she spent the next 2 months at the Naval Aeronautic Station, Pensacola, engaging in a series of important early experiments with balloons and seaplanes launched from the deck. The cruiser then sailed for Hampton Roads 1 August and arrived New York 5 days later. There, Huntington formed with a convoy of six troopships bound for France departing 8 September. En route, several balloon observation flights were made, and on one of these, 17 September, the balloon was forced down by a squall and the balloonist became entangled in its rigging. Seeing the emergency, shipfitter Patrick McGunigal jumped overboard to release the pilot from the balloon basket, by then overturned and underwater. For his heroic action, McGunigal was awarded World War I’s first Medal of Honor. The day after the rescue the convoy was turned over to American destroyers in European waters; and Huntington steamed back to Hampton Roads, arriving 30 September.

After replenishing at Norfolk, Huntington sailed to New York 5 October to have her catapult and seaplanes removed. She got underway 27 October and arrived Halifax, Nova Scotia 2 days later to embark on a high-level U.S. Commission to confer with the Allies. Presidential envoy, Colonel House; Admiral W. S. Benson; General T. H. Bliss; and other dignitaries took passage in Huntington, arriving Davenport, England, November 7, 1917, to be met by British officials. Huntington departed for New York, via Hampton Roads, arriving 27 November.

Subsequently, the cruiser returned to the important duty of escorting convoys of troops and supplies to Europe, making nine such voyages to Europe and back between 19 February and 13 November 1918. In addition, Huntington made three coastal convoy passages from New York to Hampton Roads. She entered Brooklyn Navy Yard 17 November 1918 for conversion to a troop transport.

Assigned to Transport Force, Atlantic Fleet, Huntington next sailed for France to bring home veterans of the European fighting. She departed New York 17 December, arrived Brest 29 December, and brought over 1,700 passengers to New York 14 January 1919. The ship made five more voyages to France and return, bringing home nearly 12,000 troops, and terminated her last voyage at Boston 5 July 1919. Detached from Transport Force, she was reassigned to Cruiser Force and became flagship of Flying Squadron 1, 8 July 1919. Huntington decommissioned at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1 September 1920. She was struck from the Navy List 12 March 1930 and sold in accordance with the London treaty for the reduction of naval armaments 30 August 1930. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)

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ACR 6 California


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The second USS California (ACR-6), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser 6", and later renamed San Diego, was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser.

She was launched 28 April 1904 by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, sponsored by Miss F. Pardee, and commissioned 1 August 1907, Captain V. L. Cottman in command.

Joining the 2nd Division, Pacific Fleet, California took part in the Naval Review at San Francisco in May 1908 for the Secretary of the Navy. Aside from a cruise to Hawaii and Samoa in the fall of 1909, the cruiser operated along the west coast, sharpening her readiness through training exercises and drills, until December 1911, when she sailed for Honolulu, and in March 1912 continued westward for duty on the Asiatic Station. After this service representing American power and prestige in the Far East, she returned home in August 1912, and was ordered to Corinto, Nicaragua, then embroiled in internal political disturbance. Here she protected American lives and property, then resumed her operations along the west coast; she cruised off California, and kept a watchful eye on Mexico, at that time also suffering political disturbance.

California was renamed San Diego on 1 September 1914, and served as flagship for Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, intermittently until a boiler explosion put her in Mare Island Navy Yard in reduced commission through the summer of 1915. San Diego returned to duty as flagship through 12 February 1917, when she went into reserve status until the opening of World War I. Placed in full commission 7 April, the cruiser operated as flagship for Commander, Patrol Force Pacific Fleet, until 18 July, when she was ordered to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Reaching Hampton Roads 4 August, she joined Cruiser Division 2, and later broke the flag of Commander, Cruiser Force, Atlantic, which she flew until 19 September.

San Diego's essential mission was the escort of convoys through the first dangerous leg of their passages to Europe. Based on Tompkinsville, New York, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, she operated in the weather-torn, submarine-infested North Atlantic safely convoying all of her charges to the ocean escort. On 19 July 1918, bound from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to New York, while ten miles southeast of Fire Island San Diego suffered an explosion and sank in 28 minutes with the loss of six lives, the only major warship lost by the United States in World War I. Her commanding officer, Harley H. Christy, survived the wreck.

The Navy initially declared that she had been torpedoed by the German submarine U-156. Later historians believe that it was sunk by a mine laid by a U-boat. However, U-156 carried no mines, and the blast hole is remarkably far toward the cruiser's stern -- an unlikely place to strike a mine.

Other possibilities include a fire caused by spontaneous combustion in the coal bunkers could have ignited ammunition stored nearby, and sabotage by a German agent, a theory raised by the release of secret Russian documents that asserted a spy planted a bomb aboard.

The wreck presently lies in 33 m (110 ft) of water, with the highest parts just 20 m (65 ft) below the surface, and as a result is one of the most popular shipwrecks in the US for scuba diving. Nicknamed the "Lobster Hotel" for the abundance of lobsters living there, it is also a home to many kinds of fish. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)

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ACR 7 Colorado


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The second USS Colorado (ACR-7), also referred to "Armored Cruiser No. 7", and later renamed Pueblo (CA-7), was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser.

She was launched 25 April 1903 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; sponsored by Miss C. M. Peabody, and commissioned 19 January 1905, Captain D. Kennedy in command.

Joining the U.S. Atlantic Fleet 11 October 1905, Colorado trained and took part in drills along the east coast and in the Caribbean, as well as participating in ceremonies, until 7 September 1906, when she sailed for duty on the Asiatic Station. After cruising to Japan and China to represent American interests in the Far East, she returned to the west coast 27 September 1907 for exercises along the Californian and Mexican coasts, in the Hawaiian Islands, and off Central and South America. She served again in the Far East between September 1909 and February 1910. Ceremonial visits and receptions for dignitaries highlighted the next 2 years, and from November 1911 to July 1912 Colorado returned to the Far East for duty. Between August and November, she sailed to land and support expeditionary troops at Corinto, Nicaragua, then patrolled Mexican waters until placed in reduced commission at Puget Sound Navy Yard 17 May 1913.

Once more in full commission from 9 February 1915 to 26 September, she continued on active duty as flagship of the Pacific Reserve Fleet, patrolling in Mexican waters during the revolution and then returned to reserve status.

She was renamed Pueblo (CA-7) 9 November 1916 while in overhaul, after which she returned to Mexico, to blockade interned German ships. She returned to full commission upon the entry of the United States into World War I, and as flagship of the Scouting Force patrolled the South Atlantic, protecting shipping, paying diplomatic calls to South American ports, and preventing the sailing of German and Austrian ships interned at Bahia, Brazil. Pueblo returned to Norfolk, Virginia 18 January 1918, and between 5 February and 16 October made seven voyages to escort convoys carrying men and supplies to England. After carrying the Brazilian ambassador to the United States to Rio de Janeiro, she returned to transatlantic duty, making six voyages between Hoboken and Brest, France, to bring veterans of the American Expeditionary Force home. She arrived at Philadelphia 8 August 1919 and was placed in reduced commission until decommissioned 22 September 1919. In commission for the last time between 2 April 1921 and 28 September 1927, Pueblo served as receiving ship in the 3rd Naval District. She was scrapped 2 October 1930. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)

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ACR 8 Maryland


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The second USS Maryland (ACR-8), also referred to "Armored Cruiser 8", and later renamed Frederick, was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser.

She was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia, 7 October 1901, launched 12 September 1903, sponsored by Miss Jennie Scott Waters; and commissioned 18 April 1905, Capt. R. R. Ingersoll in command.

In October 1905, following shakedown, Maryland joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet for operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean, where she took part in the 1906 winter maneuvers off Cuba. The next summer, she conducted a training cruise for Massachusetts Naval Militiamen, and then readied for transfer to the Pacific. Departing Newport 8 September 1906, she sailed, via San Francisco and Hawaii, for the Asiatic Station where she remained until October 1907. She then returned to San Francisco and for the next decade she cruised throughout the Pacific, participating in survey missions to Alaska (1912 and 1913); carrying Secretary of State Knox to Tokyo for the funeral of Emperor Meiji Tenno (September 1912); steaming off the Central American coast to aid, if necessary, Americans endangered by political turmoil in Mexico and Nicaragua (1913, 1914, and 1916); and making numerous training cruises to Hawaii and the South-Central Pacific.

When Congress declared war on Germany, 6 April 1917, the armored cruiser, renamed Frederick on 9 November 1916, was en route from Puget Sound to San Francisco. Taking on men and supplies at the latter port, she got underway for the Atlantic. From May 1917 through January 1918, she patrolled the southeastern Atlantic off the coast of South America. On 1 February, she was assigned to escort duty in the North Atlantic and until the signing of the Armistice she convoyed troopships east of the 37th meridian. By 20 November, she was attached to the Cruiser and Destroyer Force and before mid-1919 had completed six round trips returning troops from France. Detached from that duty, she entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard where she was briefly placed in reduced commission.

Frederick crossed the Atlantic again, carrying the US Olympic Team to Antwerp, Belgium, as she conducted a naval reservist training cruise in July of 1920. At the end of that year she returned to the Pacific Fleet. Serving as flagship of the Train, Pacific Fleet, for the next year, she conducted only one lengthy cruise, to South America in March 1921. Operations off the west coast took up the remainder of her active duty career and on 14 February 1922 she decommissioned and entered the Reserve Fleet at Mare Island. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 13 November 1929 and sold 11 February 1930.

In 1921, the Frederick was used for several scenes in Harold Lloyd's first full-length film, the comedy A Sailor-Made Man. Camera (vol. 4, no. 29, p. 8) mentions a dinner party for the cast that was given by the officers of the ship. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)

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ACR 9 South Dakota


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The second USS South Dakota (ACR-9), also referred to "Armored Cruiser No. 9", and later renamed Huron (CA-9), was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser.

She was launched on 21 July 1904 by the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, sponsored by Grace Herreid (daughter of Charles N. Herreid, Governor of South Dakota), and commissioned on 27 January 1908, Captain James T. Smith in command.

Assigned to the Armored Cruiser Squadron, Pacific Fleet, South Dakota cruised off the west coast of the United States through August 1908. On 24 August, she departed San Francisco for a cruise to Samoa and headed eastward in September to operate in Central and South American waters. 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.

In February, South Dakota joined Tennessee (Armored Cruiser No. 10) 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 Marianas, the Philippines, and Japan. After returning to the west coast in August 1912, she participated in periodic squadron exercises until she was placed in reserve on 30 December 1913 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard.

Detached from the Reserve Force, Pacific Fleet, on 17 April 1914, South Dakota made a cruise southward into Mexican waters in June and another westward to the Hawaiian Islands in August. She returned to Bremerton on 14 September and reverted to reserve status on 28 September. She was the flagship of the Reserve Force, Pacific Fleet, from 21 January 1915 until relieved by Milwaukee (Cruiser No. 21) on 5 February 1916. She remained in reduced commission through 1916; and on 5 April 1917, she was again placed in full commission.

Transferred to the Atlantic after the United States entered World War I, South Dakota departed Bremerton on 12 April. She joined Pittsburgh (ACR-4), Pueblo (ACR-7), and Frederick (ACR-8) at Colon, Panama, on 29 May 1917; thence proceeded to the South Atlantic for patrol duty operating from Brazilian ports. On 2 November 1918, she escorted troop convoys from the east coast to the mid-Atlantic rendezvous point where British cruisers joined the convoy. Following the Armistice, South Dakota made two voyages from Brest, France, to New York, returning troops to the United States.

In the summer of 1919, South Dakota was ordered back to the Pacific to serve as flagship of the Asiatic Fleet, arriving at Manila on 27 October 1919. South Dakota was renamed Huron on 7 June 1920 and was designated CA-9 on 17 July 1920. She served in the Asiatic Fleet for the next seven years, operating in Philippine waters during the winter and out of Shanghai and Chefoo during the summer.

Ordered home, Huron departed Manila on the last day of 1926 and arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 3 March 1927. She was decommissioned on 17 June 1927 and remained in reserve until she was struck from the Navy List on 15 November 1929. She was sold on 11 February 1930 for scrapping in accordance with the provisions of the London Naval Treaty for the limitation and reduction of naval armament.

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 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 feet of water, where she remains to this day. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)

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