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ACR 10 Tennessee
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The second USS Tennessee (ACR-10), also referred to "Armored Cruiser No. 10", and later renamed Memphis and renumbered CA-10, was a United States Navy armored cruiser, the lead ship of her class.
The ship was laid down by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 20 June 1903, launched on 3 December 1904, sponsored by Miss Annie K. Frazier (daughter of Governor James B. Frazier of Tennessee and later the foundress of the Society of Sponsors of the United States Navy), and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 July 1906, Captain Albert O. Berry in command.
The new armored cruiser departed Hampton Roads on 8 November 1906 as escort for Louisiana (Battleship No. 19) in which President Theodore Roosevelt had embarked for a cruise to Panama to check on the progress of work constructing the Panama Canal. After a brief visit to Puerto Rico on the return voyage, the warships arrived back at Hampton Roads on 26 November. Tennessee was present for the Jamestown Exposition held in 1907 to commemorate the tricentennial of the founding of the first English settlement in America.
On 14 June, Tennessee sailed for Europe and reached Royan, France, on the 23rd for duty with the Special Service Squadron. She returned home in August but departed Hampton Roads on 12 October for the Pacific.
Tennessee then patrolled off the California coast until 24 August 1908 when she sailed for Samoa, arriving at Pago Pago on 23 September to resume service with the Pacific Fleet. On 15 May 1910, she arrived at Bahia Blanca to represent the United States at the centenary celebration of the independence of Argentina. On 8 November, the armored cruiser departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and proceeded to Charleston, South Carolina, to embark President William Howard Taft for a round trip voyage to Panama to inspect further progress on the canal. She returned to Hampton Roads on 22 November and then engaged in battle practice off the Virginia coast into February 1911. Following a Mardi Gras visit to New Orleans and a visit to New York early in March, the ship steamed to Cuban waters for two months of operations out of Guantanamo Bay.
Placed in reserve at the Portsmouth Navy Yard on 15 June 1911, she remained on the east coast for a year and one-half before departing Philadelphia on 12 November 1912 for the Mediterranean. Arriving off Smyrna (now Izmir), Turkey, on 1 December, she remained there protecting American citizens and property during the First Balkan War until 3 May 1913 when she headed home. After reaching Hampton Roads on the 23rd, Tennessee operated on the East Coast until entering the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia on 23 October. On 2 May 1914, she became receiving ship at the New York Navy Yard.
On 6 August, Tennessee sailed from New York for duty in Europe through the first half of 1915 supporting the American Relief Expedition. In August, she transported the 1st Regiment, Marine Expeditionary Force, and the Marine Artillery Battalion to Haiti. From 28 January to 24 February 1916, the cruiser served as flagship of a cruiser squadron off Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In March, she embarked a group of dignitaries at Hampton Roads for a two-month, round trip cruise to Montevideo, Uruguay.
On 25 May, Tennessee was renamed Memphis, honoring a city of Tennessee, so that the name "Tennessee" could be reassigned to a new warship, Battleship No. 43. In July, the ship got underway for Central America arriving at San Domingo on 23 July for peace-keeping patrol off the rebellion-torn Dominican Republic. On the afternoon of 29 August, while at anchor in the harbor of Santo Domingo, Memphis was driven ashore by an unexpected tsunami and totally wrecked. The casualties, including a boatload of Memphis sailors returning from shore leave, numbered some 40 men dead or missing and 204 badly injured.
Memphis was struck from the Navy List on 17 December 1917 and sold to A. H. Radetsky Iron and Metal Company, Denver, Colorado, on 17 January 1922 for scrapping. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)
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ACR 11 Washington
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The seventh USS Washington (ACR-11), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 11", and later renamed Seattle and renumbered CA-11 and IX-39, was a United States Navy Tennessee-class armored cruiser.
She was laid down on 23 September 1903 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, launched on 18 March 1905, sponsored by Miss Helen Stewart Wilson (daughter of United States Senator John L. Wilson of Washington state), and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 7 August 1906, Capt. James D. Adams in command.
Washington was fitted out there until 1 November when she got underway for Hampton Roads, whence she departed a week later as an escort for Louisiana (Battleship No. 19) which was then carrying President Theodore Roosevelt to Panama for an inspection of progress of work constructing the Panama Canal. During that voyage, the armored cruiser touched at Hampton Roads and Piney Point, Virginia; Colon, Panama; Chiriqui lagoon; and Mona Passage before she returned to Newport News on 26 November. She headed back toward the Delaware capes on 8 December, arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on the 11th, and remained there undergoing repairs into the spring of 1907.
Washington departed League Island on 11 April and arrived at Hampton Roads the next day. She remained there into May participating in festivities of the Jamestown Exposition which commemorated the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. She returned northward soon thereafter, spending most of May undergoing docking and tests at the New York Navy Yard. She then shook down off Tompkinsville, New York (Staten Island), from 28 May to 5 June before she returned to Hampton Roads for further observances at the Jamestown Exposition.
Washington departed Hampton Roads on 11 June and proceeded via Bradford, Rhode Island, to Newport where she joined Tennessee (Armored Cruiser No. 10) 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 between 23 June and 25 July, before returning to Tompkinsville in August to run speed trials.
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; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Montevideo, Uruguay; Punta Arenas, Chile; Callao, Peru; Acapulco, Mexico; and Pichilinque Bay, Mexico; before they joined the Pacific Fleet in time to fire target practices with them at Magdalena Bay, Mexico, from late December 1907 into January 1908. Washington subsequently operated both in company with the Fleet and on independent tactical exercises out of Magdalena Bay into March, operating also off Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and San Diego, as well as San Pedro, California. Other ports visited by the armored cruiser into the summer of 1908 included Redondo Beach, Venice, Monterey, and Angel Island in California; and Port Townsend, Port Angeles, Seattle, Tacoma, and Bremerton in Washington. She was among the units of the Fleet reviewed by the Secretary of the Navy at San Francisco between 6 and 17 May.
Washington operated off the west coast into 1909 before she made preparations to sail in company with the Armored Cruiser Squadron to "show the flag" in the Far East. She accordingly got underway from San Francisco on 5 September 1909 and called, in succession, at Honolulu, Hawaii; from 10 to 20 September; and Nares Harbor, Admiralty Islands - where she coaled ship between 17 and 25 October - before she arrived at Manila, Philippine Islands, on 30 October.
After visiting Woosung (near Shanghai), China, from 14 to 30 December 1909, Washington and her sisters called at Yokohama, Japan, from 3 to 20 January 1910, and Honolulu from 31 January to 8 February, before returning to the west coast. Washington made port back at San Francisco via Port Discovery and Bremerton on 3 March. She then returned to Bremerton where she commenced a period of repairs on 21 March.
Washington next operated off the west coast into the autumn of 1910, holding target practices off Santa Cruz, California, before returning to San Francisco. She coaled ship at Tiburon, California, on 7 and 8 August before shifting to San Francisco to prepare for her next deployment. On 14 August, she departed San Francisco, bound for South America on the first leg of her voyage to the east coast to join the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. With the ships of the 1st Division of the Pacific Fleet, Washington visited Valparaíso, Chile, and took part in the observances of the Chilean Centennial Celebration from 10 to 23 September. She then resumed her voyage around South America, touching at Talcahauano and Punta Arenas, Chile; Rio de Janeiro; Carlisle Bay, Barbados; and St. Thomas, Danish West Indies; before she arrived at Culebra, Puerto Rico, on 2 November to prepare for target practice with the Fleet.
Washington's next area of operations was the Tidewater area of Virginia – especially Hampton Roads and Lynnhaven Bay – before the armored cruiser underwent repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 20 December 1910 to 2 January 1911. The armored cruiser subsequently underwent another period of repairs at the Portsmouth Navy Yard before heading south with stores and material for delivery to the 5th Division of the Fleet in Cuban waters. She arrived at Guantánamo Bay on 20 March and remained there into the summer, conducting trials and exercises with the 5th Division. She then returned northward and stopped at Hampton Roads from 21 to 24 June before pushing on to New York, where she arrived on the 25th.
The armored cruiser operated off the northeastern seaboard through the summer, holding exercises and maneuvers in areas ranging from Cape Cod Bay to Hampton Roads. During that time, she cruised briefly with the Naval Militia from 19 to 21 July 1911; acted as a reference ship for torpedo practice off Sandwich Island, Massachusetts, on 2 August; witnessed the Delaware (Battleship No. 28) as that man-of-war fired at the target hulk San Marcos (former Second Class Battleship Texas) on 27 and 28 August, and then conducted battle practice with the Fleet off the southern drill grounds. In early November, Washington was among the ships of the Fleet reviewed by President William Howard Taft.
The cruiser then participated in a search problem out of Newport, R.I., from 9 to 18 November before she sailed for the West Indies in company with North Carolina (Armored Cruiser No. 12), arriving at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on 26 November. Washington subsequently returned home to Hampton Roads in company with her sistership and went into drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard three days before Christmas of 1911.
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 Secretary of State and his party. The armored cruiser then shifted to Key West where she embarked the Secretary on 23 February. In the ensuing weeks, Washington carried the honorable Philander C. Knox and his guests to such ports as Colon, Panama; Port Limon, Costa Rica; Puerto Barrios, Guatemala; La Guaira, Venezuela; Santo Domingo; St. Thomas; Puerto Cabalo, Venezuela; San Juan; Port-au-Prince; Guantánamo Bay; Kingston, Jamaica; and Havana, before disembarking her distinguished guests at Piney Point, Maryland, on 16 April.
The high point of the spring of 1912 for Washington was her service as temporary flagship for the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, while she was at the Philadelphia Navy Yard between 19 April and 3 May. The warship subsequently paused at New York from 9 to 12 May and at the Portsmouth Navy Yard for an inspection by the Board of Inspection and Survey for ships before she conducted maneuvers out of Provincetown and Newport and then received Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaus - the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet - on board on 26 May. After shifting to Hampton Roads, Washington embarked a detachment of additional marines on 27 May, took on stores; and set out that day for Key West. There, she awaited further orders between 30 May and 10 June, while President Taft concentrated a strong naval force there to prepare for possible action which might be required by internal problems in Cuba.
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.
She remained inactive until 8 October when she sailed for New York to participate in the Naval Review held there between 10 and 15 October and then resumed her reserve status at Portsmouth on 17 October. Shifted subsequently from Portsmouth to the New York Navy Yard - via President Roads, Mass., and Tompkinsville, Staten Island - Washington was assigned duty as receiving ship at the navy yard on 20 July.
The armored cruiser was placed in commission again on 23 April 1914, Capt. Edward W. Eberle in command. Later that spring, the armored cruiser took on board drafts of men from Norfolk and Port Royal, South Carolina, on 30 April and 2 May; touched at Key West, Fla.; and proceeded to Santo Domingo.
Once again there was unrest in the Dominican Republic. A revolution in the northern province of Santiago, against the rule of Provisional President Jose Bordes Valdes, had been quelled; but one in the province of Puerto Plata -- near the capital of Santo Domingo itself - continued unchecked and was marked by severe fighting, fighting so severe that "marked apprehension" existed in Washington.
On 1 May, the Petrel (Gunboat No. 2) 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 gunboat Petrel. Six days later, Capt. 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.
Unfortunately, the attempt failed, and the fighting continued. The insurgents were aided by a recent large consignment of guns and ammunition smuggled across the Haitian border that had given them new blood. The revolutionaries soon recaptured the key city of Le Vega and were successfully holding Puerto Plata. Government forces, laying siege to that port and shelling the insurgents, clearly endangered the lives of the neutral citizens still living in the city. Capt. Eberle objected to the bombardment and warned President Valdes repeatedly.
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 Machias (Gunboat No. 5). Washington coaled ship and took on stores at Guantánamo Bay from 7 to 10 June before she sailed for Veracruz, Mexico. She then remained in Mexican waters between 14 and 24 June before she shifted to Cape Haitien, Haiti, to protect American interests there during an outbreak of violence that summer.
Washington remained at Cape Haitien 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.
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, Capt. Eberle's attempts to bring about a conference finally bore fruit. The United States government sent a commission--consisting of J. F. Fort, the former governor of New Jersey, James M. Sullivan, the American Minister to Santo Domingo; and Charles Smith, a New Hampshire lawyer - to mediate a peace in the Dominican Republic.
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."
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.
Following an overhaul at the Portsmouth Navy Yard from 12 December 1914 to 11 January 1915, Washington sailed - via President Roads, Mass. (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.
Two revolutions had rocked Haiti in 1914; a third, in January 1915, led by General Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, had resulted only in further unrest for that troubled nation. Washington arrived at Cape Haitien on 23 January, a week after General Sam's troops had invested it. The armored cruiser, flying the flag of Rear Admiral Caperton and commanded by Capt. Edward L. Beach - the father of the future naval officer who would win fame as a famous submariner and author - stayed in port there until the 26th investigating "political conditions" before she shifted to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on 27 January. There, she again observed local political conditions in the wake of General Sam's takeover of the government before sailing, via Guantánamo, for Mexican waters.
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 and 27 June, the armored cruiser sailed for Guantánamo where she coaled and took on water on 30 June. She sailed the same day for Cape Haitien, as all reports from the American minister there indicated that yet another crisis was brewing.
While Washington awaited further developments at Cape Haitien, events in Port-au-Prince deteriorated, moving American Charge d'Affaire 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.
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 1030 on 28 July 1915, forcibly removed former President Sam, killed and dismembered him, and paraded portions of his body on poles around the city.
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 Sudra Dartinguenave was elected president; and his government was recognized by the United States on 17 September 1915.
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.
On 9 November 1916, Washington was renamed Seattle (retaining her classification as Armored Cruiser No. 11). She was simultaneously taken out of reserve and recommissioned for duty as flagship of the Destroyer Force.
Seattle's peacetime duties as flagship for the Destroyer Force were short. On 6 April 1917, the United States, after attempting patiently but futilely to remain neutral, despite repeated incidents on the high seas, finally entered World War I.
Seattle arrived at New York on 3 June 1917 to be fitted out at the New York Navy Yard for war service. She sailed on 14 June as an escort for the first American convoy to European waters and as flagship for Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves. At 2215 on 22 June, she encountered her first enemy submarines in latitude 48-00 N, longitude 25-50 W.
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 yards (50 m) ahead of the vessel, crossing from starboard to port at right angles to Seattle's course. Admiral Gleaves, asleep in the charthouse at the time, awoke and was on the bridge in time to see the armored cruiser's gun crews manning their weapons and the transport De Kalb opening fire on the U-boat.
Subsequently, the destroyer Wilkes (Destroyer No. 67) 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 1917, 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."
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. 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.
Reviewed by President Woodrow Wilson on 12 September at her namesake city - Seattle - the armored cruiser shifted to the Puget Sound Navy Yard where she was placed in "reduced commission." While in that inactive status, Seattle was reclassified a heavy cruiser, CA-11, on 17 July 1920.
Placed in full commission again on 1 March 1923 Capt. George L. P. Stone in command, Seattle became the flagship for the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. In that role, over the next four years, she wore the four-starred flags of a succession of officers: Admiral Hilary P. Jones, Admiral Robert E. Koontz, Admiral Samuel S. Robison (who was embarked in the ship at the time of the Australian cruise of 1925), and Admiral Charles F. Hughes. During that time, the armored cruiser operated from Seattle to Hawaii and from Panama to Australia.
Subsequently returning to the Atlantic in June of 1927, Seattle passed in review before President Calvin Coolidge on 3 June 1927. 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 designation was changed to "unclassified."
As receiving ship, Seattle served as a floating barracks - a "clearance house for personnel" - at New York into the 1940s. Ships and stations transferred men to her for attending various schools in the 3rd Naval District; she provided men for tugs and other district craft, as well as naval escorts for patriotic functions (parades and funerals, etc.) and, on board her, crews for ships preparing to go into commission were assembled. Among those ships was the light cruiser Honolulu (CL-48).
On 17 February 1941, the erstwhile armored cruiser was reclassified as IX-39. She was ultimately placed out of commission at New York on 28 June 1946 and was struck from the Navy List on 19 July of the same year. Sold on 3 December 1946 to Hugo Neu, of New York City, the former flagship of the United States Fleet and receiving ship at New York was subsequently scrapped. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)
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ACR 12 North Carolina
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USS North Carolina (ACR-12) was a Tennessee class armored cruiser of the United States Navy and the second Navy ship so named. She was also known as "Armored Cruiser No. 12" and later renamed Charlotte (CA-12).
The ship was laid down 21 March 1905 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, launched 6 October 1906, sponsored by Miss Rebekah Glenn, daughter of the Governor of North Carolina R. B. Glenn, and commissioned at Norfolk 7 May 1908, Captain William A. Marshall in command.
Following shakedown along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean, North Carolina carried President-elect William Howard Taft on an inspection tour to the Panama Canal in January and February 1909. Between 23 April and 3 August, the new cruiser cruised the Mediterranean. Sailing with Montana (ACR-13) to protect Americans threatened by conflict in the Ottoman Empire. North Carolina sent a medical relief party ashore 17 May to Adana, Turkey, to treat both wounded and desperately ill Armenians, victims of massacre. North Carolina provided food, shelter, disinfectants, distilled water, dressings and medicines, and assisted other relief agencies already on the scene. For the remainder of her Mediterranean cruise, North Carolina cruised the Levant succoring both American citizens and refugees from oppression.
In the years before World War I, North Carolina trained and maneuvered in the western Atlantic and Caribbean and participated in ceremonial and diplomatic activities. Highlights included attending centennial celebrations of the independence of Argentina (May-June 1910) and Venezuela (June-July 1911); carrying the Secretary of War for an inspection tour of Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, Cuba, and the Panama Canal (July-August 1911); and bringing home from Cuba bodies of the crew of the destroyed Maine for their final interment in Arlington National Cemetery.
As war began in Europe, North Carolina departed Boston 7 August 1915 to protect Americans in the Near East. After calling at ports of England and France, she cruised constantly between Jaffa, Beirut, and Alexandria, her presence a reminder of the might of the still neutral United States. She returned to Boston 18 June 1915 for overhaul.
Reaching Pensacola, Florida, 9 September 1915, North Carolina contributed to the development of naval aviation through service as station ship. On 5 November 1915, she became the first ship ever to launch an aircraft by catapult while under way. This experimental work led to the use of catapults on battleships and cruisers through World War II, and to the steam catapults on present-day aircraft carriers.
When the United States entered World War I, North Carolina sailed north to escort troop transports plying between Norfolk and New York. Between December 1918 and July 1919, she brought men of the AEF home from Europe. Renamed Charlotte 7 June 1920 so that her original name might be assigned to a new battleship, she decommissioned at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 18 February 1921. Her name was struck from the Navy List 15 July 1930, and she was sold for scrapping 29 September of that year. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)
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ACR 13 Montana
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The first USS Montana (ACR-13), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 13", later renamed Missoula and designated CA-13, was an armored cruiser of the United States Navy, a sister-ship of North Carolina (ACR-12).
She was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Virginia, 29 April 1905, launched 15 December 1906, sponsored by Miss Minnie Conrad, and commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard 21 July 1908, Capt. Alfred Reynolds in command.
Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Montana departed Norfolk 5 August to cruise off the east coast until 25 January 1909 when she sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, for the Caribbean, arriving off Colon, Panama, the 29th. While operating with the Special Service Squadron, Montana departed Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 2 April for the Mediterranean to protect American interests during the aftermath of the Turkish Revolution of 1908. Leaving Gibraltar 23 July, she arrived Boston on 3 August, and resumed east coast operations.
On 8 April 1910 the armored cruiser sailed from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to take part in the Argentine Centennial Celebration, calling at Uruguay, Argentina, and finally Brazil before heading for home 30 June, arriving Hampton Roads 22 July. Montana left Charleston, with President Taft and his party embarked, 10 November for a visit to Panama, returning her passengers to Hampton Roads, 22 November.
Montana was placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet 26 July 1911 for major overhaul at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, until 11 November 1912. In December, she departed on a second trip to the Near East, stopping at Beirut, Alexandretta (now Iskenderun) and Mersin, Turkey. Returning to the United States in June 1913, Montana operated off the east coast and made training cruises to Mexico, Cuba, and Haiti until the United States entered World War I.
During the first months of the war, Montana conducted training exercises and transported supplies and men in the York River area and along the east coast. Assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force 17 July 1917, she did convoy and escort duty out of Hampton Roads; New York, New York; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, through most of 1917 and 1918. The armored cruiser also performed as a Naval Academy practice ship in the Chesapeake Bay area early in 1918. Ordered to France in December, between January and July 1919, Montana made six round trips from Europe, returning 8,800 American troops.
Following her arrival at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, Montana remained there from 16 August 1919 through her decommissioning 2 February 1921. On 7 June 1920 Montana was renamed Missoula for Missoula, Montana and classified CA-13. She was struck from the Navy list 15 July 1930 and sold to John Irwin, Jr., 29 September 1930. In October 1935 the armored cruiser was scrapped in accordance with the London Treaty for the reduction of naval armament. (Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)
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