Cincinnati-class cruiser

The Cincinnati-class cruisers were two small protected cruisers built for the United States Navy in the early 1890s.

The Cincinnati-class cruisers were authorized by an Act of Congress approved September 7, 1888, in the same bill with New York, Olympia and the Montgomery class.

History
As the U.S. Navy began to rebuild its fleet with steel-hulled vessels to keep pace with the advance of naval technology in the 1880s, it explored a wide range of design concepts. Among the approaches to the protected cruiser design was that of a small and fast commerce raider and in the 1888 naval appropriations bill, Congress set aside money to build two such vessels.

In May 1889, the Department of the Navy invited proposals for the construction of two cruisers of about 3,000 tons displacement each, at a cost of not more than $1,100,000 each. William Cramp and Sons was the only shipbuilder to respond, but with a bid in excess of the limit; the Department of the Navy exercised an option in the appropriation bill to construct the cruisers in its own yards; Cruiser no. 7 (Cincinnati) was constructed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, while Raleigh would be built at Norfolk.

Cincinnati-class ships

 * USS Cincinnati (C-7)
 * USS Raleigh (C-8)