Virginia-class battleship

Virginia-class battleship
Virginia-class battleship
	USS Virginia (BB-13)
Class overview
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Maine class
Succeeded by:	Connecticut class
Completed:	5
Retired:	5
Preserved:	0
General characteristics
Type:	Pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	14,980 tons
Length:	441 ft 3 in (134.49 m)
Beam:	76 ft 3 in (23.24 m)
Draft:	23 ft 9 in (7.24 m)
Propulsion:	Two vertical inverted triple expansion reciprocating steam engines; 2 shaft; 12 boilers; 19,000 hp;
Speed:	19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h)
Complement:	812 officers and men
Armament:	4 × 12-inch (305 mm) guns; 8 × 8-inch (203 mm) guns; 12 × 6-inch (152 mm) guns; 24 × 1 pounders; 4 × .30-cal machine guns; 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes;
Armor:	Belt: 6–11 in (152–279 mm); Barbettes: 6–10 in (152–254 mm); Turrets (main): 6–12 in (152–305 mm); Turrets (secondary): 4–12 in (102–305 mm); Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm);

The Virginia class battleship was designed to be the first truly seagoing U.S. battleships.^[2] Five ships were commissioned between 1906 and 1907. The ships participated in the round-the-world cruise of the Great White Fleet. For the second and last time, the U.S. Navy experimented with mounting the 8" intermediate battery atop the 12" primary guns (half of the intermediate battery this time, the other half were in conventional turrets). As with the previous experiment in doing so (the Kearsarge class), this severely impaired the utility of the 8" guns so mounted. This was the first American capital ship class to use Krupp armor, years after European contemporaries.^[3]

Ships in class[]

USS Virginia[]

Designation: BB-13
Laid down: 21 May 1902
Launched: 6 April 1904
Commissioned: 7 May 1906
Operations:
Victories: None
Fate: Decommissioned 13 August 1920; sunk as a target ship, 5 September 1923

USS Nebraska[]

Designation: BB-14
Laid down: 4 July 1902
Launched: 7 October 1904
Commissioned: 1 July 1907
Operations:
Victories: None
Fate: Decommissioned 2 July 1920; sold for scrap, November 1923

USS Georgia[]

Designation: BB-15
Laid down: 31 August 1901
Launched: 11 October 1904
Commissioned: 24 September 1906
Operations:
Victories: None
Fate: Decommissioned 15 July 1920; sold for scrap, 1 November 1923

USS New Jersey[]

Designation: BB-16
Laid down: 2 April 1902
Launched: 10 November 1904
Commissioned: 11 May 1906
Operations:
Victories: None
Fate: Decommissioned 6 August 1920; sunk as a bombing target, November 1923

USS Rhode Island[]

Designation: BB-17
Laid down: 1 May 1902
Launched: 17 May 1904
Commissioned: 19 February 1906
Operations:
Victories: None
Fate: Decommissioned 30 June 1920; sold for scrap, 1 November 1923

Sources[]

Chesneau, Roger; Koleśnik, Eugène M.; Campbell, N.J.M. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare 1815–1914. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21478-5.
Pike, John. "BB-13 Virginia Class". GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/bb-13.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-03.

References[]

↑ Chesneau, Koleśnik & Campbell 1979, p. 142.
↑ BB-13 Virginia Class.
↑ Sondhaus 2001, p. 126.

External links[]

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The original article can be found at Virginia-class battleship and the edit history here.

[FOOTNOTEChesneauKoleśnikCampbell1979142-1] Chesneau, Koleśnik & Campbell 1979, p. 142.

[FOOTNOTEBB-13_Virginia_Class-2] BB-13 Virginia Class.

[FOOTNOTESondhaus2001126-3] Sondhaus 2001, p. 126.

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