Maine class battleship
Encyclopedia
The three Maine class battleship
s: , , and were launched in the first several years of the 20th century. These were the first US capital ships to use smokeless powder for their main batteries, and the last to use Harvey armor
. Smokeless powder allowed a decrease in gun size, with an increase in power and efficiency. Harvey armor, though only in use for a decade, was already obsolete. This was also the first US battleship class to use submerged torpedo tubes; this became possible because the hulls were at least 20 feet longer than previous US battleships.
The design was influenced by the Russian battleship Retvizan
which was also built by William Cramp and Sons
in Philadelphia.
. The original plans called for an improved version of the USS Iowa
, which had been authorized in 1892. The main batteries were to be increased from 12-inch to 13-inch guns and the 4-inch guns with 5-inch guns.
However, the original design was modified by chief engineer George W. Melville
to add new technologies. The planned 13-inch 35 caliber guns were replaced by a smaller but more powerful 12-inch 40 caliber gun, which used the new and more efficient smokeless powder. The new design also specified Krupp cemented armour
which would allow the thickness of the belt armor to be reduced from 16.5 to 12 inches.
Further modifications were approved by the Navy Department on 8 October 1898, including adding two more 6 inch/50 caliber guns, moving torpedo tubes from above-water to submerged locations, and dropping the Krupp Cemented armor, returning to the original design with Harvey armor
. Some proposed changes were denied including, additions to the secondary batteries and William Cramp and Sons' offer to expand the ships by 15 feet to accommodate more powerful Niclausse boilers
. The latter would have increased the speed to 18 knots.
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s: , , and were launched in the first several years of the 20th century. These were the first US capital ships to use smokeless powder for their main batteries, and the last to use Harvey armor
Harvey armor
Harvey armor was a type of steel armor developed in the early 1890s in which the front surfaces of the plates were case hardened. The method for doing this was known as the Harvey process....
. Smokeless powder allowed a decrease in gun size, with an increase in power and efficiency. Harvey armor, though only in use for a decade, was already obsolete. This was also the first US battleship class to use submerged torpedo tubes; this became possible because the hulls were at least 20 feet longer than previous US battleships.
The design was influenced by the Russian battleship Retvizan
Russian battleship Retvizan
Retvizan was a Russian pre-dreadnought battleship built before the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 for the Imperial Russian Navy in the United States. She was built by the William Cramp and Sons Ship & Engine Building Company of Philadelphia, although the armament was made at the Obukhov works in...
which was also built by William Cramp and Sons
William Cramp and Sons
thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...
in Philadelphia.
Construction
The Maine-class of three battleships was authorized by Congress on 4 May 1898, 8 days after the start of the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. The original plans called for an improved version of the USS Iowa
USS Iowa (BB-4)
| The second half of the 19th century saw radical changes in shipbuilding design. Wood-built sailing ships with cannons were replaced by steam-powered warships armored with steel...
, which had been authorized in 1892. The main batteries were to be increased from 12-inch to 13-inch guns and the 4-inch guns with 5-inch guns.
However, the original design was modified by chief engineer George W. Melville
George W. Melville
George Wallace Melville was an engineer of the United States Navy who became a rear admiral.-Civil War:Melville was born in New York City on 10 January 1841. After graduating from Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, he entered the U.S...
to add new technologies. The planned 13-inch 35 caliber guns were replaced by a smaller but more powerful 12-inch 40 caliber gun, which used the new and more efficient smokeless powder. The new design also specified Krupp cemented armour
Krupp cemented armour
Krupp Cemented Armour is a further evolved variant of Krupp Armour, developed during the early years of the 20th Century. The process is largely the same with slight changes in the alloy composition: in % of total – carbon 0.35, nickel 3.90, chromium 2.00, manganese .35, silicon .07, phosphorus...
which would allow the thickness of the belt armor to be reduced from 16.5 to 12 inches.
Further modifications were approved by the Navy Department on 8 October 1898, including adding two more 6 inch/50 caliber guns, moving torpedo tubes from above-water to submerged locations, and dropping the Krupp Cemented armor, returning to the original design with Harvey armor
Harvey armor
Harvey armor was a type of steel armor developed in the early 1890s in which the front surfaces of the plates were case hardened. The method for doing this was known as the Harvey process....
. Some proposed changes were denied including, additions to the secondary batteries and William Cramp and Sons' offer to expand the ships by 15 feet to accommodate more powerful Niclausse boilers
Field-tube boiler
A Field-tube boiler is a form of water-tube boiler where the water-tubes are single-ended. The tubes are closed at one end, and they contain a concentric inner tube. Flow is thus separated into the colder inner flow down the tube and the heated flow upwards through the outer sleeve...
. The latter would have increased the speed to 18 knots.
- Designation: BB-10
- Laid down: 15 February 1899
- Launched: 27 July 1901
- Commissioned: 29 December 1902
- Decommissioned: 15 May 1920
- Fate: Sold for scrap
- Designation: BB-11
- Laid down: 7 February 1900
- Launched: 28 December 1901
- Commissioned: 1 December 1903
- Decommissioned: 8 September 1919
- Fate: Sold for scrap
- Designation: BB-12
- Laid down: 22 April 1899
- Launched: 18 May 1901
- Commissioned: 4 October 1904
- Decommissioned: 31 May 1922
- Fate: Sold for scrap