.gif)
USS Georgia (BB-15)
Encyclopedia
USS Georgia (BB-15) was a United States Navy
. She was the first ship to carry her name.
Georgia was launched by the Bath Iron Works
of Bath, Maine
on 11 October 1904, sponsored by Miss Stella Tate, sister of Georgia
Congressman Farish Carter Tate
and commissioned at Boston Navy Yard
on 24 September 1906, Captain
R. G. Davenport in command.
as flagship
of 2nd Division
, Squadron 1. Georgia departed Hampton Roads on 26 March 1907 for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where she participated in gunnery practice with the fleet. After returning briefly to Boston Navy Yard for repairs, Georgia joined with other ships of the Atlantic Fleet in ceremonies opening the Jamestown Exposition
. President
Theodore Roosevelt
and dignitaries present reviewed
the fleet on 10 June 1907, and 11 June was proclaimed "Georgia Day" at the exposition in special ceremonies aboard Georgia.
Georgia next sailed with the fleet for target practice in Cape Cod Bay
, arriving on 15 June. On 15 July, a powder charge ignited prematurely in her aft 8 in (203.2 mm) turret
, killing 10 officers and men and injuring 11. Condolences for the loss from this tragic accident were received from all over the world.
The powerful battleship then participated in the tercentenary of the landing of the first English Colonists from 16–21 August, after which she rejoined the fleet for battle maneuvers before mooring at League Island
, Philadelphia on 24 September for overhaul.
Arriving in Hampton Roads on 7 December, Georgia gathered with 15 other battleships, a torpedo boat
squadron, and transports for the great naval review
preceding the cruise of the Atlantic Fleet to the West Coast. On 16 December, President Roosevelt reviewed the assembled "Great White Fleet
" from the yacht and sent it on the first leg of an around-the-world voyage of training, and building of American prestige and good will. Visiting many South American countries and their highly successful cruise, the fleet met with ships of the Pacific Fleet
in another review in San Francisco Bay
for the Secretary of the Navy on 8 May 1908. In 1908, Templin Potts
took command. Then Georgia, in company with other battleships and supply vessels, departed San Francisco on 7 July for the second leg of the cruise, showing the flag and bringing the message of American sea power to many parts of the world, including the Philippines
, Australia, Japan, and Mediterranean ports. The fleet then returned to Hampton Roads on 22 February 1909.
At this point, she was overhauled, and received cage masts that were the hallmark of so many US battleships of this era. Georgia continued to serve with the Atlantic Fleet in exercises and battle maneuvers—with periods of overhaul interspersed—until 2 November 1910, when President William Howard Taft
reviewed the fleet prior to its departure for France. In an elaborate battle and scouting problem, Georgia and the other battleships continued their training, visiting Weymouth, England, and returning to Guantanamo Bay on 13 March 1911.
From 1911-1913, Georgia continued to train and serve as a ceremonial ship, and on 5 June 1913 participated in a two-month practice cruise for United States Naval Academy
midshipmen
. After a long overhaul period in Boston Navy Yard
, Georgia arrived off the coast of Mexico
on 14 January 1914 with other fleet units to protect American interests in the troubled Veracruz-Tampico
area. The battleship returned briefly to Norfolk, Virginia
in March, but was soon back cruising Mexican waters, and from August-October cruised off Haiti
for the protection of American civilians in that country.
After another period of overhaul, Georgia joined the fleet off Cuba on 25 February 1915 for winter maneuvers, and spent the rest of the year in training and ceremonial duties with the Atlantic Fleet Battleship Force. She arrived at Boston Navy Yard for overhaul on 20 December and decommissioned on 27 January 1916.
, and commissioned again on 6 April 1917. For the next 18 months, she operated with 3rd Division, Battleship Force, in fleet tactical exercises and merchant crew gunnery training, based in the York River
, Virginia. She joined with Cruiser Force Atlantic briefly in September 1918 to escort convoy
s to meet their eastern escorts, and beginning on 10 December was fitted out as a transport and attached to the Cruiser and Transport Force
for the purpose of returning troops of the American Expeditionary Force
(AEF) to the United States. Georgia made five voyages to France from December 1918-June 1919 and brought home nearly 6,000 soldiers.
for the limitation of naval armaments, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 10 November.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. She was the first ship to carry her name.
Georgia was launched by the Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...
of Bath, Maine
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...
on 11 October 1904, sponsored by Miss Stella Tate, sister of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
Congressman Farish Carter Tate
Farish Carter Tate
Farish Carter Tate was a Georgia state legislator, U.S. Representative and lawyer.Tate was born in Jasper, Georgia, in 1856. He attended North Georgia Agricultural College in Dahlonega...
and commissioned at Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
on 24 September 1906, Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
R. G. Davenport in command.
Pre-World War I
After Georgia was fitted out and completed a short shakedown cruise, she joined the Atlantic FleetUnited States Fleet Forces Command
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
as flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of 2nd Division
2nd Division
-Infantry divisions:*2nd Division *2nd Canadian Division*2nd Canadian Infantry Division*2nd Division of the Colombian National Army*2nd Infantry Division *2nd Moroccan Infantry Division *2nd Infantry Division...
, Squadron 1. Georgia departed Hampton Roads on 26 March 1907 for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where she participated in gunnery practice with the fleet. After returning briefly to Boston Navy Yard for repairs, Georgia joined with other ships of the Atlantic Fleet in ceremonies opening the Jamestown Exposition
Jamestown Exposition
The Jamestown Exposition was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States in the early part of the 20th century...
. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
and dignitaries present reviewed
Naval Review
A Naval Review is an event, where the whole of the US Navy is paraded to be reviewed by the president or the Secretary of the Navy. It often includes delegates from other national navies. It is more regular and frequent than its British equivalent, the Fleet Review, and often occurs on a Navy...
the fleet on 10 June 1907, and 11 June was proclaimed "Georgia Day" at the exposition in special ceremonies aboard Georgia.
Georgia next sailed with the fleet for target practice in Cape Cod Bay
Cape Cod Bay
Cape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Measuring below a line drawn from Brant Rock in Marshfield to Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts, it is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south and east, and Plymouth County, Massachusetts, to the west....
, arriving on 15 June. On 15 July, a powder charge ignited prematurely in her aft 8 in (203.2 mm) turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
, killing 10 officers and men and injuring 11. Condolences for the loss from this tragic accident were received from all over the world.
The powerful battleship then participated in the tercentenary of the landing of the first English Colonists from 16–21 August, after which she rejoined the fleet for battle maneuvers before mooring at League Island
League Island
League Island was an island in the Delaware River, part of the city of Philadelphia, just upstream from the mouth of the Schuylkill River, which was the site of the Philadelphia shipyard, which eventually became the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, now known as the Philadelphia Naval Business...
, Philadelphia on 24 September for overhaul.
Arriving in Hampton Roads on 7 December, Georgia gathered with 15 other battleships, a torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
squadron, and transports for the great naval review
Naval Review
A Naval Review is an event, where the whole of the US Navy is paraded to be reviewed by the president or the Secretary of the Navy. It often includes delegates from other national navies. It is more regular and frequent than its British equivalent, the Fleet Review, and often occurs on a Navy...
preceding the cruise of the Atlantic Fleet to the West Coast. On 16 December, President Roosevelt reviewed the assembled "Great White Fleet
Great White Fleet
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with...
" from the yacht and sent it on the first leg of an around-the-world voyage of training, and building of American prestige and good will. Visiting many South American countries and their highly successful cruise, the fleet met with ships of the Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
in another review in San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
for the Secretary of the Navy on 8 May 1908. In 1908, Templin Potts
Templin Potts
Templin Morris Potts was a United States Navy Captain and the 11th Naval Governor of Guam. He held many important posts during his time in the Navy, including Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Naval attaché to Kaiser Wilhelm II, and aid for naval personnel...
took command. Then Georgia, in company with other battleships and supply vessels, departed San Francisco on 7 July for the second leg of the cruise, showing the flag and bringing the message of American sea power to many parts of the world, including the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Australia, Japan, and Mediterranean ports. The fleet then returned to Hampton Roads on 22 February 1909.
At this point, she was overhauled, and received cage masts that were the hallmark of so many US battleships of this era. Georgia continued to serve with the Atlantic Fleet in exercises and battle maneuvers—with periods of overhaul interspersed—until 2 November 1910, when President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
reviewed the fleet prior to its departure for France. In an elaborate battle and scouting problem, Georgia and the other battleships continued their training, visiting Weymouth, England, and returning to Guantanamo Bay on 13 March 1911.
From 1911-1913, Georgia continued to train and serve as a ceremonial ship, and on 5 June 1913 participated in a two-month practice cruise for United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
midshipmen
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
. After a long overhaul period in Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
, Georgia arrived off the coast of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
on 14 January 1914 with other fleet units to protect American interests in the troubled Veracruz-Tampico
Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, directly north across the border from Veracruz. Tampico is the third largest city in Tamaulipas, and counts with a population of 309,003. The Metropolitan area of...
area. The battleship returned briefly to Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
in March, but was soon back cruising Mexican waters, and from August-October cruised off Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
for the protection of American civilians in that country.
After another period of overhaul, Georgia joined the fleet off Cuba on 25 February 1915 for winter maneuvers, and spent the rest of the year in training and ceremonial duties with the Atlantic Fleet Battleship Force. She arrived at Boston Navy Yard for overhaul on 20 December and decommissioned on 27 January 1916.
World War I
Assigned as a receiving ship at Boston, Georgia was called to duty at the entry of the United States into World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and commissioned again on 6 April 1917. For the next 18 months, she operated with 3rd Division, Battleship Force, in fleet tactical exercises and merchant crew gunnery training, based in the York River
York River (Virginia)
The York River is a navigable estuary, approximately long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from at its head to near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area including portions of 17 counties of the coastal plain of Virginia north...
, Virginia. She joined with Cruiser Force Atlantic briefly in September 1918 to escort convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
s to meet their eastern escorts, and beginning on 10 December was fitted out as a transport and attached to the Cruiser and Transport Force
Cruiser and Transport Force
The Cruiser and Transport Service was a unit of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet during World War I that was responsible for transporting American men and materiel to France.- Composition :...
for the purpose of returning troops of the American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
(AEF) to the United States. Georgia made five voyages to France from December 1918-June 1919 and brought home nearly 6,000 soldiers.
Inter-war period
Georgia was next transferred to the Pacific Fleet as flagship of Division 2, Squadron 1. She left Boston for San Diego on 16 July 1919, and after participating in ceremonial operations for two months, entered Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs on 20 September. Here, Georgia staged until decommissioning on 15 July 1920. She was eventually sold for scrap on 1 November 1923 in accordance with the Washington Naval TreatyWashington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
for the limitation of naval armaments, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 10 November.