RECYCLED BATTLESHIPS

RECYCLED BATTLESHIPS Recalling the Multiple Careers of a Trio of NNS-Built BB s Between 1900 and 1942, the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company (NNS) produced fourteen battleships for the United States Navy. Several of them participated in the Great White Fleet s around the world cruise in 1907-1909. Others served in both world wars. Two NNS-built battleships were sunk on December 7 th at Pearl Harbor; a third was slightly damaged. They were repaired and served until the end of World War II. Ultimately, all fourteen were retired from naval service as aircraft carriers took the place of battleships as the Navy s heavy hitters. But before they were decommissioned for good, three of them were extensively modified. KEARSARGE, ILLINOIS and MISSISSIPPI each made additional and diverse contributions to the Navy for a number of years after their big guns were removed.

USS KEARSARGE (BB-5) ~ CRANE SHIP NO. 1 (AB-1) When the bids for two pre-dreadnought era battleships were opened by the United States Navy in late 1895, NNS was declared to be the low bidder at $2,250,000 per ship. Although the company had not delivered any vessels to the Navy at that time, it did have three gunboats under construction. A contract for two battlesgips, designated as BB-5 and BB-6, was signed by the Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding on January 2, 1896. NNS celebrated its tenth anniversary of existence at the end of that same month. NNS Hull Numbers 18 and 19 were soon assigned to the first two NNS-built battleships. A few months later, on June 30, 1896, their keels were laid on adjacent shipways in a duplicate ceremony. The lead ship of her class, BB-5 was named KEARSARGE by a special act of Congress, in honor of the famous Union sloop which had defeated the Confederate raider CSS ALABAMA during the Civil War. BB-5 thus became the only US battleship not named in honor of a state. BB-6 was given the name KENTUCKY. NNS Hulls #18 and 19 were 375.3 feet long, with a beam of 72.3 feet and a draft of 23.5 feet. They displaced 11,540 tons each and their design speed was 16 knots. On trial in 1899, they both exceeded this later requirement by almost a full knot. Both battleships were fitted with five coal-fired boilers and twin steam reciprocating main engines that collectively developed a total of 10,000 SHP. A holdover from prior naval practices, they had pronounced and reinforced ram bows, which produced unusual bow waves when the ships were underway. Their main armament was four 13-inch guns, mounted in two turrets positioned fore and aft. An additional four 8-inch guns were superimposed atop what were called two story turrets, resulting in overly complex loading arrangements. Smaller caliber guns, installed in casemates along both sides, were augmented by the installation of four above-water torpedo tubes. Each ship was manned by a total of crew consisting of 553 officers and enlisted men. 2

March 24, 1898 was by far the biggest day in the early history of NNS. On that Tuesday, the two battleships were both christened and launched between ten AM and noon before a crowd of 18,000. Contemporary accounts called it a world launching record and further excitedly exclaimed that never before had such immense concentrations of weight and potential power been launched the same day by any shipyard. KEARSARGE (on the left) was the first of the sister ships to slid into the James River. BB-5 was christened with the traditional bottle of champagne by the wife of Commander Herbert Winslow, USN; son of Captain John Winslow, who had commanded the battleship s namesake during the Civil War. While that first battleship launch at NNS was traditional, exciting and satisfying, it couldn t match what happened about an hour and a half later. When it was time for KENTUCKY to be christened, the daughter of the namesake state s Governor ignored naval tradition and broke a bottle of spring water on the ship s bow. Supposedly drawn from a spring on the Kentucky farm were Abraham Lincoln was born, the use of water had been encouraged by the Woman s Christian Temperance Union. This controversial act, which many thought would curse the ship, was somewhat negated when attending Kentuckians hurled several bottles of Kentucky whiskey against the vessel s side as she made her slide to the sea. For years afterwards, KENTUCKY (BB-6) was dubbed the most christened vessel in the United States Navy. BB-6 served without serious accident or incident for decades, following her commissioning in 1900. Amongst other accomplishments, she participated in the Great White Fleet s around the world cruise and also in World War I before being scrapped in 1924 as a part of America s compliance with the post-war naval arms reduction treaty. Delivered on February 20, 1900, KEARSARGE (BB-5) led a much longer and more diverse existence than her sister ship, BB-6. After taking part in the 1907-1909 epic voyage, KEARSARGE was fitted with cage masts and new boilers in 1912. She served off Mexico in 1914-15, and was then relegated to training duties. 3

Her extremely tall cage masts served as platforms for her crew when spotting the fall of the ship s naval gunfire. During World War I she helped train thousands of armed guard crews, gunners and observers. She was used for the Naval Academy Midshipman's cruise in 1919 and was then taken out of service in 1920. But she was soon to embark on a second and decidedly different career. Over a two year period, the Philadelphia Navy Yard converted her into a one-of-a-kind auxiliary vessel. Her superstructure was radically reduced in size, and a giant 250-ton, 360-degree revolving crane was installed amidships. Her military equipment was removed and huge side blisters were added for stability, increasing her beam by twenty feet. She retained her engines, some boilers and her forward smoke stack, which were put to limited use during the early years of her service as an auxiliary vessel. Following recommissioning and reentry into service in 1922, the former battleship served for another 33 years as a heavy-lift crane ship before being sold for scrap in 1955. Recommissioned in 1922, she was carried on the Navy's register of ships as an "unclassified" vessel and most often referred to as CRANE SHIP NO. 1, although her original name also appeared on naval records. The alpha-numerical designation AB-1 replaced her prior battleship identification number of BB-5. Curiously, while CRANE SHIP NO. 1 was painted near her stern, on both sides of her hull; her original name remained in place across her counter for almost two decades. In November 1941, she was formally renamed CRANE SHIP NO. 1, and her famous name was removed and assigned to an aircraft carrier under construction at NNS. 4

Following successful capacity load testing of her massive crane in 1922, she was based at the Boston Naval Shipyard until 1926. After being towed through the Panama Canal, she spent ten years at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. While on the West Coast, she was often put to work replacing the multi-ton naval rifles of her modern-day battleship counterparts, as depicted here. In 1936, she was towed back to Boston. Prior to, and during World War II, she provided heavy lift capability during the construction of battleships at east coast shipyards, including the battleship ALABAMA while being built at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Reportedly, she also assisted in the construction of the battleship INDIANA (NNS Hull #378); the last battleship of the fourteen built in Newport News, Virginia. CRANE SHIP NO. 1 was towed back to the Pacific in 1945, but returned to the Atlantic side of America in 1948 to serve at the Boston Naval Shipyard for a few more years. During her final tour of duty, this one-of-a-kind naval auxiliary helped that New England shipyard perform several jobs that involved heavy lift needs beyond the Boston yard s shore-based capability. On June 25, 1955, after it had been determined that her equipment was too worn out for further service, this once-proud battleship was stricken from the Navy list. Two months later, she was sold for scrap and towed to Baltimore to be cut up. She left behind one of her original 1890 s-vintage anchors, which remained on display at the now-defunct Boston Naval Shipyard for an unknown period of time. Perhaps it is still there, commemorating the 55-plus years of service of NNS Hull #18. 5

USS ILLINOIS (BB-7) ~ USS PRAIRIE STATE (IX-15) Less than a year after being awarded the contract for BB-5 and BB-6, NNS was low bidder on a single ship contact to construct the lead ship in a class of battleships considered to be an improvement over the KEARSARGE class. Designated by the Navy as BB-7, what was to become NNS Hull #21 was given the name USS ILLINOIS. NNS third battleship was launched shortly after noon on October 4, 1898. Her principal dimensions and hull shape were similar to those of her earlier counterparts. However, her design featured several differences, including thinner protective armor and the elimination of the four 8-inch secondary guns fitted in the KEARSARGE class. This latter change made the use of the unique two-story gun turrets installed in her predecessors unnecessary. Below deck, a centrally grouped boiler layout resulted in the arrangement of BB-7 s uptakes in a configuration that allowed her twin smoke stacks to be placed side-by-side, rather than in the conventional fore-and-aft manner. On trials, ILLINOIS surpassed her design speed of 16 knots. Her maximum speed - 17.31 knots- was proudly displayed by her builders on the sides of her after main gun turret before delivery to the Navy in September of 1901. 6

In the early twentieth century, American battleships routinely were fitted with above-water torpedo tubes that fired out of hinged openings in the ship s hull. They were mounted on wheeled carriages to permit training the tubes in the fore-and-aft direction. Storage for torpedoes was provided nearby, but they were only protected by an expanded metal enclosure; as a close inspection of this 1902 photograph taken onboard the ILLINOIS indicates. BB-7 was one of the sixteen coalfired battleships that comprised the Great White Fleet, sent around the world by President Theodore Roosevelt between December 16, 1907 and February 22, 1909. All of these vessels were painted white with buff superstructures and stacks, and all had elaborately gilded scrollwork on their bows. The fourteen-month long voyage was a grand pageant of American sea power. Many of the fleet s 14,000 sailors were kept busy while at sea keeping the vessels looking sharp, externally. Below decks, the grimy and unrelenting task of feeding coal into the boilers was performed by a large percentage of the ship s 660- man crew that was known as the black gang. When it came time to replenish the 850-ton capacity coal bunkers, the services of the vessels entire enlisted complement was pressed into service to manhandle the mounds of coal dumped on the weather decks. When that hours-long chore was completed, the ships and their crews were left unbelievably dirty, necessitating another round of heavy-duty cleaning before getting underway. 7

Sometime after the completion of that historic voyage, BB-7 had her boilers replaced to permit automatic stoking of fireboxes. In addition, her top hamper was replaced with towering cage masts which radically changed her appearance. Her guilded bow decoration was removed, and she was repainted battleship grey. Following the end of World War I, the ship was laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard along with several other vintage battleships. In October of 1923, the battleship ILLINOIS was loaned by the Navy to the State of New York for use by that state s naval militia. Excluded from further use as a warship by the terms of the naval arms reduction treaty, BB-7 was extensively modified and fitted out as a floating armory at the New York Navy Shipyard in 1924, and was assigned to the New York Naval Reserve. Looking more like a top-heavy prairie wagon than a warship, she remained there for more than 30 years. Her designation was changed to IX-15 in early 1941 and she was officially renamed USS PRAIRIE STATE. However, the highlighted letters - I L L I N O I S - were never removed from her stern. Her latein-life name change was necessitated by the Navy s desire to assign her original name to a projected (but never completed) battleship of the IOWA-Class; the USS ILLINOIS (BB-65). During World War II, IX-15 served as a Naval Reserve Midshipmen Training School in New York. Following the war, she was retained by the state as quarters for a Naval Reserve unit until March of 1956. Considered somewhat of a firetrap due to her largely wooden superstructure, she was decommissioned after 55 years of service. Towed to Baltimore, Maryland two months later, this veteran vessel was soon reduced to scrap. Shortly after being commissioned in 1901, BB-7 was presented a silver service by her namesake state. The service consisted of a large and a small punch bowl, two candelabra, and a large number of serving pieces. Each item featured engravings of the crest of Illinois and an ear of corn. The silver pieces were presented to the state of Illinois when the ship was decommissioned, and are on display in the Illinois Governor s Mansion. 8

USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) ~ USS MISSISSIPPI (AG-128) After delivering seven of the pre-dreadnought type of battleships between 1900 and 1907, NNS completed two more battleships of the dreadnought type before World War I. The shipyard then built four more battleships of what the Navy classified as its Standard Battleship design. The USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) was the second of that group to be built by Newport News Shipbuilding. World War I begun during the summer of 1914. Although the United States did not enter that conflict until almost three years later, the protectionist military build-up domestically that resulted due to world events included expansion and modernization of the fleet. Three battleships of the NEW MEXICO-Class were ordered by the Navy in November of 1914. The contract for one of these vessels was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding. Accordingly, NNS Hull #185 was assigned, and her keel was laid on April 5, 1915. Compared to BB-5 and BB-7, this battleship was designed to be far larger, faster and more capable than any of the Navy s turn-of-the-century naval vessels. Almost twice as long, at 624 feet overall, and half again as wide; BB-41 s standard displacement was roughly three times bigger at 32,000 tons. Her design draft of 31 feet required a propulsion plant capable of producing 32,000 SHP to move her bulk through the seas at a designated 21 knots. State-of-the-art at the time, her design featured nine oil-fired boilers that exhausted via a single funnel. Four sets of geared turbines were coupled to a like number of shafts; each of which was fitted with propellers measuring 12.25 feet in diameter. BB-41 s main armament was twelve 14-in guns, mounted in four triple turrets. Her original secondary armament was twenty 5-inch guns positioned in hull and superstructure casemates. Antiaircraft weaponry completed her defensive features. Design holdovers from the past, she also was initially fitted with two submerged torpedo tubes and two cage masts. But long gone were the ram-like, armored underwater bow extensions of yesteryear. Named after the state of Mississippi, BB-41 was launched on January 25, 1917. Her sponsor was Miss Camelle McBeath, daughter of the Chairman of the Mississippi State Highway Commission. Less than three months later, the United States formally entered World War I. Rushed to completion, the USS MISSISSIPPI was commissioned on December 18, 1917. 9

Although America was heavily engaged in the war in Europe by the time BB-41 was completed, ironically her modern design precluded MISSISSIPPI from becoming directly involved. Only vessels that burned coal could be supported in England and France; there were no adequate fuel oil facilities in either county. For the remainder of World War I, she was engaged in training and limited operations off America s east coast. In July 1919 she left the Atlantic and sailed for the west coast. She operated along the Pacific coast of America for the next several years, entering the Caribbean during the winter months for training exercises. During gunnery practice on June 12, 1924 off San Pedro, 48 of her men died as a result of an explosion in her #2 main battery turret. Returning to the east coast in 1931, MISSISSIPPI entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for modernization. Over the next two years, her cage masts were removed and replaced by an all-new superstructure. Enhanced anti-torpedo protection and spotter aircraft catapults were included. When she came out of the shipyard, her profile had changed dramatically. Returning to the west coast, she operated in the Pacific as a part of the battle fleet for the next several years. In June 1941, in response to the deteriorating war situation in Europe, she was brought back to the Atlantic and operated between the United States and Iceland; often in heavy weather. Two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor destroyed most of the battleships moored there, she returned to the Pacific theatre of operations. 10

For the remainder of World War II, she operated in the Pacific. In the process of earning eight battle stars during that conflict, she ranged from the Aleutians to the South Pacific, and from America s west coast to the shore of Japan. In 1943, she suffered another turret explosion, which took 43 lives. During repairs at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, her antiaircraft capability was increased by adding as many 20 mm and 40 mm guns as her decks could accommodate. Twice in the late stages of the war she was damaged by suicide planes, but continued to support amphibious operations in the Philippines and at Okinawa. After the announced surrender of Japan, BB-41 supported the initial landing of the Allied occupation force on the island of Honshu. MISSISSIPPI was present in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, when Japan formally surrendered. A few days later, she steamed home; arriving in late November 1945 at the Norfolk Navy Yard for yet another major conversion. When the USS MISSISSIPPI emerged from the shipyard in February 1946, she was no longer a battleship; although, for a short period of time, she retained her #4 main gun turret. Reclassified as a naval auxiliary vessel, and given the number AG-128, she spent the last decade of her 38-year career carrying out investigations of gunnery problems and testing new weapons, while based at the Naval Operating Base in Norfolk, VA. Her mix of weapons and detection devices changed frequently during that period of her service. 11

MISSISSIPPI helped launch the Navy into the age of guided-missiles when she successfully test fired a Terrier missile in early 1953. Her final assignment was to test a radarhoming anti-missile weapon in February 1956. AG-128 was decommissioned on September 17, 1956 at Norfolk, within sight of her Newport News birthplace. A proposal by the State of Mississippi to further utilize the vessel as a floating museum never came to fruition. Instead, she was sold by the Navy for scrap in late November, 1956. However, naval officials saw to it that the battleship s namesake state received her bell. Today, that artifact is located in a place of honor in the garden of the Rosalie Mansion and Museum in Natchez, Mississippi; overlooking the Mississippi River. Twenty years after BB-41 became but a memory, another USS MISSISSIPPI became a reality when NNS Hull #607 was launched. Every bit as much a state-of-art design as her predecessor, MISSISSIPPI (CGN-40) had roughly the same dimensions as BB-41, but only one-third her displacement. With almost twice the shaft horse power, CGN-40 s twin nuclear reactors propelled her at speeds in excess of thirty knots. Her multiple missile launchers were direct descendents of the early models first tested by MISSISSIPPI (AG-128). 12

~ Postscript ~ Four side-bars are provided below to augment the story of the trio of recycled battleships built by Newport News Shipbuilding. Inclusion of what I like to call ministories in the body of the principal story would have been unnecessarily distracting, in my opinion. Just think of what follows, to some extent, as the rest of the story. Bill Lee August 2012 THE FOUR TYPES OF AMERICAN BATTLESHIPS This essay mentions the four distinct types of battleships that the Navy developed between the late nineteenth century and World War II. Newport News Shipbuilding built seven ships, including KEARSARGE and ILLINOIS of what later became known as predreadnought vessels, following the creation of HMS DREADNOUGHT in 1906. The term dreadnought symbolized early twentieth century battleships which featured an 'all-big-gun' armament scheme, and were powered by steam turbines. NNS built two battleships of the dreadnought type. One of them still survives as a museum ship...but that s another lengthy story to be told at some future time. By the advent of World War I, the Navy was building even larger, more heavily armed and faster vessels; called the Standard Battleship type. NNS produced four such vessels, including MISSISSIPPI. The last battleships developed and built by the Navy were referred to as the World War II type. NNS built one of these battleships. INDIANA (BB-58) was launched a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor, then rushed to completion over the next four months. WHY ANOTHER KEARSARGE WAS NOT BUILT AT NNS Earlier mention was made of the necessity to rename KEARSARGE (BB-7/AB-1) in 1941 so that an aircraft carrier being built at NNS could use that famous name. As so often happened during Word War II, the intended vessel, an Essex-Class carrier, was renamed before being christened. CV-12 (NNS Hull #395) was named after another NNS-built carrier, HORNET (CV-8), which had been sunk in battle. The surplus name of KEARSARGE was eventually assigned to CV-33; one of 24 Essex-Class vessels constructed to the Newport News design for this largest class of American aircraft carriers ever built. CV-33 was laid down in 1944 by the New York Navy Yard, but was not completed in time to participate in World War II. 13

ERRATA CONCERNING CRANE SHIP NO. 1 There are numerous notations in various books and documents which state that CRANE SHIP NO. 1 raised the stricken submarine USS SQUALUS (SS-192) in 1939. However, official documents concerning that salvage operation do not mention the crane ship. Credit for raising the sub is attributed to utilizing cables passed beneath her sunken hull and attached to salvage pontoons on each side. Many photos of the salvage operation off the New England coast depict the pontoons. None include CRANE SHIP NO. 1, although she may have helped prepare the pontoons for use dockside, since she was based in nearby Boston at the time. In addition, the SQUALUS displacement was 1,450 tons; a weight far in excess of what AB-1 s 250 ton crane could have handled. This erroneous claim may be due to the fact that the crane ship did raise a fishing trawler that had sunk in Massachusetts Bay in September 1952. This photograph shows that salvage operation in which Crane Ship No. 1 successfully raised the 170 ton fishing vessel as a flotilla of small craft crowded around. ALWAYS GOOD SHIPS Collis Potter Huntington surely didn t have the concept of recycled battleships in mind in 1893 when he wrote a letter to shipyard president Calvin Orcutt. At that time, the shipyard s founder expressed some concern about the low bid recently tendered by NNS for three gunboats and the possibility of the resultant contract turning a profit (it didn t). But in that same letter, Mr. Huntington wrote: I want you to turn out as good, or better, ships of this class than have ever been built before for the Government. I would rather lose money on a first-class ship than to make money on one that did not give satisfaction to the Government. In all probability, that sentiment was the inspiration for the shipyard s motto later affixed to what is now generally called the Huntington Monument. Always good ships, indeed including a trio of battleships whose sturdy construction allowed them to serve in ways not originally contemplated by anyone at the time of their creation as battleships. 14