Maine-class battleship

File:New battleship Maine, building at Cramp Works, Philadelphia - Fred Pansing. LCCN95504590.jpg

By 1897, the US Navy had five battleships under construction, and no plans to request additional units for 1898. With the destruction of the armored cruiser {{USS|Maine|ACR-1|2}} in Havana harbor and the subsequent declaration of war on Spain on 25 April 1898, however, a large naval expansion program was passed through Congress. The program called for three new battleships, the first of which would be named for the destroyed Maine. Design work began immediately, though the broad parameters for the new battleships proved to be contentious. The Board on Construction advocated a design based on {{USS|Iowa|BB-4|2}}, to be armed with 13-, 8-, and 6-inch (330, 203, and 152 mm) guns, though others on the board argued that repeating the {{sclass|Illinois|battleship|4}}, which was armed with {{convert|13|in|abbr=on}} and 6 in guns and had a speed of {{convert|16|kn|lk=in}}, would save construction time. Additionally, they pointed out that 8 in guns could not be incorporated within the displacement limit.{{sfn|Friedman|1985|p=38}}

Several important technological advances had become available by this time, however, which necessitated several changes to the design. The advent of smokeless powder permitted smaller guns with greater muzzle velocities; the Navy had accordingly designed a 12-inch (305 mm) 40-caliber high-velocity gun. In addition, Krupp cemented armor had been developed in Germany; the steel was a significant improvement over the older Harvey process. Since the steel was stronger, thinner armor plating could achieve the same level of protection and more importantly, significant savings in weight. Water-tube boilers were also now sufficiently reliable for use in warships. These were lighter and substantially more efficient than older fire-tube boilers.{{sfn|Friedman|1985|p=38}}

Shortly after the three ships had been authorized, the Navy learned that the Russian battleship {{ship|Russian battleship|Retvizan||2}}, recently ordered from William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia, would be capable of steaming at {{convert|18|kn}}, a margin of {{convert|2|kn}} over the Maine design. The Navy requested that the shipyards submitting designs for the contract increase the speed of their proposed ships to match the Russian vessel. Cramp & Sons responded by lengthening the hull by {{convert|15|ft}} to increase its fineness (and thus reduce drag) and incorporate new Niclausse boilers, while the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company lengthened the hull by {{convert|20|ft}} and increased the horsepower of the propulsion system by sixty percent, to {{convert|16000|ihp|lk=in}}. Ultimately, the Newport design was chosen for the new ships.{{sfn|Friedman|1985|pp=38–41}}

File:Maine-class battleship plan and profile.jpg

The ships of the Maine class were {{convert|388|ft}} long at the waterline and {{convert|393|ft|11|in|abbr=on}} long overall. They had a beam of {{convert|72|ft|3|in|abbr=on}} and a draft of {{convert|23|ft|9|in|abbr=on}} to {{convert|24|ft|4|in|abbr=on}}. They displaced {{convert|12362|to|12846|LT|lk=on}} as designed and up to {{convert|13700|LT}} at full load. The ships had a metacentric height of {{convert|2.36|ft|abbr=on}}. They had a forecastle deck that extended to the main mast. As built, they were fitted with heavy military masts with fighting tops, but these were replaced by cage masts in 1909. They had a crew of 40 officers and 521 enlisted men, which increased to 779–813 officers and men.{{sfn|Campbell|p=142}}{{sfn|Friedman|1985|p=428}}

The ships were powered by two-shaft triple-expansion steam engines rated at {{convert|16000|ihp}}. Steam was provided by twelve coal-fired Thornycroft boilers for Missouri and Ohio, and twenty-four Niclausse boilers for Maine, which were trunked into three tall funnels amidships. The ships' engines generated a top speed of {{convert|18|kn}}, though Ohio only made {{convert|17.82|kn}} on her speed trials. Normal coal capacity was {{convert|1000|LT|0}}, though Maine could carry up to {{convert|1867|LT}}, Missouri had capacity for {{convert|1837|LT}}, and Ohio could store {{convert|2150|LT}} of coal. At a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}, the ships had a designed endurance of {{convert|4900|nmi|lk=in}}, though they could steam for {{convert|5660|nmi|abbr=on}} at that speed. Ohio{{'}}s significantly greater coal capacity allowed her to cruise for {{convert|6560|nmi|abbr=on}} at that speed. Steering was controlled by a single rudder, and the ships had a turning radius of {{convert|350|yd}} at 10 knots.{{sfn|Campbell|p=142}}{{sfn|Friedman|1985|p=428}}

File:USS Maine Battleship BB10 LOC 22465.jpg

The ships were armed with a main battery of four 12-inch/40 caliber Mark 3 guns in two twin gun turrets on the centerline, one forward and aft.{{efn|/40 refers to the length of the gun in terms of calibers. A /40 gun is 40 times long as it is in bore diameter.}} The guns fired a {{convert|870|lb|adj=on}} shell at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|2400|ft/s}}. The turrets were Mark IV mounts, which required the guns to be horizontal to be reloaded. These mounts could elevate to 15 degrees and depress to -5 degrees, and they were electrically operated, and the guns could be operated independently.{{sfn|Friedman 2011|pp=168–169}}

The secondary battery consisted of sixteen 6-inch/50 caliber Mark 6 guns, which were placed in casemates in the hull. Ten were mounted in a battery on the upper deck, four more were located in another battery directly above on the forecastle deck, and the last two were placed in sponsoned casemates in the bow.{{sfn|Campbell|p=142}} They fired a {{convert|105|lb|abbr=on}} shell at {{convert|2800|ft/s|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Friedman 2011|pp=180–181}} For close-range defense against torpedo boats, they carried six 3"/50 caliber gun guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull, eight 3-pounder guns, and six 1-pounder guns. As was standard for capital ships of the period, the Maine-class battleships carried two American 18 inch torpedo torpedo tubes, submerged in her hull on the broadside.{{sfn|Campbell|p=142}} They were initially equipped with the Mark II Whitehead design, which carried a {{convert|140|lb|adj=on}} warhead and had a range of {{convert|800|yd}} at a speed of {{convert|27|kn}}.{{sfn|Friedman 2011|p=341}}

The ships' armor consisted of both Krupp cemented and Harvey steel. Their main armored belt was {{convert|11|in|abbr=on|0}} thick over the magazines and the machinery spaces and tapered down to {{convert|7.5|in|abbr=on|0}} on the lower edge. The belt was {{convert|8.5|in|abbr=on|0}} elsewhere and reduced to {{convert|5.875|in|abbr=on|0}} on the bottom edge. The belt extended from {{convert|3|ft|3|in|abbr=on}} above the waterline to {{convert|4|ft|3|in|abbr=on}} below. The main deck was {{convert|2.5|in|abbr=on|0}} thick and was increased slightly to {{convert|2.75|in|abbr=on|0}} on the sloped sides that connected it to the belt. The deck was increased to 4 in at the stern. The main battery gun turrets had 12 in thick faces, and the supporting barbettes had the same thickness of armor plating on their exposed sides. {{convert|9|in|abbr=on|0}} thick bulkheads connected the belt with the barbettes; behind these, the barbettes were protected with 8 in of steel. Armor that was 6 in thick protected the secondary battery. The conning tower had {{convert|10|in|abbr=on|0}} thick sides with a {{convert|2|in|abbr=on|0}} thick roof.{{sfn|Campbell|p=142}}{{sfn|Friedman|1985|p=428}}

File:USS Missouri fitting out.tiff

File:USS Ohio in the Panama Canal.tiff on 16 July 1915 during a midshipmen training cruise]]

After Maine and Missouri entered service, they were assigned to the North Atlantic Fleet, while Ohio, built on the West Coast of the United States, was instead sent to serve as the flagship of the Asiatic Fleet based in the Philippines. In April 1904, a turret fire killed 36 men aboard Missouri, but the quick action of three men prevented the fire from reaching the magazines and destroying the ship, for which they were awarded the Medal of Honor. In 1907, Ohio returned from the western Pacific and joined her sisters in what was now the Atlantic Fleet.{{efn|name=bundle|See the DANFS entries for Maine,{{sfn|DANFS Maine}} Missouri,{{sfn|DANFS Missouri}} and Ohio,{{sfn|DANFS Ohio}}}} During this period, Maine served as the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet until she was relieved in April 1907.{{sfn|Albertson|p=36}}

In December 1907, the three ships and the other battleships in the Atlantic Fleet steamed out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, at the start of the cruise of the Great White Fleet.{{efn|name=bundle}} The fleet steamed south, around South America and back north to the US west coast. Maine was detached owing to her excessive use of coal along with the battleship {{USS|Alabama|BB-8|2}}; the two ships continued the journey independently and on a greatly shortened itinerary. The rest of the ships then crossed the Pacific and stopped in Australia, the Philippines, and Japan before continuing on through the Indian Ocean. They transited the Suez Canal and toured the Mediterranean before crossing the Atlantic, arriving bank in Hampton Roads on 22 February 1909 for a naval review with President Theodore Roosevelt.{{sfn|Albertson|pp=41–66}}

Over the following six years, the ships had fairly uneventful careers. Missouri spent most of the time out of active service, only recommissioning for summer training cruises with midshipmen from the US Naval Academy. In 1914, Ohio was sent to Mexican waters to protect American interests in the country during the Mexican Revolution. After the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany on 6 April 1917, all three ships were used to train naval recruits for the expanding wartime fleet. Following the German surrender in November 1918, Missouri was used to ferry American soldiers back from France,{{efn|name=bundle}} though the other two vessels were not so employed, since their short range and lack of sufficient accommodations would have made them inefficient transports.{{sfn|Jones|p=121}} The three ships remained in active service only very briefly after the war. Ohio was decommissioned in January 1919 and Missouri and Maine followed in September 1919 and May 1920, respectively. All three ships were sold for scrap, with Maine and Missouri going to the breakers' yard in January 1922 and Ohio joining them in March 1923.{{efn|name=bundle}}

{{Commons category}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|20em}}

• {{cite book

| last = Albertson

| first = Mark

| title = U.S.S. Connecticut: Constitution State Battleship

| location = Mustang

| publisher = Tate Publishing

| year = 2007

| isbn = 978-1-59886-739-8

| ref={{sfnRef|Albertson}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Campbell

| first = N. J. M.

| chapter = United States of America

| pages = 114–169

| editor1-last = Chesneau

| editor1-first = Roger

| editor2-last = Kolesnik

| editor2-first = Eugene M.

| year = 1979

| title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905

| publisher = Conway Maritime Press

| location = Greenwich

| isbn = 978-0-85177-133-5

| ref = {{sfnRef|Campbell}}

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2

| name-list-style=amp

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Friedman

| first = Norman

| year = 2011

| title = Naval Weapons of World War One

| publisher = Naval Institute Press

| location = Annapolis

| isbn = 978-1-84832-100-7

| ref = {{sfnRef|Friedman 2011}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Friedman

| first = Norman

| year = 1985

| title = U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History

| location = Annapolis

| publisher = Naval Institute Press

| isbn = 978-0-87021-715-9

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Jones

|first=Jerry W.

|title=U.S. Battleship Operations in World War I

|location=Annapolis

|publisher=Naval Institute Press

|year=1998

|isbn=978-1-55750-411-1

|ref={{sfnRef|Jones}}

}}

• {{cite web

|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/maine-ii.html

|title=Maine (Battleship No. 10) ii

|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

|publisher=Naval History & Heritage Command

|date=29 January 2015

|access-date=24 June 2015

|ref={{sfnRef|DANFS Maine}}

}}

• {{cite web

|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/o/ohio-iii.html

|title=Ohio III (Battleship No. 12)

|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

|publisher=Naval History & Heritage Command

|date=24 June 2015

|access-date=24 June 2015

|ref={{sfnRef|DANFS Ohio}}

}}

• {{cite web

|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/missouri--battleship-no--11-.html

|title=Missouri II (Battleship No. 11)

|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

|publisher=Naval History & Heritage Command

|date=15 May 2000

|access-date=24 June 2015

|ref={{sfnRef|DANFS Missouri}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Alden

| first = John D.

| year = 1989

| title = American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet

| location = Annapolis

| publisher = Naval Institute Press

| isbn = 978-0-87021-248-2

}}

• {{cite book

| last1 = Reilly

| first1 = John C.

| last2 = Scheina

| first2 = Robert L.

| year = 1980

| title = American Battleships 1886–1923: Predreadnought Design and Construction

| publisher = Naval Institute Press

| location = Annapolis

| isbn = 978-0-87021-524-7

}}

• {{cite journal|last1=Sieche|first1=Erwin F.|year=1990 |title=Austria-Hungary's Last Visit to the USA|journal=Warship International|volume=XXVII |issue=2 |pages=142–164 |issn=0043-0374}}

{{Maine class battleship}}

{{WWI US ships}}

Category:Battleship classes

Maine class battleship