AN HISTORICAL RECORD OF THOSE NOW IN SERVICE AND OF THEIR PREDECESSORS OF THE SAME NAME
1776-1915
UTAH
Utah.—One of the United States, which takes its name from an Indian tribe known as the Utes or Yutas, whose hunting grounds embraced three-fourths of the territory enclosed by the present boundaries. By the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, signed in 1848, Utah came under the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and in 1896 was admitted to the Union.
The Utah is a battleship of the first class, laid down on November 24, 1908, and launched from the ways of the New York Shipbuilding Company on December 23, 1909. Her over-all dimensions are 521 feet 6 inches length and 88 feet 3 inches breadth, with a mean draft of 28 feet 6 inches. Her displacement, on this draft, is 21,825 tons. She carries 2500 tons of coal and 400 of fuel oil. The machinery installation of the Utah consists of Parsons 4-screw steam turbines and Babcock and Wilcox water-tube boilers, together with the usual auxiliary machinery. While running at full speed the revolutions per minute of the turbines are about 330, and the horse-power developed is about 28,000, which, on her trial trip, enabled her to exceed her required speed of 20.75 knots.
Like her sister ship, the Florida, the Utah carries a battery of ten 12-inch rifles mounted in pairs in balanced turrets. All of the guns being placed on the center-line, they can all be trained on either broadside, while dead ahead or astern four guns can be fired. The secondary battery consists of sixteen 50-caliber 5-inch guns, eight of which are carried on the gun-deck within a central battery, four aft on the same deck, and four forward on the main deck.
The Utah also has two submerged torpedo tubes, four 3-pounders, two saluting guns, two field pieces, and two machine guns.
For the protection of her hull, the ship has a main belt, 8 feet wide, of 11-inch steel, above which is a second belt 9 inches in thickness. The turrets have 12 to 8 inches of protection, while the secondary battery amidships is shielded by inches of armor. The Utah was authorized by the Act of Congress approved May 13, 1908, and she was laid down at Camden, N. J., on March 15, 1909. She has two smokestacks and two fire-control masts, and carries a complement of 60 officers and 888 men.
The Utah went into commission at the Philadelphia navy yard on August 31, 1911, and nine days later proceeded to New York to complete her installations. She was in command of Captain William S. Benson. Her first duty was with the Atlantic fleet during the annual mobilization and review, after which she made her shaking down cruise and her final acceptance trials. In March, 1912, she was assigned to the Atlantic fleet, and for a year she participated in the usual maneuvers, target practices, and evolutions, until March 31, 1913, when she proceeded to the New York navy yard for her regular overhaul period.
On June 25, 1913, Captain Benson was relieved by Captain Louis S. Van Duzer, who continued in command of the Utah until April 8, 1914. In the meantime, in obedience to urgent orders, the ship had been detached from the fleet and sent to Vera Cruz, where she arrived on February 16, in company with the Florida, for the protection of American interests. From April 10 to April 15, the Utah was off the Panuco River receiving on board refugees from Tampico, but on the 16th the ship was hurried back to Vera Cruz, where, on the 21st, her landing force was sent ashore to reinforce the Florida’s battalion and the marines who, earlier in the day, had taken possession of the custom house and cable office. With the arrival of the Atlantic fleet on the scene, the occupation of Vera Cruz was then completed. All this time the Utah was in charge of her executive officer, Commander Cone, until Captain John H. Gibbons could reach Vera Cruz and assume command (April 22, 1914).
From this date on followed weary weeks of watchful waiting. Then, on June 15, the Utah received orders to return north for overhaul, and on the 23d she arrived at New York. On July 2, when Captain Gibbons left the ship, Commander F. H. Clark took command, and he in turn was succeeded by Captain Albert Gleaves (September 29, 1914,), under whom the Utah continued with the Atlantic fleet.
FLORIDA
Florida.—The southernmost state of the United States on the Atlantic coast, and so named by Ponce de Leon because he discovered it on Easter Day (Pascua florida). It was settled by the Spaniards in 1513 and 1565, and by Huguenots in 1562. In 1763 it was ceded to England, then to Spain in 1783, and finally to the United States in 1819. Florida was admitted to the Union in 1845.
The battleship Florida is the fourth ship to bear the name of the Peninsula State. She was authorized by Act of Congress approved May 13, 1908, and laid down at the New York navy yard on March 9, 1909. Her displacement is 21,825 tons and her dimensions are as follows: length over all, 521 feet 6 inches; breadth, 88 feet 3 inches; and draft, 28 feet 6 inches, when carrying a full supply of ammunition and a two-thirds supply of fuel and stores. She is equipped with four-screw turbines of the Parsons type, with the usual auxiliary machinery, for which steam is furnished by 12 Babcock and Wilcox boilers. Her bunker capacity is 2500 tons of coal, besides 400 tons of oil fuel, and her speed, on trial, was 22.54 knots.
The armament of the Florida consists of ten 12-inch B. L. R.’s and sixteen 5-inch R. F.’s. In addition she has two saluting guns, four boat guns, two field guns, and several machine guns. She has also two submerged 21-inch torpedo tubes. The armor protection given to the battery, when designed, was considered the most effective and complete yet put on any ship. The main belt of 11 inches of steel was supplemented by a second 8-foot-wide belt of 9 inches. The turrets were given from 12 to 8 inches of armor, while the 5-inch guns were protected by 6 1/2 inches, with 2-inch splinter bulkheads between the guns.
In outward appearance, the Florida resembles her sister ship, the Utah. She has two smokestacks, two fire-control masts, and five turrets mounted on the center-line of the ship. Her contract cost was $6,000,000, and her complement, as flagship, is 60 officers and 888 men.
The Florida was placed in commission at New York on September 15, 1911, and left the yard towards the close of October in command of Captain Harry S. Knapp. After various preliminary trials and cruises, she joined the Atlantic fleet on March 31, 1915, with which she continued until October 17, when she returned to the navy yard for docking. Several days later, Captain William J. Maxwell relieved Captain Knapp (October 24, 1912), and on November 7 the Florida rejoined the fleet to participate in the regular work and routine. For the next 12 months the ship was continuously in commission. Then, in December, 1913, she returned to New York, where Captain William R. Rush took command on December 22, 1913. Sailing on January 5, 1914, the Florida rejoined the Atlantic fleet, as flagship of the first division, at Hampton Roads, and then proceeded to Porto Rico and to Guacanayabo Bay for the usual winter maneuvers. But in the midst of this routine work orders came for the Florida to proceed to Vera Cruz, Mexico, for the protection of American interests. This was on February 13. Two months later the Florida was still at Vera Cruz; then came the order from Washington to land and seize the custom house. The Florida’s battalion was instantly landed under the command of Captain Rush, in co-operation with the marines from the Prairie, after which reinforcements were received from the Utah and from the landing parties of the other ships of the fleet which arrived early in the morning of the 22d. The occupation of the entire city then became possible. For a week the bluejackets maintained order in the city, until, with the arrival of the troops under General Funston, the army assumed charge of the affairs on shore. After this many weeks of inaction followed, but early in July orders were finally received to proceed north and the Florida immediately got under way, headed for New York, where she arrived on July 19.
During the month of August, owing to the outbreak of the European war, the Florida was engaged in maintaining our neutrality in New York harbor. Then followed a few weeks of target practice, and on September 20 a well-earned rest for overhaul and repairs at the navy yard. When the Florida again left the yard, on January 8, 1915, she was in command of Captain Hilary P. Jones (December 21, 1914), and was attached to the second division of the Atlantic fleet.
The third Florida, still in service, but now known as the Tallahassee, is one of the class of vessels authorized by Congress on May 4, 1898, and was built at the shipyard of Lewis Nixon, in
Elizabethport, N. J., where she was launched on November 30, 1900. The Florida is a steel-armored vessel of 3225 tons displacement, with the following dimensions: length, 252 feet; breadth, 50 feet; draft, 12 feet 6 inches. Her engines are of the vertical triple expansion type, for which steam is supplied by four Mosher boilers. She has a bunker capacity of 355 tons of coal, and her speed, on trial, was 12.40 knots. In 1903, when commissioned, the Florida was armed with two 12-inch B. L. R.’s mounted in a single turret forward, while in a superstructure were placed four 4-inch R. F.’s, three 6-pounders, six 1-pounder guns, and two Colt automatics. For the protection of this battery, there are from 10 to 9 inches of armor on the turret; and there is also a water-line belt varying from 11 to 5 inches, in addition to a protective deck of 11 inches of steel. The Florida has one military mast and one funnel. Her complement is 13 officers and 209 men. The contract cost of her construction was $925,000.
When the Florida was commissioned, on June 18, 1903, by Commander John C. Fremont, she was attached to the coast squadron of Rear Admiral J. H. Sands, after which she was transferred to the North Atlantic fleet. So efficient did she and her sister ships prove, that the commander-in-chief, on July 1, 1904, wrote: “The new monitors are admirably adapted to the use for which they were designed. They have good speed, are easily and quickly maneuvered, and for the protection of large harbors, bays, and sounds, are invaluable.”
After two summer cruises with the midshipmen of the Naval Academy, and duty with the fleet, the Florida, on September 23, 1905, arrived at the League Island navy yard, where, on October 10, Commander C. W. Bartlett relieved Commander Fremont. From November 11 until July, 1906, she formed part of the coast squadron of the Atlantic fleet. During the summer of 1906, under Commander Washington I. Chambers (July 27, 1906), the usual summer cruise took place, until September 11, 1906, when she was placed in reserve at Annapolis, Md., for experiments on her 12- inch turret. Commander James P. Parker assumed command on the termination of the 1907 summer cruise, and remained in charge until the vessel was placed out of commission on January 6, 1908. Then came the Florida’s last cruise under her “maiden name.” Commander John G. Quinby (May 21, 1908) was her commanding officer during that summer, after which, on her return to her home port, she was placed out of commission at Norfolk, Va., and renamed the Tallahassee (June 19, 1908) so that the name Florida might be assigned to the new battleship recently authorized by Congress.
The screw steamer Florida, known until 1869 as the Wampanoag, was a wooden vessel of the first rate. She was built by the government at the New York navy yard at a cost of $1,575,643.84, and was launched on December 15, 1864. Her dimensions were as follows: tonnage (old), 2135 tons; displacement, 4215 tons; length 335 feet; breadth, 45 feet 2 inches; depth of hold, 16 feet; draft, 18 feet 6 inches. Her steam machinery was furnished by the Novelty Iron Works and consisted of a pair of horizontal- geared engines, for which steam was furnished by eight main and four superheating boilers. She had a bunker capacity of 550 tons of coal, and was fitted with four funnels. In October, 1867, her battery consisted of ten 9-inch smooth-bores, three 60-pounder rifles, two 24-pounder howitzers, and two 12-pounders. This armament, in 1874, was altered to comprise, in addition to the ten 9-inch guns, two rifled 100-pounder Parrott guns.
The Florida was a dismal failure. Owing to the acute shape of her hull, not a single gun on her gun-deck could be used in giving chase to an enemy ahead, nor could sufficient room be found to man her stern guns. Moreover, so “ exorbitant ” was her length, that a board of officers reported her unable to “ endure rough seas without evincing sooner than common—and perhaps much sooner —a palpable want of longitudinal rigidity,” and so difficult was she to maneuver that, in battle, she would have lost many valuable moments in bringing her battery to bear promptly on an antagonist. Her speed for that day was remarkable. On her trial trip, held on February 12, 1868, she actually made 175 knots. “All her boilers were brought into play,” reads a report, “and, judging from the total amount of coal burnt, which was 137 tons during 24 hours, they were all probably urged to the uttermost. But this quality of a very high velocity under steam alone is really about all that has been established as to her merits as an efficient war vessel.” In effect, nothing was spared to attain this single end, with the result that every other essential attribute of a man-of-war seems to have been sacrificed to secure it.
So the Florida never saw active service. From 1870 to 1875 she remained in ordinary at the New York navy yard, and then she was transferred to New London, Conn., where she was kept in the same condition until she was stricken from the Navy Register in 1883, and, two years later, was sold for $41,508.
The first Florida was a side-wheel steamer purchased by the government from S. L. Mitchell & Co., on August 12, 1861, for $87,500. She was a wooden vessel of 1261 tons, 214 feet length, 35 feet 3 inches breadth, and 22 feet 4 inches depth of hold. She was rated as a third rate, and had two decks and three masts. Her best speed was 12 knots, and she was manned by 19 officers and 157 men. Her armament on October 6, 1861, consisted of eight 32-pounders and one 20-pounder Parrott rifle; but this battery was, in March, 1863, changed to four 9-pounder smoothbores, one 100-pounder Parrott, one 50-pounder Dahlgren rifle, and one rifled 12-pounder.
The Florida went into commission at New York on October 5, 1861, and eleven days later, under the command of Commander J. R. Goldsborough, put to sea with the squadron of Flag Officer Du Pont. During the passage to Hilton Head, however, an accident was sustained by her machinery which compelled Commander Goldsborough to resort to the use of his sails and put into Philadelphia for repairs. The Florida consequently reached Port Royal only on the 13th of November, too late to participate in the attack upon Forts Walker and Beauregard. On the 16th, however, Commander Goldsborough was able to report a brief engagement with the C. S. S. Everglade and two other vessels of Commodore Tattnall’s flotilla, after which Flag Officer Du Pont hoisted his flag on board the Florida during a reconnaissance of Tybee Island.
On November 29th, Commander Goldsborough was ordered to proceed to Charleston Bar for blockading duty. Then, in the first week of January, the Florida was assigned to the Florida coast, where, from January 7 to February 11, 1862, she cruised as far as Cedar Keys in an attempt to intercept a large shipment of arms known to be on the way from Nassau. Later another expedition was made in the same region (February 28 to March 15, 1862), after which the tedious duty of blockading recommenced off St. John’s Fla., which, the flag officer warned Commander Goldsborough, was “ the spot now.” But no blockade runners appeared.
So the Florida resumed her old station before Charleston harbor, and, as it happened, she arrived just in time to take part in the capture of the British ship Emily St. Pierre.
The Florida seems to have been considered a valuable vessel on the blockade, for she was assigned to various parts of the coast as each in turn assumed importance to the Confederates. Thus in April, 1862, she arrived in St. Simon’s Sound, Ga.; a month later she was ordered to Wassaw Inlet, Ga., and in June, she returned to the first-named place. But by this time she had been so long at sea that Commander Goldsborough was obliged to call attention to “the wretched condition of her boilers and steam chimneys, which make it impossible for us, under the most favorable circumstances, to carry steam sufficient to enable the ship to go more than 6 knots per hour.” “Our bottom is very foul,” the report concluded, “and it has been reported to me that three sheets of copper are off on the port side forward, besides being ragged in many places. I hope you will allow the ship to be docked and her boilers and steam chimneys put in a condition that we may successfully contend against the storms of the winter months.”
Before the Florida could be ordered to the navy yard, however, Commander Goldsborough was promoted to the grade of captain, and, therefore, detached so that he might have “a more suitable command for active service.” So the command of the ship devolved upon Lieutenant Commander R. W. Scott (August 27, 1862), who in turn was succeeded by Commander L. C. Sartori (October 27, 1862). A month previous to the latter date, however, the Florida, off St. Andrew’s Sound, Ga., made a prize of the schooner Agnes, and then she spent several weeks on the blockade off Ossabaw Sound, until the last week in October, when the long-awaited orders were received and the ship was permitted to return to New York. Here, on November 13, 1862, Lieutenant H. E. Mullen assumed temporary charge of the Florida and four days later placed her out of commission.
When the Florida was again ready for service, she put to sea (March 9, 1863) under Commander J. P. Bankhead (March 7, 1862, proceeding at once to Hampton Roads for duty with the North Atlantic blockading squadron. By this time Wilmington, N. C., had become such an important port for the ever-active blockade runners, that Admiral Lee decided to despatch the Florida to that point without delay. It was here that she captured the Confederate steamer Calypso on June 11, and the schooner Hattie ten days later.
Shortly after this, Lieutenant S. D. Greene took command of the Florida (August 10, 1863) and cruised on the station until the arrival of Lieutenant Commander James Parker (August 24, 1863), but two weeks later his orders were revoked and Lieutenant W. W. Queen (September 7, 1863) assumed charge of the ship. At Beaufort, N. C., Commander Peirce Crosby reported on November 20, 1863, for the command of the Florida. On the 30th a blockade runner was chased off Frying Pan Shoals, and two days later the steamer Wild Dayrell was compelled to run ashore; on February 5, 1864, the Nutdeld was shelled and destroyed, and on the 10th two more blockade runners were accounted for. By this time Commander Crosby had been ordered to the command of the Keystone State (March 8, 1864); so Acting Lieutenant E. C. Merriam remained in charge of the Florida until Lieutenant Commander Samuel Magaw could succeed him. From Newport News, Va., the ship then returned to her station on the blockade of the North Carolina coast, where she remained until September, when Commander Magaw received urgent instructions to proceed to New London for convoy duty and for the protection of fishing vessels off the New England coast.
From December 12, 1864, to February 26, 1865, the Florida was placed out of commission at the Brooklyn navy yard. When next she was put in service, it was for service as supply and store ship for the squadron on the North Atlantic coast. Her commanders were: Acting Volunteer Lieutenant W. Budd (February 26, 1865), Acting Master I. Bursley (September 6, 1865), Acting Volunteer Lieutenant W. Maise (September 9, 1865). Returning to the Washington navy yard early in January, 1866, the Florida was then again fitted for sea, and on March 16, 1866, she sailed under command of Commander H. Rolando, for service with the North Atlantic squadron, with which she cruised until April 4, 1867, when she was ordered placed out of commission. Under Lieutenant Commander A. Hopkins (April 7, 1867), the Florida made her last cruise, from Norfolk, Va., to Philadelphia, arriving there on the 8th and being formally placed out of service on the 26th. For another year the Florida was carried on the Navy Register; then, on December 5, 1868, she was offered at auction and sold to S. Ward for $19,200.