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Wednesday 19 October 2016

American battleship USS Maine (BB-10) 1899-1923

Illinois-class

Maine-class

Virginia-class

Of the Maine-class consisting of the Maine, Missouri and Ohio, preceded by the Illinois-class and succeeded by the Virginia-class. The original design was changed as a response of the Russian battleship Retvizan to be built by WilliamCramp&Sons, Philadelphia, USA which would be 2 miles faster as the original Maine-class design/ The Newport News Shipbuilding&Drydock Company proposed to lengthen the hull with another 6,1 metres/20’ and 60% increase of the horsepower. The US Navy altered the design as a result. 

Laid down by William Cramp&Sons, Philadelphia, USA on 15 February 1899, launched by Mary Preble Anderson on 27 July 1901, commissioned on 29 December 1902, decommissioned on 31 August 1909, decommissioned on 15 June 1911, training ship April 1917-November 1918, decommissioned on 15 May 1920, laid up, stricken on 1 July 1921, sold to J.G. Hitner and W.F. Cutler, Philadelphia to be broken up on end January 1922 and rendered as incapable for combat tasks on 17 December 1923 just for the breaking up started. 

Displacement 13.052 (normal)-13.900 (full load) tons and as dimensions 118 (waterline)-120,07 (over all)x 22,02 x 7,24-7,42 metres or 388-393.11 x 72.3 x 23.9-24.4 feet. The original military masts with fighting tops were replaced in 1909 by the so-called cage masts. The machinery consisted of 2-4cylinder triple expansion steam engines and 24 Niclausse boilers supplying 16.000 ihp and with 2 screw allowing a speed of 18 (design) knots. Coal bunker capacity 1.000 (normal)-1.867 (maximum) tons. Range 4.900 (design)-5.660 (in service) nautical miles with a speed of 10 knots. Her crew numbered 561 men (included 40 officers). The Krupp cemented armour consisted of a 20,3cm/8”-279cm/11” thick belt, with the turrets, casemates and conning tower protected by respectively 30,5cm/12”, 15,2cm/6” (forward) and 25,4cm/10”. The armament consisted of 2x24-30,5cm/12” /40 cal Mark 3 Mod 3 guns, 16x15,2cm/6”/50 cal Mark 6 guns, 8-4,7cm/1.9”/3 pd guns, 6-3,7c,/1.5”/1pd guns and 2-45,7cm/18” submerged torpedo tubes.