USS Kansas
General Statistics
A Connecticut class battleship and classified as BB-21.
Displacement: 16,000 tons
Length: 456.3 feet
Beam: 76.8 feet
Draft: 24.5 feet
Speed: 18 knots
Complement: 8880 officers and men
Armament: 4 x 12 inch guns
8 x 8 inch guns
12 x three pounders
The USS Kansas (BB-21), a Connecticut-class battleship, was the second ship of the United States Navy named in honour of the thirty fourth state. Her keel was laid down by New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey. She was launched 12 August 1905 sponsored by Miss Anna Hoch, daughter of the Governor of Kansas and commissioned in Philadelphia Navy Yard on 18 April 1907 with Captain Charles E. Vreeland in command.
A picture of the Ship's Sponsor, Miss Anna Hoch, with her parents and Maid of Honor at the launching ceremonies, 12 August 1905.
Those present are (from left to right): Miss Ora Allen, Maid of Honor; Mrs. E.W. Hoch, mother of the Sponsor; Miss Anna Hoch; and The Honorable E.W. Hoch, Governor of Kansas and father of the Sponsor.
After a shakedown cruise off the East Coast, she joined the Atlantic Fleet's battleships in Hampton Roads, Virginia, in time to take part in the cruise around the World.
A picture of crewmen scrubbing hammocks on the forecastle, during the cruise around the World, 1908. Note the 12"/45 guns and man inside the winch cover (in center).
At the end of this epic voyage, USS Kansas began an overhaul that greatly changed her appearance. She emerged with two new "cage" masts and grey paint in place of the previous "white and buff".
During the next eight years, she mainly operated with the battle fleet in U.S. and Caribbean waters, but also made three trans-Atlantic cruises. In late 1911, Kansas called on ports in France and England.
The next spring, she went to the Baltic and in 1913 visited Italy. In a diplomatic mission in July 1914, the USS Kansas transported the body of the late Venezuelan Minister back to his country for burial.
After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Kansas served in training and escort roles until the conflict's end in November 1918. She made five round-trips to France from then until mid-1919, helping to bring home veterans of the "Great War".
A picture in a French port, probably Brest, during a post-World War I trooping voyage, circa January-June 1919.
Note the French sailing lugger in the foreground, with number C1667 on her mainsail.
Kansas' seven-inch broadside guns have been removed.
The Battleships in the distance are: USS New Hampshire (left) and USS Connecticut (right).
In June 1920, Kansas passed through the Panama Canal to the Pacific, taking Naval Academy midshipmen on a training cruise that reached as far west as Hawaii.
Returning to the Pacific in October 1920, she steamed to Samoa and Hawaii.
She made a final voyage to Europe on a Midshipmen's training cruise in mid-1921. Kansas was inactive after the conclusion of that trip. Decommissioned in December 1921, she was stricken from the Navy list in 1923 and broken up in 1924.
The next instalment will cover the visit to the port of Valparaiso
Regards
Sean
