USS Minnesota
General Statistics
Displacement: 16,000 tons
Length: 456.3 feet
Beam: 76.9 feet
Draft: 24.5 feet
Speed: 18 knots
Complement: 42 officers and 838 men
Armament: 4 x 12 inch guns
8 x 8 inch guns
12 x 7 inch guns
A very nice colour shot of the USS Minnesota
The USS Minnesota (BB-22), was a Connecticut-class battleship, and the second ship of the United States Navy in honor of the thirty second state, and the twenty fourth battleship of the US Navy (the USS Maine was numbered in the Armored Cruiser sequence, and the USS Texas was never numbered).
Her keel was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia, on 27 October 1903. She was launched on 8 April 1905 sponsored by Miss Rose Marie Schaller, and commissioned on the 9th of March 1907 with Captain J. Hubbard in command.
A very fine shot in my humble opinion of the USS Minnesota at anchor in Puget Sound
Following her shakedown run off the New England coast, the USS Minnesota was assigned to duty in connection with the Jamestown Exposition in Jamestown, Virginia, from 22nd of April to 3rd of September 1907. On 16 December she departed Hampton Roads as one of the sixteen battleships of “The Great White Fleet”.
An exciting photo of the USS Minnesota as she pitches her forefoot out of the water during a storm, while steaming from the Philippines to Yokohama, Japan, in October 1908. (It reminds me of the discussion concerning bow out in regard to Skipper Rui’s latest Russian project).
A neat picture of being “in the gun” An officer poses in the breech of one of the after turret's 12"/45 guns, 1908.
Upon her return to the United States, she was modernized, receiving initially a "cage" foremast and other superstructure alternations, as well as a coating of grey paint. About a year later, she was fitted with a second "cage" mast.
Returning from her world cruise, Minnesota resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet. During the next three years she operated primarily along the East Coast, with one brief deployment to the English Channel. In 1912, her employment schedule began to involve her more in inter-American affairs. During the first half of 1912she cruised in Cuban waters and was stationed at Guantanamo Bay from 7 June to 22 June, to support actions aimed at establishing order during the Cuban insurrection. The following spring and summer she cruised in Mexican waters.
In 1914, she twice returned to Mexican waters (26 January to 7 August and 11 October to 19 December) as that country continued in the throes of political turmoil.
In 1915, she resumed East Coast operations, with occasional cruises to the Caribbean area, which she continued until November 1916 when she became flagship, Reserve Force, Atlantic Fleet.
On 6 April 1917, as the United States entered World War I, Minnesota rejoined the active fleet at Tangier Sound, Chesapeake Bay, and was assigned to Division 4, Battleship Force.
During World War I she was assigned as a gunnery and engineering training ship, cruising off the middle Atlantic seaboard until 29 September 1918. On that date, twenty miles from Fenwick Island Shoal Lightship, she struck a mine, apparently laid by the German submarine U-117. Suffering serious damage to the starboard side, but with no loss of life, she managed to reach Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she underwent five months of repairs.
A photograph of the damage to the ship's starboard bow from the 29 September 1918 explosion of a mine laid by the German submarine U-117.
Photographed in drydock at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 1 October 1918.
Note the hull plating pushed into internal framing and many split seams with open rivet holes. The side armor at the top of the view does not appear to have been distorted much, if at all, by the explosion.
A picture of the whole darn crew
Ship's officers and crewmen, posed on the forecastle and superstructure, 1 November 1918.
The USS Minnesota was then at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, receiving repairs to mine damage suffered a month earlier.
On the11th of March 1919, she put back to sea as a unit of the Cruiser and Transport Force. Assigned to that force until 23 July, she completed three round trips to Brest, France, to return over 3,000 veterans to the United States.
Picture Panama Canal In the Panama Canal, circa 1920.
Primarily employed thereafter as a training ship, Minnesota conducted two midshipmen summer cruises in 1920 and 1921 before being decommissioned on the1st of December 1921. Struck from the Naval Register the same day, she was dismantled at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and on the 23rd of January 1924 was sold for scrap.
The next instalment will cover the arrival at Callao, Peru
Regards
Sean
