USS Connecticut (BB-18), the fourth United States Navy ship to be named after the state of Connecticut, was the lead ship of her class of six pre-dreadnought battleships. Her keel was laid on 10 March 1903; launched on 29 September 1904, Connecticut was commissioned on 29 September 1906, as the most advanced ship in the US Navy.
Connecticut served as the flagship for the Jamestown Exposition in mid-1907, which commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony. She later sailed with the Great White Fleet on a circumnavigation of the Earth to showcase the US Navy's growing fleet of blue-water-capable ships. After completing her service with the Great White Fleet, Connecticut participated in several flag-waving exercises intended to protect American citizens abroad until she was pressed into service as a troop transport at the end of World War I to expedite the return of American Expeditionary Forces from France.
For the remainder of her career, Connecticut sailed to various places in both the Atlantic and Pacific while training newer recruits to the Navy. However, the provisions of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty stipulated that many of the older battleships, Connecticut among them, would have to be disposed of, so she was decommissioned on 1 March 1923, and sold for scrap on 1 November 1923.
Design
Connecticut was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced as designed and up to at full load. The ship was powered by two-shaft triple-expansion steam engines rated at , with steam provided by twelve coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers ducted into three funnels. The propulsion system generated a top speed of . As built, she was fitted with heavy military masts, but these were quickly replaced by lattice masts in 1909. She had a crew of 827 officers and men, increased to 881 and later to 896.Gardiner, p. 144
The ship was armed with a main battery of four 12 inch /45 Mark 5 guns in two twin gun turrets on the centerline, one forward and aft. The secondary battery consisted of eight /45 guns and twelve /45 guns. The 8-inch guns were mounted in four twin turrets amidships and the 7-inch guns were placed in casemates in the hull. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried twenty /50 guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull and twelve 3-pounder guns. She also carried four 1-pounder guns. As was standard for capital ships of the period, Connecticut carried four 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged in her hull on the broadside.
Connecticuts main armored belt was thick over the magazines and the propulsion machinery spaces and elsewhere. The main battery gun turrets had thick faces, and the supporting barbettes had of armor plating. The secondary turrets had of frontal armor. The conning tower had thick sides.
Service history Construction
Connecticut was ordered on 1 July 1902.Friedman (1985), p. 46 On 15 October 1902, she was awarded to the New York Naval Shipyard. She was laid down on 10 March 1903,Albertson (2007), p. 35Friedman (1985), p. 419 and launched on 29 September 1904. She was sponsored by Miss Alice B. Welles, granddaughter of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy during the American Civil War. A crowd of over 30,000 people attended the launch, as did many of the Navy's ships. The battleships , , , , , , , and were at the ceremony, along with the protected cruisers and and the auxiliary cruiser .
Three attempts to sabotage the ship were discovered in 1904. On 31 March, rivets on the keel plates were found bored through. On 14 September, a bolt was found driven into the launching way, where it protruded some . Shortly after Connecticut was launched on 29 September, a diameter hole was discovered drilled through a steel keel plate.It was estimated that drilling the hole would have taken 20 minutes. See: The ship's watertight compartments and pumps prevented her from sinking, and all damage was repaired. The incidents prompted the Navy to post armed guards at the shipyard, and an overnight watch was kept by a Navy tug manned by Marines who had orders to shoot to kill any unauthorized person attempting to approach the ship.
As Connecticut was only 55% complete when she was launched, missing most of her upper works, protection, machinery and armament, it was two years before Connecticut was commissioned on 29 September 1906. Captain William Swift was the first captain of the new battleship.Albertson (2007), pp. 35–36 Connecticut sailed out of New York for the first time on 15 December 1906, becoming the first ship in the US Navy to ever go to sea without a sea trial. She first journeyed south to the Virginia Capes, where she conducted a variety of training exercises; this was followed by a shakedown cruise and battle practice off Cuba and Puerto Rico.Albertson (2007), p. 36 During the cruise, she participated in a search for the missing steamer Ponce.Ponce was eventually found and towed back to port by a German freighter; the seven passengers were taken off by the Quebec liner Bermudian. See:
On 13 January 1907, Connecticut ran onto a reef while entering the harbor at Culebra Island. The Navy did not release any information about the grounding until press dispatches from San Juan, carrying news of the incident reached the mainland on 23 January. Even then, Navy authorities in San Juan claimed to be ignorant of the situation, and, that same day, the Navy Department itself said that they only knew that Captain Swift thought she had touched bottom and that an examination of the ship's bottom by divers had revealed no damage. The Navy amended this the next day, releasing a statement that Connecticut had been only slightly damaged and had returned to her shakedown cruise. However, damage to the ship was much more serious than the Navy admitted; in contrast to an official statement saying that Connecticut had only "touched" the rocks, she actually had run full upon the reef when traversing "a course well marked with buoys" in "broad daylight" and did enough damage to probably require a dry docking. This apparent attempt at a cover-up was enough for the United States Congress to consider an official inquiry into the matter.
On 21 March, the Navy announced that Swift would be court-martialed for "through negligence, causing a vessel to run upon a rock" and "neglect of duty in regard to the above". Along with the officer of the deck at the time of the accident, Lieutenant Harry E. Yarnell, Swift faced a court martial of seven rear admirals, a captain, and a lieutenant. He was sentenced to one year's suspension from duty, later reduced to nine months; after about six months, the sentence was remitted on 24 October. However, he was not assigned command of another ship.
Connecticut steamed back to Hampton Roads after this, arriving on 16 April; when she arrived, Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, transferred his flag from Maine to Connecticut, making her the flagship of the fleet.Albertson (2007), pp. 36–37 President Theodore Roosevelt opened the Jamestown Exposition on 25 April, and Connecticut was named as the official host of the vessels that were visiting from other countries. Sailors and marines from the ship took part in various events ashore, and foreign dignitaries, along with the governors of Virginia and Rhode Island, were hosted aboard the ship on 29 April. Evans closed the Exposition on 4 May, on the quarterdeck of Connecticut. On 10 June, Connecticut joined in the Presidential Fleet Review; she left three days later for an overhaul in the New York Naval Yard.Albertson (2007), p. 37 After the overhaul, Connecticut conducted maneuvers off Hampton Roads, and target practice off Cape Cod. She was ordered back to the New York Naval Yard, once again on 6 September, for a refit that would make her suitable for use as flagship of the Great White Fleet.Albertson (2007), p. 38
Flagship of the Great White Fleet
The cruise of the Great White Fleet was conceived as a way to demonstrate American military power, particularly to Japan. Tensions had begun to rise between the United States and Japan after the latter's victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, particularly over racist opposition to Japanese immigration to the United States. The press in both countries began to call for war, and Roosevelt hoped to use the demonstration of naval might to deter Japanese aggression.Hendrix, pp. XIII, XIV Connecticut left the New York Naval Yard, on 5 December 1907, and arrived the next day in Hampton Roads, where the Great White Fleet would assemble with her as their flagship. After an eight-day period known as "Navy Farewell Week" during which festivities were held for the departing sailors, and all 16 battleships took on full loads of coal, stores, and ammunition, the ships were ready to depart. The battleship captains paid their respects to President Theodore Roosevelt on the presidential yacht , and all the ships weighed anchor and departed at 1000. They passed in review before the President, and then began traveling south.Albertson (2007), p. 39
After steaming past Cape Hatteras, the fleet headed for the Caribbean.Albertson (2007), p. 40 They approached Puerto Rico, on 20 December, caught sight of Venezuela on 22 December, and later dropped anchor in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad,Albertson (2007), p. 41 making the first port visit of the Great White Fleet. With the torpedo boat flotilla that had left Hampton Roads, two weeks previously, and five colliers to fill the coal bunkers of the fleet, Port of Spain had a total of 32 US Navy ships in the harbor, making it "[resemble] a US Navy base".Albertson (2007), p. 42
After spending Christmas in Trinidad, the ships departed for Rio de Janeiro, on 29 December. A ceremonial Brazilian escort of three cruisers met the task force outside Rio,Albertson (2007), pp. 42–43 and "thousands of wildly cheering Brazilians lined the shore"; 10 days of ceremonies, games, and festivities followed, and the stopover was so successful that the visit was the cause of a major boost in US–Brazilian relations.Albertson (2007), p. 43 The fleet left Rio on 22 January 1908, still heading south, this time bound for the coaling stop of Punta Arenas, Chile.Albertson (2007), p. 43–44
Four cruisers from Argentina, San Martin, Buenos Ayres, 9 De Julio, and Pueyrredon, all under the command of Admiral Hipolito Oliva, sailed to salute the American ships on their way to Chile. The fleet arrived at Punta Arenas, on 1 February, and spent five days in the town of 14,000.Albertson (2007), p. 44 Heading north, they followed the coastline of Chile, passing in review of Chilean President Pedro Montt on 14 February, outside Valparaíso, and they were escorted to Callao, in Peru, by the cruiser Coronel Bolognesi on 19 and 20 February.Albertson (2007), pp. 44–45 Peru's president, José Pardo, came aboard Connecticut during this time, as Rear Admiral Evans was quite ill and could not go ashore.Albertson (2007), p. 45 After taking on coal, the ships steamed for Mexico on 29 February, passing in review of Pardo on board the cruiser Almirante Grau before leaving.Albertson (2007), p. 46
Arriving in Mexico, on 20 March, the fleet underwent three weeks of target practice. Rear Admiral Evans was relieved of command during this time, as he was completely bedridden and in constant pain. To get him medical attention, Connecticut set sail north at full speed on 30 March. She was met two days later by the schooner , which took the admiral to a hospital. Connecticut traveled back south to rejoin the fleet, and Rear Admiral Charles M. Thomas took Evans's place on Connecticut as the commander of the fleet, which continued its journey north towards California.Albertson (2007), p. 47