The United States’ response to the late nineteenth century South American naval arms race

When the Civil War ended in 1865, the United States Navy had one of the strongest navies in the world. Admittedly, the fleet was not a deep water one, and mainly comprised armoured monitors and gunboats, but it was capable of defending the nation’s coastline from any potential enemy.

However, by 1880 the active US Navy had shrunk to a fraction of its size fifteen years before, and the growing strength of the Argentinian, Brazilian, and Chilean Navies left it unable to protect the nation’s shores. The matter was debated in the US Congress, and the head of the House Naval Affairs Committee - Hilary A. Herbert - stated that 'if all this old navy of ours were drawn up in battle array in mid-ocean and confronted by Riachuelo (the newly-ordered Brazilian battleship) it is doubtful whether a single vessel bearing the American flag would get into port.'

An internal side view and deck plan of the Riachuelo.

The completed Riachuelo. The similarity of the design of the Riachuelo to that of the USS Maine is apparent.

The Naval Advisory Board had been debating the problem since 1881, and in keeping with the isolationist policies propounded by successive administrations, the Board was unable to reach a conclusion. Some members argued for the development of a fleet of fast commerce raiders whereas others argued that some sort of coastal defence forces. The decision by the Brazilians to order the building of the Riachuelo galvanised the Board’s deliberations and plans were drawn up for the building of two modern armoured warships.

The Bureau of Construction and Repair (C & R) - who were responsible for the design, construction, conversion, procurement, maintenance, and repair of ships used by the United States Navy - presented two designs to William Collins Whitney, the Secretary of the Navy. One of the ships was a 7,500 ton battleship and the other was a 5,000 ton armoured cruiser. After some deliberation, the Secretary decided to request that Congress vote funds for the construction of two 6,000 ton warships, and this was authorised in August 1886.

As the design of such large modern ships was at that time beyond the capabilities of the United States, it was decided to hold a design contest. A number of naval architects were asked to submit designs for the two ships, and the resulting designs became the battleship USS Texas and the armoured cruiser USS Maine. (USS Maine is sometimes described as being a second-class battleship.)

USS Texas

The ship's characteristics are:

• Displacement: 6,316 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 308ft 10in (94.1m)
• Beam: 64ft 1in (19.5m)
• Draught: 24ft 6in (7.5m)
• Propulsion: 4 x double-ended boilers providing steam to 2 vertical triple-expansion 8,610ihp steam engines, each driving a propellor.
• Speed:17.8 knots
• Complement: 392 officers
• Armament: 2 × 1 12-inch (305mm) Mark 1 L/35 BL guns; 4 × 1 6-inch (152mm) Mark 3 L/30 BL guns; 2 × 1 6-inch (152mm) Mark 3 L/35 BL guns; 12 × 1 QF 6-pounder (57mm) quick-firing guns; 4 × 1 1-pounder (37mm) Hotchkiss 5-barrelled revolving cannons; 6 × single 1-pounder (37mm) Driggs-Schroeder quick-firing guns; 4 × 14-inch (356mm) torpedo tubes
• Armour:
• Belt: 12-inch (305mm)
• Deck: 1 to 3-inch (25 to 76mm)
• Citadel: 12-inch (305mm)
• Turrets: 1 to 3-inch (25 to 76mm)
• Conning tower: 9-inch (229mm)
• Bulkheads: 8-inch (203mm)

Service history:

Ordered on 3rd August 1886, she was laid down at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia on 1st June 1889. She was launched on 28th June 1892 and commissioned on 15th August 1895.

From the start she seemed to be plagued with problems. Several structural flaws were discovered and Texas required time in dry dock to have her hull strengthened. In September 1895 she ran aground off Newport, Rhode Island, and during the repairs that followed, the ship sank at her moorings as a result of flooding caused by a leak. It was discovered that her watertight doors had been left open and other holes in the bulkhead caused by the need for voice pipes and electrical cables to pass through them had exacerbated the situation.

Once raised, repaired, and back in service, Texas was then assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron, which was based in on the eastern seaboard of the United States. During a visit to Galveston, Texas, in February 1897 she got stuck on a mud bank when high winds blew her onto it. With the aid of a tug, she was able to get off and resumed her service with the North Atlantic Squadron.

When the Spanish-American War broke out, Texas sailed to Cuba as part of the Flying Squadron and took part in the blockade of Santiago de Cuba. As a result, she took part in the Battle of Santiago, during which she fired at and damaged two Spanish cruisers (Vizcaya and Cristobal Colon) as well as two destroyers.

After the war, Texas was decommissioned and undertook a long refit at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, during which her funnel and topmasts were raised, the armour on her main ammunition hoists was doubled in thickness, and her side torpedo tubes were removed.

By 1911 Texas was obsolete and she became a target ship. She was renamed San Marcos in February 1911 so that her original name could be assigned to a new battleship. Under that name she served as a target ship until she was sunk in March 1911. After that her superstructure - which remained above the surface - continued to be used as a target and later as a mooring place for a canvas target screen. The remains of her upperworks and upper hull were destroyed by explosives in January 1959 and what is left of her remains in shallow water in Tangier Sound in Chesapeake Bay.

USS Maine

• Displacement: 6,682 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 324ft 4in (98.9m)
• Beam: 57ft (17.4m)
• Draught: 22ft 6in (6.9m)
• Propulsion: 8 x single-ended boilers providing steam to 2 x inverted vertical triple-expansion 9,293ihp steam engines, each driving a propellor.
• Speed: 16.5 knots
• Range: 3,600 nautical miles
• Complement: 374
• Armament:  2 × 2 10-inch (254 mm) Mark 2 L/30 BL guns; 6 × single 6-inch (152mm) Mark 3 L/30 BL guns; 7 × 1 6-pounder (57mm) Driggs-Schroeder quick-firing guns; 4 × 1 1-pounder (37mm) Hotchkiss quick-firing guns; 4 × 1 1-pounder (37mm) Driggs-Schroeder quick-firing guns: 4 × 0.45-inch Gatling machine guns;  4 × 18-inch (450mm) torpedo tubes
• Armour:
• Belt: 12-inch (305mm)
• Deck: 2 to 3-inch (51 to 76mm)
• Turrets: 8-inch (203mm)
• Conning tower: 10-inch (254mm)
• Bulkheads: 6-inch (152mm)

Service history:

USS Maine was ordered on 3rd August 1886 and was laid down at New York Naval Shipyard on 17th October 1888. She was launched on 18 November 1889 but not commissioned until 17th September 1895! This delay was due to problems with the delivery of armour.

Once she had been commissioned and undertaken several trial and tests, Maine joined the North Atlantic Squadron, which was based in Norfolk, Virginia.

In January 1898, USS Maine - which was then operating out of Key West, Florida - was sent to Havana in Cuba to protect American interests during the ongoing Cuban War of Independence. She reached Havana on 25th January, and at 9.40pm on 15th February - whilst she was an anchor inside the harbour - an explosion occurred aboard her that caused her to sink in a matter of minutes. Of the 355 crew, 261 died as a result of the explosion, 78 were injured, and 16 emerged unhurt.

Although the 'New York Journal' and 'New York World' sensationalized the incident, claiming that the ship had been sunk by a bomb or mine placed by the Spanish, a later 1974 investigation conducted by Admiral Rickover concluded that the explosion had occurred in the forward magazine, and was possibly caused by spontaneous combustion in the coal bunker next to the magazine igniting powder stored therein.