The US Navy’s post-Civil War Monitors (Part 3)

The final monitors built for the United States Navy were the USS Monterey and the four vessels of the Arkansas-class. The latter went through a somewhat difficult design process, with the initial single-turret design being criticised as leaving the ships no more powerful that the much older Amphitrite-class, which had two turrets. The monitor concept was also criticised as a result of the type's perceived poor performance during the Spanish-American War. In the end, a slightly larger, single-turret design was deemed acceptable to the critics, and the ships were built.

The names allocated to the Arkansas-class (USS Arkansas, USS Connecticut, USS Florida, and USS Wyoming) were also criticised by some of the states they had been named for as it was felt that it was inappropriate for non-battleships to be so named. (The convention had been set when the USS Maine and USS Texas had been built that all capital ships (i.e. battleships) should be named after states.) Eventually the Navy acquiesced, and the ships were all renamed after in places in the states whose names they had borne.

USS Monterey was similar in design to the preceding Amphitrite-class even though she was not laid down until 1889. She was launched in 1891 and commissioned in 1893. As she had been built in San Francisco, it was not surprising that she was allocated to the Pacific Squadron. From 1893 until the outbreak of the Spanish-American War she undertook gunnery practice and took part in manoeuvres. Once the war had started, she was sent to the Philippines, where she served until early 1900. She then operated as a station ship in Shanghai as well as patrolling the coast of China in order to protect American interests. She was decommissioned in the Philippines in 1904 and recommissioned three years later. She then served until 1917 either in the Philippines or China before being towed to Pearl Harbour to serve as a station ship and submarine base ship. She was finally decommissioned in August 1921 and sold for scrapping.

USS Arkansas was laid down in November 1899, launched in November 1900, and commissioned in October 1902. On commissioning she served as an instruction and training ship for the Naval Academy. In 1903 she was allocated to the North Atlantic Fleet and spent the next three years operating along the east coast as far as the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies. This was followed by another three years at the Naval Academy after which she was renamed Ozark before becoming a drill ship for the District of Columbia Naval Militia. In March 1913 she was refitted so that she could serve as a submarine tender, and other than a short spell in 1914 when she took part in operations off the coast of Mexico, she remained in that role until she was decommissioned in August 1919. She was sold for scrapping in January 1922.

USS Connecticut was laid down in April 1899, launched in November 1900, renamed USS Nevada in, January 1901, and commissioned in March 1903. She was renamed Tonopah in March 1909 before being allocated to the Atlantic Fleet's submarine force to act as a submarine tender. In 1918 she was sent to Punta Delgado in the Azores to support submarines and sub-chasers operating in that area. In December 1918 she was towed to Lisbon before returning the the United States, where she was decommissioned in July 1920. She was sold for scrapping in January 1922.

USS Florida was laid down in January 1899, launched in November 1901, and commissioned in June 1903. After serving with the Coastal Squadron until September 1906, she then became a practice ship for the Naval Academy. She performed this role on-and-off until August 1907, at which point she took part in tests of the new super-firing concept. These trials continued until June 1908, and she was renamed Tallahassee in July. Further gunnery trials followed, this duty alternating with service as a submarine tender. During the First World War she served as a submarine tender in the West Indies and Canal Zone. Once the war was over, she undertook various training duties until she was finally decommissioned in March 1922 before being sold for scrapping in July of that year.

USS Wyoming was laid down in April 1899, launched in September 1900, and commissioned in December 1902. She initially served on the west coast and took part in the operations that secured independence for Panama from Colombia late 1903. She stayed in that area until the middle of 1904 when she resumed cruising off the west coast of America. In October 1908 she was the first US Navy ship to have her boilers converted to run on oil, and for the next six months she undertook a number of trials of the new fuel system. In January 1909 she was renamed Cheyenne and after a period in reserve she was allocated to the Washington Naval Militia to act as a training ship in 1910. In 1913 she was converted into a submarine tender and other than the period between April and May 1914 when she was sent to evacuate refugees from Mexico, she performed that role on the west coast until the end of 1917 when she transferred to the east coast. She was decommissioned in January 1920 before being recommissioned in September and allocated to the Naval Reserve in the Baltimore area as a training ship. She remained in that role until finally decommissioned in June 1926, prior to her being sold for scrapping in April 1939.

The characteristics of the USS Monterey are:

• Displacement: 4.084 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 260ft 11in (79.53m)
• Beam: 59ft (18m)
• Draught: 14ft (4.3m)
• Propulsion: 4 x Babcock & Wilcox boilers providing steam to 2 x vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each powering a propeller
• Speed: 13.6 knots
• Complement: 210
• Armament: 2 x 12-inch (305mm)/35 breech-loading rifled guns; 2 x 10-inch (254)/31 breech-loading rifled guns; 6 x 6-pounder (57mm) Hotchkiss quick-firing guns
• Armour:
• Side: 13-inch (330mm)
• Turret: 8-inch (203mm)
• Barbette: 13-inch (330mm)
• Deck: 2.5-inch (64mm)

USS Monterey.

The characteristics of the Arkansas-class are:

• Displacement: 3.356 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 252ft (77m)
• Beam: 50ft (15m)
• Draught: 12ft 6in (3.81m)
• Propulsion: 4 x boilers providing steam to 2 x vertical triple-expansion engines, each powering a propeller
• Speed: 12.5 knots
• Complement: 222
• Armament: 2 x 12-inch (305mm)/40 breech-loading rifled guns; 4 x 4-inch (102mm)/40 breech-loading rifled guns; 3 x 6-pounder (57mm) Hotchkiss quick-firing guns; 4 x 1-pounder (37mm) quick-firing guns
• Armour:
• Side: 11-inch (280mm)
• Turret: 10-inch (250mm)
• Barbette: 11-inch (280mm)
• Deck: 1.5-inch (38mm)

USS Ozak (previously USS Arkansas).

USS Nevada (laid down as USS Connecticut).

USS Tallahassee (previously USS Florida).

USS Wyoming.

It is interesting to note that the turrets fitted to the Arkansas-class were virtually identical to those fitted to the contemporary Maine-class battleships (USS Maine (BB-10), USS Missouri (BB-11), and USS Ohio (BB-12)).

USS Maine.

A closeup of USS Maine's forward 12-inch turret.