| ARMORED CRUISERS PRESENT AT THE FLEET REVIEW OF OCTOBER 14, 1912 |
| Commanding Officers, October 1912 TENNESSEE - Capt. H. A. Field MONTANA - Capt. W. W. Gilmer WASHINGTON - Capt. J. C. Leonard NORTH CAROLINA - Capt. J. S. Hines |
| Return to 1912 INTRO PAGE |
| All four of the Armored Cruisers present at the review belonged to the Tennessee-class, the last class of armored cruisers built by the Navy. They were laid down betwen 1903 and 1905 and commissioned between 1906 and 1908 By 1912 the ships were rapidly appraoching, if not already at, obsolescence, outclassed by the super-dreadnoaugh battleships and battlecruisers of the world's navies. At the time of the review, the vessels were in reserve status andTENNESSEE served as the flagship of the Reserve Fleet. During and just after World War I these ships were renamed so as to free their names for new battleship construction. MEMPHIS (ex-TENNESSEE) was wrecked by a tidal wave in Santo Domingo in 1916. CHARLOTTE (ex-NORTH CAROLINA) and MISSOULA (ex-MONTANA) decommissioned in 1921 before being stricken in 1930. SEATTLE (ex-WASHINGTON) served as a less-than-adequate flagship of the US fleet in the 1920's before becoming a receiving ship. The ship finally decommissioned in 1946. |
| Characteristics of TENNESSEE-class armored cruisers: DISPLACEMENT LENGTH BEAM DRAFT SPEED MEN ARMAMENT 15,950 tons 504'6" 72'11" 25' 0" 22kts 861 4 10-inch 16 6-inch 23 3-inch 12 3-pdrs 4 1-pdrs 4 21" tubes |
 |
| USS TENNESSEE, photographed in 1907, not long after joining the fleet. A National Archives photo obtained from the NAVSOURCE photo archive. As far as I know it is in the public domain |