Columbia Class Cruiser (1892)
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Two Columbia class protected cruisers were completed for the U.S. Navy in 1894.
| Overview of 2 vessels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citations for this data available on individual ship pages | |||||
| Name | Builder | Laid Down | Launched | Completed | Fate |
| Columbia | William Cramp & Sons | 30 Dec, 1890 | 26 Jul, 1892 | 23 Apr, 1894 | Sold 26 Jan, 1922 |
| Minneapolis | William Cramp & Sons | 16 Dec, 1891 | 12 Aug, 1893 | 13 Dec, 1894 | Sold 15 Mar, 1921 |
Construction
The Columbias were designed as commerce raiders, specifically for hunting down big Atlantic ocean liners during wartime.[1][2]
Although designed as three-funnel ships, Columbia was built with four and Minneapolis with two.[3]
Performance and Service
Even N.J.M. Campbell, who never missed a chance to criticize American warships, described them as excellent steamers despite their heavy coal consumption. Columbia crossed the Atlantic in 1895 only thirteen hours behind the record-holder Fürst Bismarck.[4]
The Columbias were apparently prestigious commands—in 1902 they were commanding by Captains senior to those commanding the fleet's newest battleships.[5]
Armament
- one 8-inch/40 caliber
- two 6-inch/40 caliber
- eight 4-inch/40 caliber
- twelve 6-pounders
- four 1-pounders
- four Gatling guns
- four above water torpedo tubes: 14-inch in Columbia, 18-inch in Minneapolis[7]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Friedman. U.S. Cruisers. p. 39.
- ↑ Bauer and Roberts. Register of Ships. p. 145.
- ↑ Friedman. U.S. Cruisers. p. 40.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 154.
- ↑ List and Station, July 1902. p. 5.
- ↑ Friedman. U.S. Cruisers. p. 463.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 154.
Bibliography
- Bauer, K. Jack and Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. New York: Greenwood Press.
- Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
- Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
- Silverstone, Paul H. (2006). The U.S. Navy Warship Series: The New Navy 1883-1922. New York: Routledge.
| Columbia Class Protected Cruiser | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Columbia | Minneapolis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| <– | Cincinnati Class | Minor Cruisers (US) | U.S.S. Olympia | –> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
