U.S.S. Tennessee (1904)
| U.S.S. Tennessee (1904) | |
|---|---|
| Hull Number: | ACR-10 |
| Builder: | William Cramp & Sons[1] |
| Ordered: | Act of 1 July, 1902[2] |
| Laid down: | 20 June, 1903[3] |
| Launched: | 3 December, 1904[4] |
| Commissioned: | 17 July, 1906[5] |
| Stricken: | 17 February, 1917[6] |
| Wrecked: | 29 August, 1916[7] |
| Fate: | Broken up 1937 |
U.S.S. Tennessee was one of four Tennessee Class armoured cruisers completed for the U.S. Navy.
Service
She commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 July, 1906 with Captain Albert G. Berry in command.
Tennessee was renamed Memphis on 25 May, 1916 to clear her old name for a new dreadnought, though some of her crew (notably her commanding officer) continued to refer to her as the Tennessee.[8] In keeping with the old sailors' superstition about renaming ships some of the crew were apprehensive of the change, although Boatswain's Mate 1st Class W.E. Gerhart wrote a whimsical poem entitled "Welcome to You, Memphis, and Goodbye, Old Tennessee".[9]
Memphis was at anchor in Santo Domingo harbor with the gunboat Castine when a tsunami struck on 29 August, 1916. Despite heroic efforts by her crew Memphis was driven aground and wrecked. Salvage and repair proved uneconomical and after surviving usable fittings and machinery were removed the hulk of the Memphis was abandoned and stricken from the Navy List on 17 February, 1917. The wreck was sold on 17 January, 1922 and finally broken up in situ in 1937.[10]
Captains
- Captain Albert G. Berry, 17 July, 1906[11] – 7 October, 1907[Inference]
- Captain Thomas B. Howard, 7 October, 1907[12] – 9 July, 1908[Inference]
- Captain Bradley A. Fiske, 9 July, 1908[13] – 13 August, 1910[Inference]
- Captain Harry S. Knapp, 13 August, 1910[14] – after 1 January, 1911[15]
- Captain Harry A. Field, 18 April, 1912[16] – 1913[17][18]
- Commander Louis A. Kaiser, 1913[19][20] – 5 August, 1914[21][22]
- Captain Benton C. Decker, 5 August, 1914[23] – 29 January, 1916[24]
- Captain Edward L. Beach, 29 January, 1916[25] – 29 August, 1916[26]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 149.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 149.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 149.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 149.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 149.
- ↑ Silverstone. The New Navy. p. 24.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 149.
- ↑ Beach. p. 5.
- ↑ Beach. pp. 25-27.
- ↑ Silverstone. The New Navy. p. 24.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1907. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1908. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1909. p. 8.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1911. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1911. p. 10.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1913. p. 12.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1913. p. 12.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1914. p. 14.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1914. p. 14.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1913. p. 12.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1914. p. 14.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1915. p. 12.
- ↑ Register of Officers, 1915. p. 12.
- ↑ Beach. pp. 24-25.
- ↑ Beach. pp. 24-25.
- ↑ Silverstone. The New Navy. p. 24.
Bibliography
- Beach, Captain Edward L. (1967). The Wreck of the Memphis. London: Jarrolds Publishers Ltd.
- 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.
| Tennessee Class Armoured Cruiser | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | Washington | North Carolina | Montana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| <– | St. Louis Class | Major Cruisers (US) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
