: USS Kansas (BB-21), 1906){kind=link}
USS Kansas (BB-21) - Overview:
- Nation: United States
- Type: Battleship
- Shipyard: New York Shipbuilding Company
- Laid Down: February 10, 1904
- Launched: August 12, 1905
- Commissioned: April 18, 1907
- Fate: Sold for scrap, 1923
USS Kansas (BB-21) - Specifications
- Displacement: 16,000 tons
- Length: 454.3 ft.
- Beam: 76.8 ft.
- Draft: 24.5 ft.
- Speed: 18 knots
- Complement: 880 men
Armament
- 4 × 12 in./45 cal guns
- 8 × 8 in./45 cal guns
- 12 × 7 in./45 cal guns
- 20 × 3 in./50 cal guns
- 12 × 3 pounders
- 4 × 1 pounders
USS Kansas (BB-21) - Design & Construction:
With the Virginia-class (USS Virginia, USS Nebraska, USS Georgia, USS New Jersey, and USS Rhode Island) of battleship beginning construction in 1901, Secretary of the Navy John D. Long met with the US Navy's numerous bureaus and boards for their thoughts the design for future capital ships. Though their opinions focused on equipping the new battleships with four 12" guns, discussions continued over the vessels' secondary armament. After great deliberation, it was concluded to arm the new type with eight 8" guns mounted in four waist turrets. These were to be complemented by twelve rapid-fire 7" guns. Reaching a decision with this armament, the new design moved forward and on July 1, 1902 approval was given for construction of two battleships, USS Connecticut (BB-18) and USS Louisiana (BB-19). Designated the Connecticut-class, this design would ultimately consist of six battleships.
Laid down on February 10, 1904, construction began on USS Kansas at the New York Shipbuilding Company in Camden, NJ. A year and a half later, the battleship slid down the ways on August 12, 1905, with Anna Hoch, daughter of Kansas Governor Edward W. Hoch, acting as sponsor. Construction continued for nearly two years before the ship entered commission at Boston Navy Yard on April 18, 1907, with Captain Charles E. Vreeland in command. Though the US Navy's most modern class, the type was made obsolete that December when British Admiral Sir John Fisher introduced the "all-big gun" HMS Dreadnought. Departing Philadelphia, Kansas steamed north for a shakedown cruise off Provincetown, MA before returning the yard for alterations on September 24.
USS Kansas (BB-21) - Great White Fleet:
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt became worried about the US Navy's lack of power in the Pacific due to the growing threat posed by Japan. To illustrate to the Japanese that the United States could easily move its main battle fleet to the Pacific, he ordered a world cruise of the country's battleships. Designated the Great White Fleet, Kansas, still commanded by Vreeland, was directed to join the force's First Division, First Squadron. This division also consisted of its sister ships Connecticut, Louisiana, and USS Vermont (BB-20). Steaming from Hampton Roads on December 16, the fleet proceeded south through the Atlantic and made port calls in Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro before arriving at Punta Arenas, Chile on February 1, 1908. Transiting the Straits of Magellan, the fleet passed in review off Valparaiso, Chile before visiting Callao, Peru. Leaving on February 29, Kansas and the other battleships conducted three weeks of gunnery practice off Mexico the following month.
Arriving at San Francisco on May 6, the fleet remained in California for a short stay before crossing the Pacific to Hawaii. Charting a course southwest, Kansas and the fleet reached New Zealand and Australia in August. Following elaborate and welcoming port calls, which included parties, sporting events, and parades, the fleet steamed north to the Philippines, Japan, and China. Finishing visits in these countries, Kansas and its consorts crossed the Indian Ocean and passed through the Suez Canal. Reaching the Mediterranean, the fleet divided to show the flag in numerous ports and countries with Kansas conducting a port call at Villefranche, France. Reassembling at Gibraltar, the fleet crossed the Atlantic and arrived back at Hampton Roads on February 22 where it was met by Roosevelt. With the cruise over, Kansas sailed to Philadelphia for an overhaul that saw two cage masts installed.
USS Kansas (BB-21) - Later Service:
Emerging on June 17, Kansas joined the Atlantic Fleet and commenced routine peacetime maneuvers and training. Sailing with Battleship Division 2 in November 1910, it made visits to Cherbourg, France and Portland, Great Britain, before conducting a tour of Scandinavia the following year. Completing fleet training off the East Coast, Kansas arrived at Norfolk for an overhaul in November 1911. Returning to service in early 1912, the battleship acted as a welcoming unit for a German squadron that made port at Hampton Roads in late May. In continued in this role in June when it shifted north to New York. This duty done, Kansas steamed to Annapolis, MD where it embarked midshipmen from the US Naval Academy for a summer training cruise. The battleship remained in a training role through the fall when it entered the yard for an overhaul.
Rejoining the fleet on May 5, 1913, Kansas operating along the East Coast during the summer before crossing the Atlantic for a goodwill visit to Genoa, Italy in October. Leaving Europe, the battleship called at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba before assuming a position off Tampico and Veracruz, Mexico. Steaming in these waters, Kansas protected American interests as tensions with Mexico increased. Returning north, it entered the yard in Philadelphia for an overhaul in April 1914. That July, Kansas departed for Venezuela to return the body of that country's ambassador to the United States. Completing this duty, it sailed for Mexico to support the US occupation of Veracruz. Remaining in Mexican waters until October 29, Kansas then sailed for Haiti due to unrest in that country.
USS Kansas (BB-21) - World War I:
The next two years saw Kansas involved in routine operations in the Atlantic. Arriving at Philadelphia in September 1916 for an overhaul, the battleship was still in the yard when the United States entered World War I in April 1917. Assigned to the 4th Battleship Division in the York River, Kansas spent the duration of the conflict as an engineering training ship in the Chesapeake Bay. Converted to a temporary troopship in late 1918, it made five voyages to Brest, France to assist in returning American servicemen from Europe. Overhauled between June 1919 and May 1920, Kansas then resumed training duties with the US Naval Academy. That fall, it was designated as flagship of Rear Admiral Charles F. Hughes' Battleship Division 4, Squadron 2.
Sailing for Bermuda in late September, Kansas was inspected by the Prince of Wales (future Edward VIII). Departing, the battleship passed through the Panama Canal and called at Samoa in November. Returning to the East Coast via Hawaii and the Panama Canal, Kansas reached Philadelphia in March 1921. After conducting a European training cruise for US Naval Academy midshipmen that summer, the aging battleship returned to Philadelphia in September and was decommissioned on December 16. Remaining idle, Kansas was sold for scrap two years later in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty.
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