USS Delaware (BB-28)
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USS ''Delaware'' (BB-28) was a dreadnought
battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, the lead ship of her class. She was laid down at
Newport News Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...
in November 1907, launched in January 1909, and completed in April 1910. The sixth ship to be named for the First State, ''Delaware'' was armed with a main battery of ten guns all on the centerline, making her the most powerful battleship in the world at the time of her construction. She was also the first battleship of the US Navy to be capable of steaming at full speed for 24 continuous hours without suffering a breakdown. ''Delaware'' served in the Atlantic Fleet throughout her career. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, she sailed to Great Britain to reinforce the British Grand Fleet, in the
6th Battle Squadron The 6th Battle Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of Battleships serving in the Grand Fleet and existed from 1913 to 1917. History First World War August 1914 In August 1914, the 6th Battle Squadron was based at Portlan ...
. She saw no action during the war, however, as both the British and Germans had abandoned direct confrontation with each other. After the end of the war, she returned to her peacetime duties of fleet maneuvers, midshipmen cruises, and good-will visits to foreign ports. Under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, ''Delaware'' was retained until the new battleship was completed in 1924, at which point she was broken up for scrap in accordance with the treaty.


Design

The two ''Delaware''-class battleships were ordered in response to the British battleship , the first all-big-gun battleship to enter service. The previous American dreadnoughts, the , had been designed before the particulars of HMS ''Dreadnought'' were known. The Navy decided that another pair of battleships should be built to counter the perceived superiority of ''Dreadnought'' over ''South Carolina'', and so
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Washington L. Capps Washington Lee Capps (31 January 1864 – 31 May 1935) was an officer of the United States Navy, who served during the Spanish–American War and World War I. In the first years of the 20th century, he served as Constructor of the Navy and Chief o ...
prepared a design for a ship with an additional main battery
gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...
to match ''Dreadnought''s ten guns. But unlike ''Dreadnought'', all ten of ''Delaware''s guns could fire on the
broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...
. At the time of her construction, ''Delaware'' was the largest and most powerful battleship then building in the world. ''Delaware'' was
long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...
and had a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a draft of . She displaced as designed and up to at full load. Her bow had an early example of bulbous forefoot.
PIANC The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) is an international professional organisation founded in 1885. PIANC’s mission today is to provide expert guidance and technical advice on technical, economic and environment ...
MarCom Working Group 08: ''The Damage Inflicted by Ships with Bulbous Bows on Underwater Structures'' (Supplement to Bulletin nr. 70, PTC2 report of WG 08 - 1990 issue), page 6
She had a crew of 933 officers and men. The ship was powered by two-shaft vertical
triple-expansion engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up h ...
s rated at and fourteen coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
s, generating a top speed of . The ship had a cruising range of at a speed of . Also, because ''Delaware''s engine bearings were equipped with forced lubrication instead of a gravity-fed system, she was the first American battleship capable of steaming at full speed for 24 hours without any need for engine repair. The ship was armed with a main battery of ten 12-inch/45 caliber Mark 5 guns in five twin Mark 7 gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward. The other three turrets were placed aft of the
superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...
. The
secondary battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or prima ...
consisted of 14 /50 caliber Mark 6 guns mounted on Mark 9 and Mark 12 pedestal mounts in
casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...
s along the side of the hull. As was standard for
capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...
s of the period, she carried a pair of
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s, submerged in her hull on the broadside. ''Delaware''s main
armored belt Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal vehicle armor, armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from p ...
was thick, while the armored deck was thick. The gun turrets had thick faces and the
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
had thick sides.


Service history

''Delaware'' was built by
Newport News Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...
; she was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...
on 11 November 1907 and was launched on 6 January 1909. After completion of the
fitting-out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...
work, the ship was commissioned into the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
on 4 April 1910. On 3 October, she steamed to
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, where she received a set of silver service from her namesake state. The battleship then returned to
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
on the 9th, and remained there until she left to join the First Division of the Atlantic Fleet, on 1 November. She and the rest of the division visited England and France, and then conducted maneuvers off Cuba in January 1911. On 17 January, a boiler explosion aboard ''Delaware'' killed eight men and badly scalded another. On 31 January, the ship carried the remains of Don Anibal Cruz, the Chilean ambassador to the United States, back to Chile. She steamed by way of
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, Brazil, around the tip of South America, to Punta Arenas, Chile. She returned to New York City on 5 May, and then left for
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on 4 June to participate in the coronation fleet review for King
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...
. Throughout the next five years, ''Delaware'' participated in the normal peacetime routine of fleet and squadron maneuvers, gunnery drills, and torpedo practice in the Atlantic Fleet. During the summer months, she conducted training cruises for
midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
from the
Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...
. She was present in the Naval Review of 14 October 1912, attended by President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
and the
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. In 1913, she conducted a good-will visit to Villefranche, France, along with the battleships and . She participated in the intervention in Mexico at
Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
during the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
, to protect American citizens in the area.


World War I

Following the American entrance into
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
on 6 April 1917, ''Delaware'' had recently returned to Hampton Roads from fleet maneuvers in the
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. There, she trained new armed guard crews and engine room personnel as the Atlantic Fleet prepared to go to war. On 25 November 1917, she sailed with the rest of Battleship Division 9, bound for Britain to reinforce the Grand Fleet in the
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. Once in
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, the division joined the Grand Fleet as the
6th Battle Squadron The 6th Battle Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of Battleships serving in the Grand Fleet and existed from 1913 to 1917. History First World War August 1914 In August 1914, the 6th Battle Squadron was based at Portlan ...
. The 6th Battle Squadron was tasked with serving as the "fast wing" of the Grand Fleet. On 14 December, ''Delaware'' participated in joint Anglo-American maneuvers to practice coordination of the Allied fleet. Starting in late 1917, the Germans had begun to use surface raiders to attack the British convoys to Scandinavia; this forced the British to send squadrons from the Grand Fleet to escort the convoys. On 6 February 1918, the 6th Battle Squadron and eight British
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s escorted a convoy of
merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are u ...
s to Norway. While steaming off
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
on the 8th, ''Delaware'' was attacked twice by a German
U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
, though evasive maneuvers allowed ''Delaware'' to escape undamaged. The squadron was back in Scapa Flow on 10 February; ''Delaware'' escorted two more such convoys in March and April. On 22–24 April, the German High Seas Fleet sortied to intercept one of the convoys in the hope of cutting off and destroying the escorting battleship squadron. ''Delaware'' and the rest of the Grand Fleet left Scapa Flow on 24 April in an attempt to intercept the Germans, but the High Seas Fleet had already broken off the operation and returned to port. Starting on 30 June, the 6th Battle Squadron and a division of British destroyers covered a group of American minelayers as they laid the
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; the work lasted until 2 July. King George V inspected the Grand Fleet, including ''Delaware'', at Rosyth. Thereafter, ''Delaware'' was relieved by the battleship ; ''Delaware'' then sailed across the Atlantic, arriving in Hampton Roads on 12 August.


Post-war

''Delaware'' remained at York River until 12 November 1918, the day after the Armistice with Germany was signed, effectively ending World War I. She then sailed to Boston Navy Yard for an overhaul. ''Delaware'' rejoined the fleet on 11 March 1919 for training maneuvers off Cuba. She returned to New York with her division on 14 April, where additional divisional, squadron, and fleet exercises were conducted. She was present for another Naval Review on 28 April 1921 in Hampton Roads. From 5 June to 31 August 1922, ''Delaware'' conducted a training cruise for midshipmen to various ports in the Caribbean along with to Halifax, Nova Scotia. She went on another cruise to Europe from 9 July to 29 August 1923, and visited
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,
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,
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, and
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
. In the years immediately following the end of the war, the United States, Britain, and Japan all launched huge naval construction programs. All three countries decided that a new naval arms race would be ill-advised, and so convened the Washington Naval Conference to discuss arms limitations, which produced the Washington Naval Treaty, signed in February 1922. Under the terms of Article II of the treaty, ''Delaware'' and her sister were to be scrapped as soon as the new battleships and , then under construction, were ready to join the fleet. On 30 August 1923, ''Delaware'' accordingly entered dry dock in the
Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...
; her crew was transferred to the recently commissioned ''Colorado'', and the process of disposal began. ''Delaware'' was transferred to the Boston Navy Yard, decommissioned on 10 November, and disarmed. She was then sold on 5 February 1924 and subsequently broken up for scrap.


Footnotes


Notes


Citations


References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delaware (BB-28) Delaware-class battleships 1909 ships World War I battleships of the United States Ships built in Newport News, Virginia Ambassadors of Chile to the United States