USS ''Katahdin'', a harbor-defense ram of innovative design, was the second ship 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 ...
to be named for
Mount Katahdin
Mount Katahdin ( ) is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Maine at . Named Katahdin, which means "Great Mountain", by the Penobscot Native Americans, it is within Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County, and is the centerpiece of Bax ...
, a mountain peak in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
.
Design and construction
The inspiration behind ''Katahdin'' was
Rear Admiral Daniel Ammen, an advocate of a coastal defense navy. Ammen was impressed by the British
torpedo ram HMS ''Polyphemus''. Unlike ''Polyphemus'', which was primarily a torpedo boat, with ramming a secondary function, the American design was for a pure ram, with no torpedoes carried.
[Preston 2002, pp. 31 and 33.]
''Katahdin''s design was a new departure in
naval architecture
Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and ...
, built to ride extremely low in the water with her bow awash while under way. Her hull embodied several new features later used in early
submarines. A similar design was the
whaleback
]
A whaleback was a type of cargo steamship of unusual design, with a hull that continuously curved above the waterline from vertical to horizontal. When fully loaded, only the rounded portion of the hull (the "whaleback" proper) could be seen a ...
freighters of the Great Lakes which went into production in 1887.
An order was placed for construction of a prototype armored ram in 1889.
[Preston 2002, p. 33.] Her keel was laid down by the
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest ...
of
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...
in July 1891.
She was
launched on 4 February, 1893, sponsored by Miss Una Soley, daughter of
James R. Soley, the
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy.
From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Depar ...
, and
commissioned at the
New York Navy Yard on 20 February 1897.
Service history
Although ''Katahdin''s engines were more powerful than specified, ''Katahdin'' failed to reach the contracted speed of , requiring the passing of special legislation to allow her to be accepted by the Navy. Conditions aboard the ship were extremely uncomfortable, as it was cramped and had very poor ventilation, leading to almost intolerable temperatures being recorded.
''Katahdin'' departed New York Harbor 4 March 1897, the day of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
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Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
's first inauguration, and sailed to
Norfolk, Virginia, before decommissioning at
Philadelphia Naval Yard
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries.
Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...
on 17 April. A year later, with the Navy preparing for
an impending war with
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, she recommissioned there 10 March 1898. She was attached to the North Atlantic Squadron and operated along the Atlantic Coast from
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
to Norfolk protecting the nation's seaboard cities from possible attack. After decisive American naval victories at
Manila Bay
Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phi ...
and
Santiago Harbor eliminated this threat, the ram decommissioned for the last time at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 8 October.
''Katahdin'' was stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register
The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
on 9 July 1909 and designated "Ballistic Experimental Target 'A'. ''Katahdin'' was sunk by gunfire at
Rappahannock Spit,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, that September.
See also
"Contract and Screw Trials of the U.S.S. ''Kathadin''" ''Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers'', v.8, February, 1896, pages 1–20 (Full technical engineering details including drawings, description of contract issues)
*USS
''Vesuvius''
Citations
References
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katahdin (1893)
1893 ships
Rams of the United States Navy
Ships built in Bath, Maine
Ships sunk as targets
Shipwrecks of the Virginia coast
Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Spanish–American War naval ships of the United States
Ships built by Bath Iron Works