- USS Puritan (BM-1)
The second USS Puritan was a monitor in the
United States Navy , constructed in 1882.The never-completed "Puritan" of the
American Civil War underwent the same extent of rebuilding as the four "Miantonomoh"-class under the direction of Secretary of the Navy George Robeson. The revised design of the “repaired” "Puritan" called for two turrets, and with her superstructure, tall stack, and military mast, she had the characteristics which identified the monitors built between 1889 and 1903.Because of the level of disrepair on the original "Puritan", a new "Puritan" was built by
John Roach & Son ,Chester, Pennsylvania and completed by theNew York Navy Yard ,Brooklyn, New York . Officially the Navy records list this action as a repair and redesignation of the original "Puritan", not the building of a new vessel even though very few building materials from the original were included in the construction of the second. The new "Puritan" was launchedDecember 6 ,1882 and commissioned onDecember 10 , with Captain J. R. Bartlett in command.By 1891, she had been equipped with four 12 inch (305 mm) guns in barbette turrets, with a plane of fire ten and a half feet (3.2 m) above the water. The armor belt was 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 m) deep, 14 inches (360 mm) amidships, with an armor deck of 2 inches (50 mm); barbettes, 14 inches (360 mm); and inclined turrets, 8 inches (200 mm). The original officer quarters were below deck, but these were given up to be additional crew quarters after new officers quarters were constructed in the superstructure.
"Puritan" had a busy career in 1898 during the
Spanish-American War . Assigned to theCuba n blockade in April, she joined "New York" and "Cincinnati" in shellingMatanzas on the 27th. After a stop atKey West in early May, she departed on the 20th to join the force building underRear Admiral William T. Sampson that would eventually move against Santiago. "Puritan" linked up on the 22nd and Sampson moved his ships toKey Frances on theNicholas Channel in order to execute his plan to contain the Spanish Fleet at Santiago. The success of Sampson’s squadron at Santiago onJuly 3 resulted in almost the complete destruction of the Spanish Fleet.Following war-time service, "Puritan" served as a practice ship for the Naval Academy from 1899 to 1902. She was decommissioned on
April 16 ,1903 at Philadelphia but was recommissionedJune 3 to serve as areceiving ship atLeague Island . In 1904, she was loaned to theNaval Militia ofWashington, D.C. and served with them untilSeptember 14 ,1909 . "Puritan" then moved toNorfolk, Virginia where she was again decommissioned onApril 23 ,1910 . She was struck from the Navy ListFebruary 27 ,1918 and was one of several vessels sold onJanuary 26 1922 , to J. G. Hetner and W. F. Cutler of Philadelphia.See also
* See USS "Puritan" (1864) for more information on this vessel.
* See USS "Puritan" for other ships of this name.References
External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p13/puritan-ii.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Puritan"]
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