Florida class battleship

The "Florida"-class battleships of the United States Navy were its first battleship class to have steam turbine only propulsion, though USS|North Dakota|BB-29|6 of the "Delaware" class was the first U.S. Battleship to have steam turbine propulsion installed. They were, in general, similar to the preceding "Delaware"-class design, but were slightly larger. The two ships of this class were launched in 1910 and 1909, respectively:

The Design

These ships were approximately 2,000 tons larger than the previous class, but had the same main armament of ten convert|12|in|mm|0|sing=on guns in five twin turrets. The secondary battery of convert|5|in|mm|0|sing=on guns was improved to house the 5"/51 instead of the previous classes 5"/50 armament. The 5"/51, offering higher velocity, was seen as a needed upgrade. [U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History Norman Friedman P71 ISBN 0-87021-715-1] The engine rooms were lengthened to accommodate the Parsons steam turbine. [U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History Norman Friedman P72 ISBN 0-87021-715-1] The beam was widened convert|3|ft|m|0 as a result, giving a displacement increase of 2,000 tons. Thicker casement armor marks the only change in armor from the "Delaware" class. [U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History Norman Friedman P72 ISBN 0-87021-715-1] Lack of operational experience with the type led to the hull design shipping excessive sea and the forward casement battery being useless in all but the calmest sea at moderate speed.

Reconstruction

They survived the Washington Naval Treaty and were put in hand for modernization. The coal fired boilers were replace by oil fired boilers. Anti-torpedo blisters were installed increasing the beam to convert|106|ft|m|0. The twin smoke stacks were trunked into a single stack. The dual cage masts were reduced to one cage mast. Much of the secondary armament of 5"/51" was moved to the main deck regaining the use of the secondary battery.

The end of the class

The London Naval Treaty saw to the end of "Florida", and "Utah" had her main armament stripped and was converted to an anti-air gunnery training ship. "Florida" was scrapped, and "Utah" was sunk in the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

List of Florida class battleships

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ource

Source: U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History Norman Friedman ISBN 0-87021-715-1

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/usnshtp/bb/bb30cl.htm US Navy page on the class]