Asheville-class gunboat (1917)
Asheville, during her service in the Canal Zone.
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| Class overview | |
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| Builders: | Charleston Naval Shipyard, North Charleston, South Carolina |
| Operators: |
 United States Navy
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| Built: | 1917–1919 |
| In commission: | 1920–1948 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Scrapped: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Gunboat |
| Displacement: | 1,575 LT (1,600 t) |
| Length: | 241 ft 2 in (73.51 m) |
| Beam: | 41 ft 3 in (12.57 m) |
| Draft: | 11 ft 4 in (3.45 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3 × Thornycroft Bureau Modified steam boilers |
| Speed: | 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 159 |
| Armament: |
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The Asheville-class gunboat was a class of two gunboats, USS Tulsa and USS Asheville. The class was based on Sacramento, an earlier gunboat. The class was awarded a total of three battle stars, one for Asheville and two for Tulsa. The two sister ships often served in the same areas, both served in Central America and the Pacific. Both ships spent most of their lives projecting US naval power across several different theaters. Tulsa principally served in Asia, serving variously with the South China Patrol, Yangtze Patrol, and Inshore Patrol; Asheville mostly stayed in Central America, but did spend a few years on the South China Patrol alongside Tulsa. When war came to the US, both were used to escort convoys when at war.
The class' design was derived from Sacramento; which had been ordered in 1911 under the 1912 fiscal year. The Navy was displeased with Sacramento, since budgetary limitations had produced a weakly-armed vessel, carrying only three 4-inch (100 mm) guns compared to the ten 5 in (130 mm) guns of the Denver-class cruisers that had preceded her. In 1913, the General Board began preparing design requirements for the next gunboat, scheduled for the 1914 fiscal year; the board planned a vessel that had half the endurance of Sacramento—2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) instead of 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi)—a reduction that would afford the weight of a fourth gun. By April 1913, funding could not be secured for a gunboat in 1914, so the board requested it be built the following year, but now asked for an armament of six 5 in (130 mm) guns. The Bureau of Ordnance informed the General Board that the standard gun of that caliber, the 5"/51 caliber gun, was far too heavy, being two and a half times as heavy as the 4 in gun used aboard Sacramento. The board then requested the older and lighter 5"/40 caliber gun, but then agreed to the 4 in gun. Nevertheless, no gunboat was ordered for 1915.
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