Columbia class cruiser

USS Columbia (colorized photo)
Class overview
Name:	Columbia class
Builders:	William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Cincinnati class
Succeeded by:	Denver class
Cost:	$2,725,000 (hull and machinery)
Built:	1890–1894
In commission:	1894–1921
Planned:	2
Completed:	2
Scrapped:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Protected cruiser
Displacement:	7,375 long tons (7,493 t)
Length:	412 ft (126 m)
Beam:	58 ft 2.25 in (17.74 m)
Draft:	22 ft 6.5 in (6.87 m)
Installed power:	8 or 10 × steam boilers 3 × vertical triple expansion engines 21,000 ihp (16,000 kW)
Propulsion:	3 × screws
Speed:	22.5 knots (41.7 km/h) (design)
Range:	25,520 nmi (47,260 km; 29,370 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) (design)
Complement:	30 Officers, 447 Enlisted
Armament:	As built: 1 × 8 in (203 mm)/40 caliber Mark 5 gun 2 × 6 in (152 mm)/40 caliber guns 8 × 4 in (102 mm)/40 caliber rapid fire (RF) guns 12 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) RF guns 4 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) RF guns 4 × Gatling guns One field piece (for landing parties) 4 × 14 in (356 mm) or 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Protective deck 4 in (102 mm) (slopes), 2.5 in (64 mm) (flats) Gun shields 4 in (102 mm) Gun sponsons 4 in (102 mm) Conning tower 5 in (127 mm)
General characteristics (1920)
Armament:	3 × 6 in (150 mm)/45 caliber Mark 10 gun 4 × 4 in (100 mm)/40 guns 2 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 anti-aircraft guns 4 × 3-pounder(47 mm (1.9 in)) saluting guns 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) guns

The Columbia-class cruisers were two protected cruisers constructed in 1890 and 1891 and used by the United States Navy. They were lightly gunned ships with only moderate armor that were built for the speed needed to overtake and destroy the fast ocean liners of the day as commerce raiders. However, the light armament and armor left these ships over-specialized and outclassed by ordinary similar sized protected cruisers that they might encounter. Also, the engines were expensive to operate and at full power the ships' range was greatly decreased. Due to the ongoing size and speed race in ocean liners, by 1907 they were outclassed in speed by the ill-fated Lusitania and the German liner Kronprinzessin Cecilie.

Columbia was authorized by an Act of Congress approved 30 June 1890, and Minneapolis was authorized by an Act approved 2 March 1891.

Due to their design, this type of ship was criticized as being not much better than an armed merchant cruiser. During the Spanish–American War, for example, Columbia was used as a troop transport, while both ships of the class were used as scouts.

This type of large (but under-armed) specialized commerce raider was built by several other countries. The German cruiser SMS Kaiserin Augusta also had a triple-screw design and was nearly as long as the American Columbia-class ships. The French copied the Columbia-class concept with two large protected cruisers; Guichen of 1897 and Châteaurenault of 1898 before switching to building only armored cruisers for the commerce-raiding role such as the Dupleix class of 1900. Later, Russia acquired a series of oversized protected cruisers such as the Pallada and Bogatyr classes along with Askold and Varyag up until the Russo-Japanese War (1905), although these were given a relatively stronger armament for their size. The British were the most probable target of most of these ships, and invested in various cruiser designs as a counter to the perceived threat.