Florida-class battleship

USS Florida (BB-30)
Class overview
Name:	Florida-class battleship
Builders:	New York Naval Shipyard New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Delaware class
Succeeded by:	Wyoming class
In commission:	1911–1941
Planned:	2
Completed:	2
Lost:	1
Retired:	1
Preserved:	0
General characteristics
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	21,825 long tons (22,175 t) (standard) 23,033 long tons (23,403 t) (full load)
Length:	521 ft 6 in (159.0 m) (overall) 510 ft (155.4 m) (waterline)
Beam:	88 ft 3 in (26.9 m)
Draft:	28 ft 6 in (8.7 m) (mean) 30 ft 1 in (9.2 m) (max)
Installed power:	14 × coal-fired superheating Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers 28,000 shp (20,880 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons steam turbines 4 × screws
Speed:	21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	5,776 nmi (6,647 mi; 10,697 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) 2,760 nmi (3,176 mi; 5,112 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Capacity:	Coal: 1,667 long tons (1,694 t) (standard) Coal: 2,520 long tons (2,560 t) (max) Oil: 400 long tons (406 t)
Complement:	1,001 officers and men
Armament:	10 × 12 in (305 mm)/45 caliber Mark 5 guns 16 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns 4 × 6-pounder 57 mm (2.2 in) guns 2 × 1-pounder 37 mm (1.5 in) guns 2 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 9–11 in (229–279 mm) Lower casemate: 8–10 in (203–254 mm) Upper casemate: 5 in (127 mm) Barbettes: 4–10 in (102–254 mm) Turret face: 12 in (305 mm) Conning tower: 11.5 in (292 mm) Decks: 1.5 in (38 mm)

The Florida-class battleships of the United States Navy comprised two ships: Florida and Utah. Launched in 1910 and 1909 respectively and commissioned in 1911, they were slightly larger than the preceding Delaware-class design but were otherwise very similar. This was the first US battleship class in which all ships received steam turbine engines. In the previous Delaware class, North Dakota received steam turbine propulsion as an experiment while Delaware retained triple-expansion engines.

Both ships were involved in the 1914 Second Battle of Vera Cruz, deploying their Marine contingents as part of the operation. Following the entrance of the United States into World War I in 1917, both ships were deployed to Europe. Florida was assigned to the British Grand Fleet and based in Scapa Flow; in December 1918 she escorted President Woodrow Wilson to France for the peace negotiations. Utah was assigned to convoy escort duty; she was based in Ireland and was tasked with protecting convoys as they approached the European continent.

Retained under the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, both ships were modernized significantly, with torpedo bulges and oil-fired boilers installed and other improvements made, but were demilitarized under terms of the 1930 London Naval Treaty. Florida was scrapped, Utah converted into first a radio-controlled target ship, then an anti-aircraft gunnery trainer. She served in the latter role until sunk by the Japanese during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Her hull, never raised, remains on the bottom of the harbor as a war memorial.

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