USS Boston (1884)

USS Boston in 1891
History
United States
Name:	Boston
Namesake:	Boston, Massachusetts
Ordered:	23 July 1883
Builder:	John Roach & Sons, Chester, Pennsylvania
Laid down:	15 November 1883
Launched:	4 December 1884
Commissioned:	2 May 1887
Decommissioned:	4 November 1893
Recommissioned:	15 November 1895
Decommissioned:	15 September 1899
Recommissioned:	11 August 1902
Decommissioned:	10 June 1907
Recommissioned:	18 June 1918
Fate:	Scuttled 8 April 1946
Notes:	On loan to Oregon Naval Militia 15 June 1911 – September 1916 On loan to United States Shipping Board 24 May 1917 – June 1918
General characteristics
Type:	Protected cruiser
Displacement:	3,189 long tons (3,240 t)
Length:	283 ft (86.3 m)
Beam:	42 ft (12.8 m)
Draft:	17 ft (5.2 m)
Installed power:	8 × boilers 1 × horizontal compound engine 3,500 ihp (2,600 kW)
Propulsion:	Sails (as built) 1 × shaft
Speed:	16.3 kn (18.8 mph; 30.2 km/h) on trials, 13 kn (15 mph; 24 km/h) designed
Range:	3,390 nmi (6,280 km; 3,900 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	284 officers and men
Armament:	2 × 8-inch (203 mm)/30 caliber Mark 1 guns 6 × 6-inch (152 mm)/30 caliber Mark 2 guns 2 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.24 in)) guns 2 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.85 in)) Hotchkiss revolving cannon 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.46 in)) Hotchkiss revolving cannon 2 × .45 caliber (11.4 mm) Gatling guns
Armor:	Barbettes: 2 in (51 mm) Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) Conning tower: 2 in (51 mm)
Notes:	One of the U.S. Navy's first four steel ships

The fifth USS Boston was a protected cruiser and one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s. In some references she is combined with Atlanta as the Atlanta class, in others as the Boston class.

Boston was laid down on 15 November 1883 by John Roach & Sons, Chester, Pennsylvania, launched on 4 December 1884, and commissioned on 2 May 1887 at the New York Navy Yard, Captain Francis M. Ramsay in command.

Boston was ordered as part of the "ABCD" ships, the others being the cruisers Atlanta and Chicago and the dispatch vessel Dolphin. All were ordered from the same shipyard, John Roach & Sons of Chester, Pennsylvania. However, when Secretary of the Navy William C. Whitney initially refused to accept Dolphin, claiming her design was defective, the Roach yard went bankrupt and Boston was completed at the New York Navy Yard, which had little experience with steel-hulled ships.

As-built armament included two 8-inch (203 mm)/30 caliber Mark 1 guns, six 6-inch (152 mm)/30 caliber Mark 2 guns, two 6-pounder (57 mm (2.24 in)) guns, two 3-pounder (47 mm (1.85 in)) Hotchkiss revolving cannon, two 1-pounder (37 mm (1.46 in)) Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two .45 caliber (11.4 mm) Gatling guns. The 8-inch guns were initially in open barbettes with gun shields added later.

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