USS Charleston (C-22)

USS Charleston (C-22), port view, undated.
History
United States
Name:	Charleston
Namesake:	City of Charleston, South Carolina
Ordered:	7 June 1900
Awarded:	30 March 1901
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia
Cost:	$2,740,000 (contract price of hull and machinery)
Laid down:	30 January 1902
Launched:	23 January 1904
Sponsored by:	Miss H. Rhett
Commissioned:	17 October 1905
Decommissioned:	4 December 1923
Reclassified:	CA-19, 17 July 1920
Identification:	Hull symbol:C-22 Hull symbol:CA-19
Fate:	sold for scrapping on 6 March 1930, in accordance with the provisions of the London Naval Treaty
Status:	subsequently sold to the Powell River Co., British Columbia, Canada to be used as a breakwater
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	St. Louis-class protected cruiser
Displacement:	9,700 long tons (9,856 t) (standard) 10,839 long tons (11,013 t) (full load)
Length:	426 ft 6 in (130.00 m)oa 424 ft (129 m)pp
Beam:	66 ft (20 m)
Draft:	22 ft 6 in (6.86 m) (mean)
Installed power:	12 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 21,000 ihp (16,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines 2 × screws
Speed:	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) 22.04 knots (40.82 km/h; 25.36 mph) (Speed on Trial)
Complement:	54 officers 624 enlisted 48 Marines
Armament:	14 × 6 in (152 mm)/50 caliber Mark 6 Breech-loading rifles 18 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns 12 ×3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) saluting guns 8 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) rapid-fire guns 4 × 1-pounder (37 mm) guns
Armor:	Belt armor: 4 in (100 mm) Deck (amidships): 2–3 in (51–76 mm) Shields: 4 in Conning tower: 5 in (130 mm)
General characteristics (1921)
Armament:	12 × 6 in/50 caliber Mark 6 breech-loading rifles 4 × 3 in/50 caliber guns 2 × 3 in/50 anti-aircraft guns 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm) saluting guns

The third USS Charleston (C-22/CA-19) was a United States Navy St. Louis-class protected cruiser. She was launched 23 January 1904 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, sponsored by Miss Helen Whaley Rhett, and commissioned on 17 October 1905, Captain Cameron McRae Winslow in command. She was reclassified CA-19 on 17 July 1920.

Charleston cruised to South American ports in the summer of 1906 with Secretary of State Elihu Root on board for good-will visits, and after disembarking the official party at Panama in September, returned to the west coast for overhaul. She cleared San Francisco on 6 December 1906 to begin service with the Pacific Squadron, sailing along the west coast from Magdalena Bay, Mexico, to Esquimalt, British Columbia, on exercises and fleet maneuvers until 10 June 1908, when she entered the Puget Sound Navy Yard to prepare for the long passage to the Asiatic Squadron. During this time, Charleston stopped in Portland, Oregon in June 1907 for the annual Portland Rose Festival. Charleston was the first U.S. Navy ship to attend the event, a tradition the Navy continues participate in to this day.

Leaving Puget Sound on 28 October 1908, Charleston served in the Far East until 11 September 1910, first as flagship of 3rd Squadron, Pacific Fleet, and later, as flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. Based on Cavite, Philippines in the winter, the Fleet moved north each summer to Chefoo, China, to continue exercises and visits to ports of China, Japan, Manchuria, and Russia, presenting a powerful reminder of American interest in the Far East. Returning to Bremerton, Washington, Charleston was decommissioned on 8 October 1910 at Puget Sound.