USS Chicago (1885)

USS Chicago in 1891
History
United States
Name:	Chicago (1885–1928) Alton (1928–1936)
Namesake:	City of Chicago, Illinois City of Alton, Illinois
Ordered:	3 March 1883
Awarded:	26 July 1883
Builder:	John Roach & Sons, Chester, Pennsylvania
Cost:	$889,000 (contract price of hull and machinery)
Laid down:	29 December 1883
Launched:	5 December 1885
Sponsored by:	Edith Cleborne
Commissioned:	17 April 1889
Decommissioned:	30 September 1923
Renamed:	Alton 16 July 1928 and reclassified IX-5
Reclassified:	CA-14, 17 July 1921 CL-14, 8 August 1921 IX-5, 16 June 1928
Identification:	Hull symbol:CA-14 Hull symbol:CL-14 Hull symbol:IX-5
Fate:	sold 15 May 1936, foundered (sunk) in Pacific July 1936
General characteristics (as built)
Type:	Protected cruiser
Displacement:	4,500 long tons (4,600 t)
Length:	342 ft 2 in (104.29 m) oa 325 ft (99 m) pp
Beam:	48 ft 3 in (14.71 m)
Draft:	19 ft (5.8 m)
Installed power:	14 × 100 psi (690 kPa) coal-fired boilers
Propulsion:	2 × compound overhead beam steam engines 5,084 ihp (3,791 kW) 2 × screws
Sail plan:	Schooner
Speed:	14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Capacity:	830 short tons (750 t) of coal
Complement:	45 officers and 356 enlisted men
Armament:	4 × 8-inch (200 mm)/30 caliber Mark 2 guns (4x1) 8 × 6-inch (150 mm)/30 caliber Mark 2 guns (8x1) 2 × 5-inch (130 mm)/31 caliber Mark 1 guns (2x1) 2 × 6-pounder 57 mm (2.24 in) guns 4 × 3-pounder 47 mm (1.85 in) guns 2 × 1-pounder 37 mm (1.46 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon 2 × .45 caliber (11.4 mm) Gatling guns
Armor:	Gun shields: 4 in (100 mm) Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) Conning tower: 3 in (76 mm)
General characteristics (1895 & 1902 rebuild)
Displacement:	5,000 long tons (5,100 t)
Installed power:	2 × Triple expansion engines 9,000 ihp (6,700 kW)
Propulsion:	6 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 4 × Single ended boilers 2 × screws
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (Speed on Trial)
Armament:	4 × 8 in (200 mm)/35 caliber Mark 4 guns (4x1) 14 × 5 in (130 mm)/40 caliber Mark 3 guns (2x1)

The first USS Chicago (later CA-14) was a protected cruiser of the United States Navy, the largest of the original three authorized by Congress for the "New Navy". One of the U.S. Navy's first four steel ships.

She was launched on 5 December 1885 by John Roach & Sons of Chester, Pennsylvania, sponsored by Edith Cleborne (daughter of Navy Medical Director Cuthbert J. Cleborne) and commissioned on 17 April 1889, Captain Henry Bellows Robeson in command.

Chicago was ordered as part of the "ABCD" ships, the others being the cruisers Atlanta and Boston and the dispatch vessel Dolphin. These were the first steel-hulled ships of the "New Navy". 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 Chicago's completion was delayed about three years while Roach reorganized as the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works. Like the other "ABCD" ships, Chicago was built with a sail rig to increase cruising range.

Chicago was built with a displacement of 4,500 long tons (4,600 t) at an overall length of 342 ft 2 in (104.29 m) and 325 ft (99 m) at the perpendiculars. Her beam was 48 ft 3 in (14.71 m) with a draft of 19 ft (5.8 m). She was had fourteen 100psi boilers that ran two compound overhead beam steam engines that producing 5,084 ihp (3,791 kW) to turn her two screws and achieve a speed of 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h). She was also rigged for sails in a Schooner configuration. Chicago was capable of carrying 830 short tons (750 t) of coal.

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