USS Galveston (CL-19)

USS Galveston underway soon after completion, circa 1905. Note that her topmasts are partially lowered.
History
United States
Name:	Galveston
Namesake:	City of Galveston, Texas
Ordered:	3 March 1899
Awarded:	14 December 1899
Builder:	William R. Trigg Company, Richmond, Virginia
Cost:	$1,027,000 (contract price of hull and machinery)
Laid down:	19 January 1901
Launched:	23 July 1903
Sponsored by:	Miss Ella Sealey
Commissioned:	15 February 1905
Decommissioned:	2 September 1930
Reclassified:	PG-31, 17 July 1920 CL-19, 8 August 1921
Struck:	1 November 1930
Identification:	Hull symbol:C-17 Hull symbol:PG-31 Hull symbol:CL-19
Fate:	sold for scrapping, 13 September 1933
Notes:	Patrol combatant type
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Denver-class protected cruiser
Displacement:	3,200 long tons (3,251 t) (standard) 3,514 long tons (3,570 t) (full load)
Length:	308 ft 9 in (94.11 m) oa 292 ft (89 m)pp
Beam:	44 ft (13 m)
Draft:	15 ft 9 in (4.80 m) (mean)
Installed power:	6 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 21,000 ihp (16,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines 2 × screws
Sail plan:	Schooner
Speed:	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) 16.65 knots (30.84 km/h; 19.16 mph) (Speed on Trial)
Complement:	30 officers 261 enlisted men
Armament:	10 × 5 in (127 mm)/50 caliber Mark 5 Breech-loading rifles 8 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) rapid fire guns 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) guns
Armor:	Deck: 2 1⁄2 in (64 mm) (slope) 3⁄16 in (4.8 mm) (flat) Shields: 1 3⁄4 in (44 mm)
General characteristics (1921)
Armament:	8 × 5 in (127 mm)/50 caliber Mark 5 breech-loading rifles 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 anti-aircraft gun 6 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) rapid fire guns 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) guns

USS Galveston (C-17/PG-31/CL-19) was a Denver-class protected cruiser in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the first Navy ship named for the city of Galveston, Texas.

Galveston was laid down 19 January 1901 by William R. Trigg Company, Richmond, Virginia; launched 23 July 1903; sponsored by Miss Ella Sealey; and commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, 15 February 1905, Commander William Gifford Cutler in command.

Galveston departed Norfolk on 10 April 1905 for Galveston, Texas, where on 19 April she was presented a silver service by citizens of her namesake city. Returning to the East Coast 3 May, she departed New York 18 June for Cherbourg, France, where she arrived 30 June and took part in the ceremonies commemorating the return of the remains of John Paul Jones to the U.S. Naval Academy, reaching Annapolis on 22 July.

She next joined Dolphin and Mayflower as one of the host ships for the Russo-Japanese Peace Conference (4–8 August) serving at Oyster Bay, New York; Newport, Rhode Island, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. From 13 August to 11 September 1905 the cruiser had special duty with Minister Plenipotentiary Hollander's State Department cruise from Norfolk to the West Indies ports of Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince, followed by preparations for foreign service at Norfolk and New York.