USS Illinois (BB-7)

Illinois at anchor
History
United States
Name:	Illinois
Namesake:	State of Illinois
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company
Laid down:	10 February 1897
Launched:	4 October 1898
Commissioned:	16 September 1901
Decommissioned:	15 May 1920
Renamed:	Prairie State, 8 January 1941
Struck:	26 March 1956
Fate:	Sold for scrap on 18 May 1956
General characteristics
Class and type:	Illinois-class battleship
Displacement:	Full load: 12,250 long tons (12,450 t)
Length:	375 ft 4 in (114.40 m)
Beam:	72 ft 3 in (22.02 m)
Draft:	23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Installed power:	8 fire-tube boilers 10,000 ihp (7,500 kW)
Propulsion:	2 shaft triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Crew:	536
Armament:	4 × 13 in (330 mm)/35 caliber guns 14 × 6 in (152 mm)/40 caliber guns 16 × 6-pounder guns (57 mm (2.2 in)) 6 × 1-pounder guns (37 mm (1.5 in)) 4 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 4 to 16.5 in (102 to 419 mm) Turrets: 14 in (356 mm) Barbettes: 15 in (381 mm) Casemates: 6 in (152 mm) Conning tower: 10 in (254 mm)

USS Illinois (BB-7) was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the Illinois class, and was the second ship of the U.S. Navy to be named for the 21st state. Her keel was laid in February 1897 at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, and she was launched in October 1898. She was commissioned in September 1901. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 13-inch (330 mm) guns and she had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

Illinois served with the European Squadron from 1902 to 1903, and with the North Atlantic Fleet until 1907, by which time it had been renamed the Atlantic Fleet. During this time, she accidentally collided with two other battleships. From December 1907 to February 1909, she circumnavigated the globe with the Great White Fleet. From November 1912, the ship was used as a training ship. She was lent to the state of New York in 1919 for use as a training vessel for the New York State Militia. The ship was converted into a floating armory in 1924 as a result of the Washington Naval Treaty, and it was under this guise that she served for the next thirty years. In January 1941 she was renamed Prairie State and reclassified as IX-15 so that the name could be given to Illinois, a projected Iowa-class battleship. Prairie State was ultimately sold for scrap in 1956.

Illinois was 374 feet (114 m) long overall and had a beam of 72 ft 3 in (22.02 m) and a draft of 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m). She displaced 11,565 long tons (11,751 t) as designed and up to 12,250 long tons (12,450 t) at full load. The ship was powered by two-shaft triple-expansion steam engines rated at 16,000 indicated horsepower (12,000 kW) and eight coal-fired fire-tube boilers, generating a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). As built, she was fitted with heavy military masts, but these were replaced by cage masts in 1909. She had a crew of 536 officers and enlisted men, which increased to 690–713.

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