USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4)

USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4)

Tinted postcard of USS Pennsylvania, from around 1905–1908.
History
United States
Name:	Pennsylvania (1901–1912) Pittsburgh (1912–1931)
Namesake:	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Ordered:	3 March 1899
Awarded:	10 January 1901
Builder:	William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cost:	$3,890,000 (contract price of hull and machinery)
Laid down:	7 August 1901
Launched:	22 August 1903
Sponsored by:	Miss Coral Quay
Commissioned:	9 March 1905
Decommissioned:	10 July 1931
Renamed:	Pittsburgh, 27 August 1912
Reclassified:	CA-4, 17 July 1920
Struck:	26 October 1931
Identification:	Hull symbol:ACR-4 Hull symbol:CA-4
Fate:	sold for scrap, 21 December 1931
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser
Displacement:	13,680 long tons (13,900 t) (standard) 1,138 long tons (1,156 t) (full load)
Length:	504 ft (154 m) oa 502 ft (153 m) pp
Beam:	69 ft 6 in (21.18 m)
Draft:	24 ft 1 in (7.34 m) (mean)
Installed power:	32 × Niclausse boilers 23,000 ihp (17,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines 2 × screws
Speed:	22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph) 22.44 kn (41.56 km/h; 25.82 mph) (Speed on Trial)
Complement:	80 officers 745 enlisted 64 Marines
Armament:	4 × 8 in (203 mm)/40 caliber Mark 5 breech-loading rifles (BL)(2×2) 14 × 6 in (152 mm)/50 cal Mark 6 BL rifles 18 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal rapid-fire guns 12 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) Driggs-Schroeder guns 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) Driggs-Schroeder saluting guns 2 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 6 in (152 mm) (top & waterline) 5 in (127 mm) (bottom) Deck: 1 1⁄2 in (38 mm) - 6 in (amidships) 4 in (102 mm) (forward & aft) Barbettes: 6 in Turrets: 6 - 6 1⁄2 in (165 mm) Conning Tower: 9 in (229 mm)
General characteristics (Pre-1911 Refit)
Installed power:	8 × Modified Niclausse boilers, 12 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Armament:	4 × 8 in/45 cal Mark 6 BL rifles (2×2) 14 × 6 in/50 cal Mark 6 BL rifles 18 × 3 in/50 cal rapid-fire guns 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm) Driggs-Schroeder saluting guns 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes
General characteristics (Pre-1921 Refit)
Armament:	4 × 8 in/45 cal Mark 6 BL rifles (2×2) 14 × 6 in/50 cal Mark 6 BL rifles 10 × 3 in/50 cal rapid-fire guns 2 × 3 in/50 caliber anti-aircraft guns 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm) Driggs-Schroeder saluting guns 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes

The second USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4/CA-4), also referred to as Armored Cruiser No. 4, and later renamed Pittsburgh, was a United States Navy armored cruiser, the lead ship of her class.

She was laid down on 7 August 1901 by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia, launched on 22 August 1903, sponsored by Miss Coral Quay, daughter of Senator Matthew S. Quay of Pennsylvania, and commissioned on 9 March 1905, Captain Thomas C. McLean in command.

Pennsylvania operated on the east coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea until 8 September 1906, when she cleared Newport for the Asiatic Station, returning to San Francisco on 27 September 1907 for west coast duty. She visited Chile and Peru in 1910.

On 18 January 1911, a plane flown by Eugene Ely from the Tanforan airfield in San Bruno, California landed on a platform constructed on her afterdeck. This was the first successful aircraft landing on a ship, and the first using a tailhook apparatus, thus opening the era of naval aviation and aircraft carriers.

While in reserve at Puget Sound from 1 July 1911 – 30 May 1913, the cruiser trained naval militia. She was renamed Pittsburgh on 27 August 1912 to free the Pennsylvania name for a new battleship.