USS Raleigh (C-8)

USS Raleigh (C-8), starboard bow view.
History
United States
Name:	Raleigh
Namesake:	City of Raleigh, North Carolina
Ordered:	7 September 1888
Builder:	New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York
Cost:	$1,100,000
Laid down:	19 December 1889
Launched:	31 March 1892
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Alfred W. Haywood
Commissioned:	17 April 1894
Decommissioned:	21 April 1919
Struck:	5 August 1921
Identification:	Hull symbol:C-8
Fate:	5 August 1921, sold for scrap to Henry A. Hitner's Sons Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Cincinnati-class protected cruiser
Displacement:	3,183 long tons (3,234 t) (standard) 3,339 long tons (3,393 t) (full load)
Length:	305 ft 10 in (93.22 m)
Beam:	42 ft (13 m)
Draft:	18 ft (5.5 m) (mean) 20 ft 2 in (6.15 m) (max)
Installed power:	6 × steam boilers 10,000 ihp (7,500 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines 2 × screws
Sail plan:	Schooner
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) 21.12 kn (24.30 mph; 39.11 km/h) (speed on trial)
Complement:	32 officers 270 enlisted
Armament:	1 × 6 in (152 mm)/40 caliber guns 10 × 5 in (127 mm)/40 caliber guns 8 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) guns 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) guns 4 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Deck: 2.5 in (64 mm) (slope) 1 in (25 mm) (flat) Conning Tower: 2 in (51 mm) Gun Sponsons: 4 in (100 mm)
General characteristics (1914)
Installed power:	8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 4,500 ihp (3,400 kW)
Armament:	11 × 5 in (130 mm)/40 caliber guns 6 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) guns

USS Raleigh (C-8) was a United States Navy protected cruiser of the Cincinnati class, commissioned in 1894 and in periodic service until 1919.

The second ship named Raleigh, was laid down on 19 December 1889 at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia; launched 31 March 1892; sponsored by Mrs. Alfred W. Haywood; and commissioned on 17 April 1894, Captain Merrill Miller in command. The ship was named after the City of Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina.

Remaining in the yard for another five months, Raleigh shifted to Hampton Roads in early September, then conducted shakedown in Chesapeake Bay. In January 1895, she completed fitting out at the torpedo station at Newport, Rhode Island, and on the 25th put to sea to join the North Atlantic Squadron for battle practice in the Caribbean. In June, she put into New York, whence she moved south again for a cruise around the Florida peninsula; and in August, she returned to New York for voyage repairs before resuming operations with her squadron. For the next 10 months, she continued operations in the western Atlantic, ranging from New England to the Straits of Florida.

During the summer of 1896, she trained Naval Militiamen from South Carolina and Louisiana, then returned to the east coast and North Atlantic Squadron exercises. From late October 1896-early February 1897, she joined in a neutrality patrol off Florida, and in April, after the completion of an overhaul at Norfolk, participated in ceremonies marking the dedication of Grant's Tomb.

On 6 May, Raleigh steamed east, and on 11 June reported for duty on the European Station at Smyrna (now Izmir) on the Aegean Sea. In July, she participated in a good-will tour of Moroccan ports. In August, she cruised off Italy, then returned to the western Mediterranean. Into December, she operated off the Levant and, toward the end of the month transited the Suez Canal en route to the Asiatic Station. On 18 February 1898, she reached Hong Kong where she joined Dewey's squadron.