The first USS ''Chicago'' (later CA-14) was a

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

of the

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, the largest of the original three authorized by Congress for the "New Navy" and one of the U.S. Navy's first four steel ships. She was launched on 5 December 1885 by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of

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, sponsored by Edith Cleborne (daughter of Navy Medical Director Cuthbert J. Cleborne) and commissioned on 17 April 1889.

Design and construction

''Chicago'' was ordered as part of the "ABCD" ships, the others being the cruisers and and the dispatch vessel . These were the first steel-hulled ships of the "New Navy". All were ordered from the same shipyard, Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of

. However, when

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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 at an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of and at the

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. Her beam was with a draft of . She had fourteen 100psi

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s that ran two

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

overhead beam steam engines that producing to turn her two

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s and achieve a speed of . She was also rigged with sails as a

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

. ''Chicago'' was capable of carrying of

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. ''Chicago''s original armament consisted of four /30 caliber Mark 2 guns, eight /30 caliber Mark 2 guns, two /31 caliber Mark 1 guns, two 6-pounder guns, four 3-pounder guns, two 1-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannon, and two

.45 caliber This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods) A case of some merchandise Merchandising is any practic ...

(11.4 mm) Gatling guns. She had of armor on her gun shields, on her deck, and on her conning tower.

Rebuilds and refits

In 1895–99 ''Chicago'' was refitted at the New York Navy Yard, with her main batteries replaced by four new /35 caliber Mark 4 guns, and with all secondary 6-inch and 5-inch guns replaced by fourteen new /40 caliber Mark 3 guns. She had her sails removed, boilers replaced by six

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and four cylindrical boilers, and engines replaced with two horizontal

triple-expansion engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

s totaling for speed. In 1902 she was partially reconstructed, with an extended armored deck and increased displacement of . In 1915 as a training ship she was rearmed with twelve /40 caliber guns, and in 1918 as a flagship with four /51 caliber guns. In 1920, as a

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, she was disarmed.

Service history

Pre-World War I

On 7 December 1889, ''Chicago'' departed

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for Lisbon,

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, arriving on 21 December. The cruiser served in European and Mediterranean waters as the flagship of the

Squadron of Evolution The Squadron of Evolution—sometimes referred to as the "White Squadron"— was a transitional unit in the United States Navy during the late 19th century. It was probably inspired by the French "Escadre d'évolution" of the 18th and 19th centur ...

until 31 May 1890, when she sailed from

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, Madeira to call at

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ian and West Indian ports before returning to New York on 29 July. ''Chicago'' operated along the east coasts of North and

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and in the Caribbean as flagship of the Squadron of Evolution—and later as flagship of the

North Atlantic Squadron The North Atlantic Squadron was a section of the United States Navy operating in the North Atlantic. It was renamed as the North Atlantic Fleet in 1902. In 1905 the European and South Atlantic squadrons were abolished and absorbed into the Nort ...

—until 1893. After taking part in the International Naval Review in Hampton Roads in April, she left New York on 18 June 1893 to cruise in European and Mediterranean waters as flagship of the European station. During this period the ship was commanded by

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, already famous as a naval strategist. ''Chicago'' returned to New York on 20 March 1895, and was placed out of commission there on 1 May. Recommissioned on 1 December 1898, ''Chicago'' made a short cruise in the Caribbean before sailing for the European Station on 18 April. She returned to New York on 27 September and participated in the naval parade and Dewey celebration of 2 October 1899. ''Chicago'' sailed from New York on 25 November for an extended cruise, as flagship of the South Atlantic Station until early July 1901, then as flagship of the European Station. With the squadron, she cruised in northern European, Mediterranean, and Caribbean waters until 1 August 1903, when she proceeded to Oyster Bay, New York, and the Presidential Review. From 3 December 1903 – 15 August 1904, ''Chicago'' was out of commission at Boston undergoing repairs. After operating along the northeast coast, the cruiser departed

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on 17 November for

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, arriving on 28 December. There, on 1 January 1905, she relieved the

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as flagship of the

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and for three years operated off the west coasts of North and South America, in the Caribbean, and to

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. In 1906, she played a key role in the evacuation of

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during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Arriving from

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at 6pm on 19 April, ''Chicagos radio allowed the city's leadership to communicate with the outside world, as telephone and telegraph lines were down. A group of two officers and sixteen enlisted men from ''Chicago'' supervised waterborne evacuation efforts. The removal of 20,000 refugees to Tiburon in Marin County by this ship and numerous other vessels is said to be unparalleled and unsurpassed until the 1940 evacuation of Dunkirk. On 8 January 1908, ''Chicago'' departed San Diego for the east coast and in May joined the

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Practice Squadron for the summer cruise along the northeast coast until 27 August, when she went into reserve. ''Chicago'' was recommissioned the next summer (14 May – 28 August 1909) to operate with the Practice Squadron along the east coast, then returned to Annapolis. On 4 January 1910, she left the Academy for Boston, arriving on 23 January. She then served "in commission in reserve" with the

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until 12 April 1916, and with the Pennsylvania Naval Militia from 26 April 1916 – April 1917.

World War I and beyond

On 6 April 1917, ''Chicago'' was placed in full commission at

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and reported to Submarine Force, Atlantic ( COMSUBLANT) as flagship at

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, commanded by future Admiral

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. On 10 July 1919, she departed New York to join Cruiser Division 2 (CruDiv 2), as flagship in the Pacific. She was reclassified CA-14 in 1920 and then CL-14 in 1921. From December 1919 – September 1923, she served with SubDiv 14 and as tender at the

Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor file:Hawaii map new.png, Map of the List of counties in Hawaii, five counties of the Hawaii, state of Hawaii Naval Base Hawaii was a number of United States Navy bases in the Territory of Hawaii during World War II. At the start of the war ...

. ''Chicago'' was decommissioned at Pearl Harbor on 30 September 1923 and served as a

receiving ship A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipmen ...

at Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor until 1935. On 16 July 1928 she was renamed ''Alton'' to free the name ''Chicago'' for the

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...

and was reclassified as an "unclassified miscellaneous unit" (IX-5). ''Alton'' was sold on 15 May 1936. She foundered in mid-Pacific on 8 July 1936 while being towed from Honolulu to San Francisco for delivery to her buyers.Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, eds., ''Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1860-1905'', New York: Mayflower Books, 1979, , p. 150.

Gallery

File:Officers of USS Chicago ca. 1903 (NH 104851).jpg, Officers of USS ''Chicago'', photographed on her deck ca. 1903. File:80-G-451207 (29708243662).jpg, ''Chicago'' as barracks ship USS ''Alton'' (IX-5) at Pearl Harbor, 1926.

References

Bibliography

* Rentfrow, James C. ''Home Squadron: The U.S. Navy on the North Atlantic Station.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2014. * Spears, John Randolph. ''A History of the United States Navy.'' New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1908. * *''The White Squadron''.

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: Woolson Spice Co., 1891.

External links

Photo gallery of USS CHICAGO (Protected Cruiser) at NavSource.org
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20030625235559/http://www.users.qwest.net/~robbd01/chicago.htm Additional ''Chicago'' infobr>Journal of the Cruise of U.S.S. Chicago, 1893–1895 MS 408
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Special Collection & Archives
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United States Naval Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago (1885) 1885 ships Protected cruisers of the United States Navy World War I cruisers of the United States 1906 San Francisco earthquake Maritime incidents in 1936 Ships built by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Spanish–American War cruisers of the United States Philippine–American War ships of the United States