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| Act of 13 May 1908: |
"._._. The President is hereby authorized to have constructed, two first-class battle ships to cost, exclusive of armor and armament, not exceeding six million dollars each, similar in all essential characteristics to the battle ship authorized by the act making appropriations for the naval service for the fiscal year ending June thirteenth, nineteen hundred and eight. At least one of such battleships shall be built and constructed under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy at one of the navy yards; ._._. |
. . . . . . . |
"._._. Said vessels ._._. in all their parts shall be of domestic manufacture; and the steel material shall be of domestic manufacture, ._._." |
| Florida (BB-30) was launched 12 May 1910 by the New York Navy Yard, sponsored by Miss E. D. Fleming, daughter of a former Florida governor; and commissioned 15 September 1911, Capt H. S. Knapp in command. |
| After extensive training in the Caribbean and Maine coastal waters, Florida arrived in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 29 March 1912 to join the Atlantic Fleet as flagship of Division 1. Regularly scheduled exercises, maneuvers, fleet training and target practice, and midshipmen training cruises took the new battleship to many east coast ports and into Caribbean waters. Early in 1914 tension heightened between the United States and fractions in Mexico and Florida arrived off Vera Cruz on 16 February remaining there during the ensuing occupation. She steamed to New York in July to resume regular Fleet operations and in October was transferred to Division 2. |
| Following United States entry into World War I, and after preparations for "distant service" completed in the Chesapeake Bay, Florida, Delaware (BB-28), Wyoming (BB-32), and New York (BB-34) sailed for the British Isles on 25 November and reached Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, on 7 December 1917. Although retaining their American designation as Battleship Division 9, those four dreadnoughts became the 6th Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet upon arrival in British waters. |
| Florida participated in the Grand Fleet's maneuvers and evolutions, and performed convoy duty with the 6th Battle Squadron through the remainder of the war. She rendezvoused with the Grand Fleet on 20 November 1918 when it met to escort the German High Seas Fleet into the Firth of Forth. |
| Florida joined the escort for George Washington, President Woodrow Wilson embarked, as she proceeded into Brest, France on 12 and 13 December and then returned to Norfolk 4 January 1919 to resume peace time operations. During May she cruised to the Azores and took weather observations for the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic achieved that month by Navy seaplanes. |
| Florida's operations during the remaining years of her career were highlighted by participation in the ter-centenary celebration in August 1920 of the Pilgrims' landing at Provincetown, Massachusetts, a diplomatic voyage to South American and Caribbean ports with Secretary of State R. Lansing embarked, service as flagship for Commander, Control Forces, U.S. Fleet, amphibious operations with Marines in the Caribbean, and midshipman training cruises. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia 16 February 1913 and scrapped under the terms of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. |
| During her service, Florida and sistership Utah (BB-31) never received the more modern "tripod" masts that were fitted to other classes. |
| USS Florida, Battleship (BB-30) Specifications | |||
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1911
Armament:
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1917:
1922:
1926:
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Larry W. Jewell, Who's Who of United States Battleships, (Internet publication), edition: 30 August, 1993. | |||
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James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964), Vol.1 -- A-B, p. 194 | |||
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James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977), Vol.2: C-F, p. 418-419 |
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