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| Act of 10 June 1896: |
"._._. The President is hereby authorized to have constructed by contract three seagoing coastline battle ships designed to carry the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance upon a displacement of about eleven thousand tons, to have the highest practicable speed for vessels of their class, and to cost, exclusive of armament, not exceeding three million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars each; ._._. Not more than two of said battle ships ._._. shall be built in one yard or by one contracting party, ._._. Premiums ._._. are not to be offered, In all their parts said vessels shall be of domestic manufacture; ._._. Not more than one seagoing battle ship shall be built on or near the coast of the Pacific Ocean ._._." |
| Illinois (BB-7) was laid down 10 February 1897 by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, launched 4 October 1898; sponsored by Miss Nancy Leiter; and commissioned 16 September 1901, Captain G. A. Converse in command. |
| After shakedown and training in Chesapeake Bay, the new battleship sailed 20 November 1901 for Algiers, Louisiana, where she was used to test a new floating dry dock. She returned to Newport News in January 1902 and from 16 to 28 February Illinois served as flagship for rear Admiral R. D. Evans during the reception for Prince Henry of Prussia. Bearing the flag of Rear Admiral A. S. Crowninshield, the battleship departed New York 30 April 1902 and arrived Naples 18 May, where the Admiral took command of the European Squadron. Illinois carried out training and ceremonial duties until 14 July 1902, when she grounded in the harbor of Christiana, Norway, and had to return to England for repairs. She remained at Chatham until 1 September 1902, then proceeded to the Mediterranean and South Atlantic for fleet maneuvers. |
| Illinois was detached from the European Squadron 10 January 1903 and assigned to the North Atlantic. She engaged in fleet maneuvers, gunnery and seamanship training, and ceremonial operations until December 1907, when she joined the Great White Fleet for the cruise around the world. Following a Presidential review, the mighty battleships sailed from Hampton Roads on their important voyage. The Atlantic Fleet joined the Pacific Fleet 8 May 1908 in San Francisco Bay and after a review by the Secretary of the Navy the combined fleets continued their cruise. The ships visited Australia, Japan, Ceylon and other countries, arriving Suez 3 January 1909. At Suez word of the Sicilian earthquake sent Illinois, Connecticut and Culgoa to Messina. After rendering valuable aid to victims of the disaster, the ships rejoined the fleet, returning to Hampton Roads 22 February 1909. President Roosevelt reviewed the fleet as it arrived, having given the world a graphic demonstration of America's naval might. Illinois decommissioned at Boston 4 August 1909. |
| The battleship was placed in reserve commission 15 April 1912
and recommissioned 2 November 1912, in time to take part in winter fleet
exercises and battle maneuvers with the Atlantic Fleet. During the summers
of 1913 and 1914 Illinois made training cruises to Europe with Midshipmen.
Shortly after America entered World War I the battleship Illinois maneuvered and exercised in company with battleships Wisconsin, Kearsarge, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and Maine between 13 and 19 August 1917. In 1919 she was again laid up at Philadelphia Navy Yard and was later loaned to the State of New York 23 October 1921 for use by the Naval Militia. |
| Excluded form further use as a warship by the terms of the Washington Treaty, Illinois was fitted out as a floating armory at New York Navy Yard in 1924 and was assigned to the New York Naval Reserve. She remained there for more than 30 years, though reclassified IX-15 8 January 1941 and renamed Prairie State to allow her name to be assigned to a projected new battleship. During World War II she served as a U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen Training School at New York. Following the war, she was retained on loan to the State as quarters for a Naval Reserve until until 31 December 1955. |
| Prairie State, after over 50 years of useful service to the Navy and the Nation, was towed to Baltimore and sold for scrap to Bethlehem Steel Co., 18 May 1956. |
| USS Illinois, Battleship (BB-7) Specifications | |||
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1901
Armament:
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1906-08
1912
1917
1922
1938
1945
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Naval Historical Center FAQ -- Great White Fleet | |||
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United States Navy Department, Bureau of Navigation, Men on Board Ships of the Atlantic Fleet Bound for the Pacific, December 16, 1907, (Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1908) | |||
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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. 190-191 | |||
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James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968, Repring 1977), Vol.3: G-K, p. 418 |
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