| Act of 4 May 1898: |
"._._. The President
is hereby authorized to have constructed by contract three seagoing coast-line
battle ships carrying 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 armor and armament,
not exceeding three million dollars each, one of said battle ships to be
named the Maine.
._._. Not more
than two of said battle ships,
._._. shall
be built in one yard or by one contracting party,
._._. In all
there parts said vessels shall be of domestic manufacture
._._. One
._._. of the
aforesaid seagoing battle ships,
._._. shall
be built on or near the coast of the Pacific Ocean
._._." |
| The second Maine (Battleship No. 10) was laid down by William
Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 15 February 1899, a year to
the day after the destruction of the first Maine; launched 27 July
1901; sponsored by Miss Mary Preble Anderson; and commissioned at Philadelphia
29 December 1902, Capt. Eugene H. C. Leutze in command. |
| From 1903 to 1907 Maine cruised along the Atlantic coast
south to the West Indies, and she completed one cruise to the Mediterranean.
In the spring of 1904 after the conclusion of winter maneuvers when she departed
Pensacola in company with
Kearsarge
(BB-5),
Alabama (BB-8),
Iowa (BB-4),
Olympia (C-6),
Baltimore (C-3)
and Cleveland (C-19) on a voyage to Portugal and the Mediterranean.
After a ceremonial visit to Lisbon honoring the entrance of the Infante into
the Portuguese naval school, she then cruised the Mediterranean with the
three battleships paying goodwill calls at Corfu, Trieste and Fiumeuntil.
She next steamed to Phaleron Bay, Greece, where she celebrated the Forth
of July with the King, Prince Andrew and Princess Alice of Greece. From 3
August to 20 June the USS
Abarenda
filled the bunkers of the four battleships. Ending the Mediterranean
cruise in mid-August, the squadron returned by way of the Azores arriving
in Newport, Rhode Island, on 29 August. During 1905, the USS
Yankton was
assigtned as her tender. |
| On 16 December 1907, Maine left Hampton Roads with the
rest of the Atlantic Fleet en route to the Pacific where she joined ships
of that fleet for a cruise around the world. In company with the
Alabama, she went to Guam and the Philippines, through the Suez Canal
and the Mediterranean, and returned to the Atlantic coast in October 1908,
considerably in advance of the rest of the "Great White Fleet." |
| Fitted out as flagship of the 3d Squadron, Atlantic Fleet,
Maine resumed operations along the Atlantic coast and into Caribbean
waters during the next several months. She decommissioned at Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, 31 August 1909. Recommissioned 15 June 1911, Maine
operated along the east coast. |
| By 30 July 1914, in Villefranche, the USS
Idaho (BB-24)
had decommissioned and been turned over to the government of Greece
-- her crew was transferred to Maine. |
| Shortly after America entered World War I the battleship Maine
maneuvered and exercised in company with battleships
Wisconsin,
Kearsarge,
Alabama,
Kentucky,
Ohio,
Missouri,
and
Illinois
between 13 and 19 August 1917. She went on to train engineers, armed guard
crews and midshipmen. Following the defeat of the Central Powers, she took
part in the review of the fleet at New York 26 December 1918. |
| Maine operated with ships of the Atlantic Fleet until 15
May 1920 when she decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Classified as
BB-10 on 17 July 1920, she was sold to J. G. Hitner & W. F. Cutler of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 23 January 1922; rendered incapable of further
warlike service 17 December 1923; and subsequently broken up and scrapped
in accordance with terms of the Washington treaty limiting naval
armaments. |
|
Bibliography
 |
Naval Historical Center FAQ --
Great
White Fleet |
|
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) |
|
|
Larry W. Jewell, Who's Who of United States
Battleships, (Internet publication), edition: 30 August, 1993. |
|
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1964), Vol.1 -- A-B, p. 191 |
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1969), Vol.4: L-M, p. 201 |
|
