| The first South Dakota was launched on 21 July 1904 by
the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California; sponsored by Miss Grace
Harreid; and commissioned on 27 January 1908, Capt. James T. Smith in
command. |
| Assigned to the Armored Cruiser Squadron, Pacific Fleet, South
Dakota cruised off the west coast of the United States through August
1908. ON 24 August, she departed San Francisco for a cruise to Samoa and
headed eastward in September to operate in Central and South American waters.
In the autumn of 1909, she deployed westward with the Armored Cruiser Squadron.
The force called at ports in the Admiralty Islands; the Philippines; Japan;
and China, before returning to Honolulu on 31 January 1910. |
| In February, South Dakota joined
Tennessee
(ACR-10) to form a Special Service Squadron which cruised off the Atlantic
coast of South America and then returned to the Pacific late in the
year. |
| Following operations along the Pacific coast during much of 1911,
South Dakota began a cruise in December with the Armored Cruiser Squadron
which took her from California to the Hawaiian Islands, the Marianas, the
Philippines, and Japan. After returning to the west coast in August 1912,
she participated in periodic squadron exercises until she was placed in reserve
on 30 December 1913 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. |
| Detached from the Reserve Force, Pacific Fleet, on 17 April 1914,
South Dakota made a cruise southward into Mexican waters in June and
another westward to the Hawaiian Islands in August. She returned to Bremerton
on 14 September and reverted to reserve status on 28 September. She was the
Flagship of the Reserve Force Pacific Fleet, from 21 January 1915 until relieved
by Milwaukee (C-21) on 5 February 1916; and, on 5 April 1917, she
was again placed in full commission. |
| Transferred t the Atlantic after the United States entered World
War I, South Dakota departed Bremerton on 12 April. She joined
Pittsburg
(ACR-4),
Pueblo (ACR-7),
and
Frederick
(ACR-8) at Colon, Panama, on 29 May 1917; thence proceeded to the South Atlantic
for patrol duty operating from Brazilian ports. On 2 November 1918, she escorted
troop convoys from the east coast to the mid Atlantic rendezvous point where
British cruisers joined the convoy. Following the Armistice, South
Dakota made two voyages from Brest, France, to New York, returning troops
to the United States. |
| In the summer of 1919, South Dakota was ordered back to
the Pacific to serve as flagship of the Asiatic Fleet, arriving at Manila
on 27 October 1919. South Dakota was renamed Huron on 7 June
1920 and was designated CA-9 on 17 July 1920. She served in the Asiatic Fleet
for the next seven years, operating in Philippine waters during the winter
and out of Shanghai and Chefoo during the summer. |
| Ordered home, Huron departed Manila on the last day of
1926 and arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 3 March 1927. She was
decommissioned on 17 June 1927 and remained in reserve until she was struck
from the Navy list on 15 November 1929. She was sold on 11 February 1930
for scrapping in accordance with the provisions of the London Treaty for
the limitation and reduction of naval armament. |
Displacement, 13,680; Length 503'11"; Beam, 69'7"; Draft, 26'1";
Speed, 22 knots; Complement, 829; Armament, four 8",k fourteen 6", eighteen
3", twelve 3-pdrs., two 18" torpedo tubes |
|
Bibliography
 |
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1968, Reprint 1976), Vol.6: R-S, p. 560-561 |
|
|
buy
this book
