#USS Idaho (BB-24)

[lonestarbattleship]

"USS IDAHO (BB-24) was in the Mediterranean when sold to Greece in 1914, shortly after Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels outlawed shipboard wine messes. John McCrea was then a midshipman on board the IDAHO. He recalls that the ship was transferred through a shipyard representative. Following the decommissioning, the shipyard man gathered the officers in the wardroom, opened a briefcase full of whiskey, and announced that drinking was permitted because she was no longer a U.S. Navy ship."

Photographed on July 8, 1914.

source, source

[onceuponatown]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1905.

Either the USS Mississippi BB-23 or USS Idaho BB-24 under construction at the Cramp and Sons Shipyard.

[uss-edsall]

A very rare photo of all the three last Greek battleships together. Place and time unknown, probably between 1927 and 1931, the year that Kilkis pulled out of service. From left, battlecruiser [armoured cruiser] Georgios Averof, in the middle probably Kilkis, at right probably Lemnos.  

Georgios Averof was an Italian Pisa-class armoured cruiser with Italian engines, French boilers, German generators, and British guns, and is known as the most succesful modern Greek ship to ever sail. She is still a museum ship today at Palaio Faliro, Athens, and is considered the flagship of the Hellenic Navy. 

Kilkis and Lemnos, as can probably be figured out by those unique cage masts, are originally American. Both were Mississippi-class battleships prior to being sold to Greece -- USS Mississippi (BB-23) and Idaho (BB-24) respectively.

[steenpaal]

USS Idaho (BB-24) - Wikipedia

For other ships with the same name, see

USS Idaho

.

USS Idaho (Battleship No. 24), the second ship of the Mississippi-class battleships, was the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the US state of Idaho. After her career in the USN, she was sold to Greece and renamed Lemnos in 1914. Lemnos was sunk by German bombers in April 1941. Idaho and her sister Mississippi were designed in response to Congressional desire to cap the growth and expense of new battleships, whose size and cost had increased dramatically since the first US battleships, the Indianas of 1893, had been authorized. Displacement was limited to 13,000 long tons (13,209 tonnes), a reduction of 3,000 long tons (3,000 t) from the prior Connecticut class.[2]

In the early twentieth century, the US Navy was growing rapidly. The Navy commissioned its first battleships in 1895,[3] and by the middle of the next decade Jane's Fighting Ships ranked its battle line second only to the British Navy.[4] However, this rapid growth was not universally supported either within the government or within the Navy. Compromises between powerful groups were frequently necessary in order to get funding.[5]

The Mississippi-class ships were designed to meet Congressional and Navy Department objectives of reducing the escalating cost of new battleships, the quantity, size, and cost of which had increased dramatically over the first two decades of US battleship production.

Preliminary plans for the first two US battleships were completed in 1885. Construction was approved in 1886, and the first keel was laid down in 1888. However, technical difficulties, particularly with armor, delayed completion and neither was commissioned until 1895. By the time these were commissioned they were obsolete as newer, larger designs were being completed.[6] By the end of fiscal 1902 ten battleships and two second class battleships had been commissioned, with seven more battleships authorized but not completed.[7] The per-ship cost had doubled from the $4 million range for the Illinois class in the 1896 budget to nearly $8 million for Connecticut in the 1902 budget. The Mississippi-class ships would cost just under $6 million each.

There was a division among US naval planners in the early years of the 20th century over whether to have technically superior ships or many less expensive ones, with President Theodore Roosevelt among those supporting the former and Admiral Thomas Dewey along with Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan supporting the latter approach.[5]

The

Great White Fleet

demonstrated America's new naval strength by sailing around the world. Most of these ships were under 10 years old, but were already obsolete.

The 1903 naval budget effected a compromise by calling for five ships: three more ships of the 16,000 long tons (16,000 t) Connecticut class and two ships of a new less expensive class of approximately 13,000 tons, with the design still to be determined.[5]

The ships that became the Mississippi class were intended to serve as the modern equivalent of 19th century third-rate ship of the line, offering what was thought to be an efficient compromise between sailing ability (speed, handling), firepower, and cost.[8] This concept had formed the backbone of the sailing battle fleets of the previous century, but trends in early twentieth century naval strategies were making the third-rate concept obsolete.[5] Prevailing strategies called for a consistent battle line of first-rate units.[8]

United States Navy

USS

Idaho

under construction at Cramp yard, Philadelphia

The second Idaho (Battleship No. 24) was laid down on 12 May 1904, at Philadelphia by William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Co. and launched on 9 December 1905. She was sponsored by Louise May Gooding, 13-year-old daughter of Idaho Governor Frank R. Gooding, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, League Island, on 1 April 1908, with Captain Samuel W. B. Diehl in command. Idaho departed Philadelphia in April 1908 for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, via Hampton Roads. Following a shakedown off the coast of Cuba in 1908, she returned to Philadelphia for final fitting out and repairs. In the summer of 1908 she transported a detachment of marines to Colon in the Canal Zone to support a peaceful election process.[9]

Following a period of repairs at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Idaho steamed to Norfolk, where she received a new "cage" mainmast tower, conducted testing of her guns out of Hampton Roads, and then returned to Philadelphia for more repairs and work.[9]

USS

Idaho

with first cage mast as installed in 1908

In early 1909 she joined Mississippi and other ships to meet the Great White Fleet upon its return and was reviewed by the President. For the remainder of the year and into 1910 she alternated between the waters off New England and southern waters, including the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, along with a voyage in the Mississippi River and war games out of Guantanamo Bay.[9]

In late 1910 she sailed across the Atlantic with the Third Division of the Atlantic Fleet to Gravesend Bay, England, and then to Brest, France, returning to Guantanamo Bay in early 1911.[9]

After routine service with the Atlantic Fleet and in Cuban waters, Idaho departed Philadelphia on 4 May 1911, bound for the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River. She visited the Louisiana ports of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, steamed past the mouth of the Red River, and visited St. Joseph. She called at Vicksburg and Natchez, Mississippi, in late May before visiting a succession of Louisiana ports.[9]

From mid-1911 to early 1913 she again performed routine service and maneuvers with the Atlantic Fleet and in Cuban waters, with periodic visits to Philadelphia for repairs.[9]

In February 1913, unrest in Mexico led to a coup d'état and the death of deposed President Francisco I. Madero. For the protection of American interests, Idaho deployed to Tampico in May and to Veracruz in June. She rejoined the fleet at Newport in late June. She then proceeded to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where she was placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on 27 October 1913.[9]

Idaho remained in reserve until recommissioned at Philadelphia in March 1914. At Annapolis, she embarked midshipmen bound for the Mediterranean in company with Missouri and Illinois.[9]

After visiting Tangier, Gibraltar, and Naples, Idaho arrived at the French port of Villefranche on 17 July 1914. The midshipmen were disembarked en masse to Maine, and Idaho was formally transferred to the Greek Navy on 30 July 1914.[9] The US received $12 million for her and Mississippi.[10]

Royal Hellenic Navy

Idaho decommissioned at the French port of Villefranche, and she was formally transferred to the Greek Navy on July 30, 1914. She remained in Greek service for 27 years, before being sunk during World War II.

Fleet designation

Although the Mississippi-class ships were decommissioned before the fleet designation reworkings in 1920, and thus never carried the "BB" hull classification symbol in service, many lists of American battleships (including the one in this encyclopedia) list them as "BB-23" and "BB-24" for completeness.

See also

References

Bibliography

Alden, John D. (1989). American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-248-6. 

Chesneau, Roger; Koleśnik, Eugène M.; Campbell, N.J.M. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5. 

Cressman, Robert J. (21 July 2015). "Idaho". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 25 October 2016. 

Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Battleships, An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-715-1. 

Hore, Peter (2007). Battleships. London: Anness Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7548-1407-8. 

Reilly, John C.; Scheina, Robert L. (1980). American Battleships 1886–1923: Predreadnought Design and Construction. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-524-8. 

Rose, Lisle A. (2007). Power at Sea The Age of Navalism, 1890–1918. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0-08-262168-3. 

External links

[nebris]

Named after the state of Idaho, the 32,000-ton USS Idaho (BB-42) was a New Mexico class battleship that was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, NJ, and was commissioned on 24 March 1919. The ship was approximately 624 feet long and 97 feet wide, had a top speed of 21 knots, and had a crew of 1,081 officers and men. Idaho was armed with 12 14-inch guns, 22 5-inch guns, eight 3-inch guns, and two 21-inch torpedo tubes.

After being commissioned, Idaho steamed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in July 1919 and then transited the Panama Canal to the Pacific, where she was based for the next 12 years. During that time, Idaho participated in various naval exercises and training programs and traveled from the Caribbean to Hawaii and as far south as Chile. Idaho also patrolled off the coast of Alaska in 1920 and visited Australia and New Zealand in 1925. In September 1931, the battleship entered the Norfolk Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia, for an extensive overhaul and modernization, which lasted more than three years.

After leaving the Norfolk Navy Yard in October 1934, Idaho’s appearance had been transformed. Gone were the “cage” masts that were such a distinguishing feature of American battleships of that era, and a new tower superstructure supporting modern gunfire control systems had been built. Now one of the US Navy’s most modern warships, Idaho returned to the Pacific in 1935 to resume her peacetime duties of preparing for possible combat.

After World War II began in Europe in 1939, the US Navy’s attention was diverted towards the Atlantic. Idaho was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in June 1941 and was based in Iceland for much of the rest of that year. She escorted convoys and protected them against the threat of German surface raiders during that period of “undeclared war” with Germany. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941, Idaho was sent back to the Pacific, arriving there in January 1942. For the next year, Idaho patrolled off America’s west coast and Hawaii. In April 1943, Idaho was sent north to the Aleutian Islands, where she supported the American amphibious landings at Attu in May and Kiska in August.   

Idaho then was ordered to the central Pacific, taking part in the American invasion of the Gilbert Islands in November 1943 and the invasion of the Marshall Islands in February 1944. She then participated in the bombardment of New Ireland in March, the invasion of the Marianas Islands in June and July, and the assault on the Palau Islands in September. During all of these operations, Idaho was used as an enormous artillery battery, providing heavy gunfire support for the American troops on shore.

In February 1945, Idaho bombarded Japanese targets on Iwo Jima. Her massive guns were then unleashed on enemy positions on Okinawa from late March to May 1945. While firing at targets on Okinawa, Idaho was damaged by a Japanese kamikaze, or suicide plane, on 12 April. No crewmen were lost in the attack and, after going to Guam briefly for repairs, Idaho returned to Okinawa and resumed her gunfire support missions.

When the war in the Pacific ended in August 1945, Idaho was preparing for the final Allied assault on the Japanese home islands. She was present in Tokyo Bay when Japan formally surrendered on 2 September and shortly thereafter steamed back across the Pacific and through the Panama Canal, arriving at the Norfolk Navy Yard in mid-October. Generally inactive from then on, USS Idaho was decommissioned in July 1946 and was sold for scrapping in November 1947. The ship received seven battle stars for her service during World War II.

[lonestarbattleship]

USS IDAHO (BB-42) shortly before her launch on June 30, 1917. She was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey. The funding for the third New Mexico Class Dreadnought came from the sale of USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-23) and USS IDAHO (BB-24) to the Hellenic Navy.

Date: June 1917

NARA: 45546548

[lonestarbattleship]

USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-23) and USS IDAHO (BB-24) at the William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Photographed on September 12, 1908.

source

[lonestarbattleship]

Figurehead of USS IDAHO (BB-24).

Photographed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 28, 1909.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 115210

[lonestarbattleship]

USS Idaho (BB-24) in the Hudson River, during a Fleet Review in New York City, on October 3, 1911.

NARA: 45512714

[lonestarbattleship]

USS IDAHO (BB-24) underway. This was shortly "after the removal of her after bridge and installation of a cage mainmast. Her battery is unaltered, but the pair of 3-inch 50-caliber guns formerly mounted beneath the discarded bridge are now in the open, covered with canvas."

Photographed on July 25, 1909.

NARA: 45512503

source

[lonestarbattleship]

State Ship Series: USS IDAHO

There have been two ships commissioned named after the state of Idaho in the US Navy. A third is under construction. The state was admitted into the United States on July 3, 1890.

USS IDAHO (BB-24), Mississippi Class, Predreadnought Battleship, in commission from 1908 to 1914.

Laid down: May 12, 1904

Launched: December 9, 1905

Commissioned: April 1, 1908

Decommissioned: 1914

Date: Sold to Greece and commissioned into the Hellenic Navy

Her design was found to be deficient due to her small size and had poor sea keeping qualities in the Atlantic Ocean. She was sold to the Hellenic Navy in 1914, who renamed her Lemnos. After the sale and transfer, her crew was reassigned to be part of the first crew of USS TEXAS (BB-35).

The Greek Navy found Lemnos' design performed better in the relative calm waters of the Meditation Sea. She fought in WWI, Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and the Greco-Turkish War. Her sister ship, Kilkis (ex-USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-23)) and her served until 1932, when they become barrack ships.

When the Nazis invaded Greece, the Luftwaffe bombed the two in Salamis Naval Base and sank in the shallow waters. They were raised and scrapped after the war.

USS IDAHO (SP-545), motorboat, in commission from 1917 to 1919.

Laid down: unknown

Launched: unknown

Acquired: June 1917

Commissioned: July 12, 1917

Decommissioned: 1919

Date: Returned to her owner November 30, 1918

She was one of the numerous civilian vessels acquired by the Navy to the patrol coastal waters for U-boats during World War I.

USS IDAHO (BB-42), New Mexico Class, Dreadnought Battleship.

Laid down: January 20, 1915

Launched: June 30, 1917

Commissioned: March 24, 1919

Decommissioned: July 3, 1946

Fate: Scrapped

Built with the funds from the sell of MISSISSIPPI (BB-23) and IDAHO (BB-24).

Rebuilt in the mid 1930's, she and her sister ships were the most modernized of the non-tready battleships the US Navy in commission when WWII began. Consequently, they received the least amount of refits during the war. She was scrapped in 1947.

USS IDAHO (SSN-799), Virginia Class Block IV, under construction.

Laid down: August 24, 2020

Launched: Spring 2024

Commission: Spring 2025

One ship was named for the territory of Idaho.

USS IDAHO (1864), wooden steam sloop, converted to a full-rigged sailing ship.

Laid down: unknown

Launched: October 8, 1864

Acquired: 1966

Commissioned: April 2, 1866

Recommissioned: October 3, 1867

Decommissioned: December 31, 1873

Fate: Sold to the East Indies Trading Company in 1874.

"Completed in May 1866, she ran her sea trials the following August, making just over eight knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). Her boilers and engines, ordered as a result of political influence, failed totally to achieve her 15-knot (28 km/h; 17 mph) contract speed. The U.S. Congress, however, stepped in and ordered its purchase. The ship was then modified with sail and became one of the fastest ships in the U.S. Navy."

In 1868, during her trip from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Nagasaki, Japan, she made 18 knots under sail. Making her one of the fastest ships of her era. IDAHO remained in Nagasaki for 15 months as a store and hospital ship for the Asiatic Squadron. On September 20, 1869, she started her voyage back to the United States when she was hit by a typhoon one day out. Her masts were ripped off and she limped back to Japan. Little more than a hunk, she remained there until she was decommissioned and sold to the East Indies Trading Company.

NHHC: NH 85971, NH 53479, NH 63306, NH 77440

NARA: 45512719

source, source, source

Norfolk Public Library: smc_mss0000187_003801_004

[lonestarbattleship]

"To the Shores of Iwo Jima, 1945."

Note: Fast forward to 0:29 and unmute to hear the battleships roar.

Video shows USS Texas (BB-35), USS Pensacola (CA-24), USS Idaho (BB-42), USS New York (BB-34), USS Nevada (BB-36), USS Tennessee (BB-43) and US Destroyers firing on Iwo Jima in preparation for the US Marines to land. Vought F4U Corsairs take off from an Essex class aircraft carrier.

This footage was recorded from February 16 to 19, 1945.

I posted the full length of the video on my YouTube channel if you want to see the rest: link, link.

NARA: 13089

[lonestarbattleship]

USS TEXAS (BB-35): Commissioning

On the snowy morning of March 12, 1914, sailors and officers boarded TEXAS at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia. Many of them came from the former USS IDAHO (BB-24), which was sold to the Hellenic Navy. These men were there for "a quaint ceremony-commissioning.

The crew, massed on the broad deck just abaft number three turret, stood to attention while the Commandant of the Navy Yard presented her to our captain, and the captain, a ruddy old autocrat, read his orders to us. The officers wore old-fashioned full dress, with cocked beaver hats and heavy gold fringed epaulettes; swords slatted at their sides.

Our band struck up the Star Spangled Banner and the marines, paraded aft, brought their rifles to a stiff 'present' as the colors were hoisted and the commission pennant run up to the main truck. The stripes of the flag were bright against the gray day, the gray water of the river.

In that instant we belonged to her-like taking the oath when you enlisted, or having a minister say: 'I now pronounce you man and wife.'

'Three cheers for her, men!'

The echo came ringing back from the brick walls of the Navy Yard as the captain stepped forward. 'I want to say one thing to you, men,' he barked. 'For a month we'll be loading stores, here and in New York. Then we'll go away to join the Fleet. We'll have five months of shaking down for final trials to decide her fitness for active service. At the end of that period I expect her to be the toughest, cleanest ship afloat.'

'If any of you have sailed with me before, you'll know the kind of a ship I mean. A tight ship's a happy one. I want the best you've got. Give me that, and I'll promise you the same. Between us, I want to win every trophy in the Navy, and every battle we join -and we'll join all of 'em. That is all. Set the watch.'"

-The text is from Come On TEXAS, 1930, by Paul Schubert. He was part of the original crew and served on her from 1914 to 1930.

Her first Commanding Officer was Albert Weston Grant. With a thirty year naval career behind him, he was given the honor of taking command of the new ship through the completion of TEXAS's construction and commissioning, then the training of her new crew.

Over the next 12 days, the crewmen familiarize themselves with their new home and loaded up stores, spare parts and other provisions needed on a battleship.

Photos from Henry Sabuda's Collection: link

source, source

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 49372

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: 2002-1026-16

[lonestarbattleship]

State Ship Series: USS Mississippi

There have been four ships commissioned named after the state of Mississippi in the US Navy. The state was admitted into the United States on December 10, 1817.

USS Mississippi (BB-23), Mississippi class, predreadnought battleship, in commission from 1908 to 1914. She was found to have poor sea keeping qualities due to her small size in the Atlantic Ocean. She was sold to the Greek Navy in 1914, who renamed her Kilkis. The Greek Navy found Kilkis' design performed better in the relative calm waters of the Meditation Sea. She fought in WWI, Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and the Greco-Turkish War. Her sister ship, Lemnos (exUSS Idaho (BB-24)) and her served until 1932, when they become barrack ships. When the Nazis invaded Greece, the Luftwaffe bombed the two in Salamis Naval Base and sank in the shallow waters. They were raised and scrapped after the war.

USS Mississippi (BB-41/AG-128), New Mexico Class, dreadnought battleship, in commission from 1917 to 1956. She was the only New Mexico Class battleship to be fitted with 5 inch guns on the casemates, but were quickly removed and the ports were blanked over, leaving the 5 inch guns on the main deck as the only remaining. All future battleships dropped the casemates on the gun deck. Along with her sisters, she was modernized in the mid 1930's and were the most modern dreadnought battleships at the beginning of WWII. She fought in the liberation of the Aleutian Islands, Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, Battle of Peleliu, Battle of Leyte Gulf, Battle of Surigao Strait, invasion of Okinawa during WWII. After the war, she took over training duty from USS Wyoming (AG-17) and had her 14 inch turrets removed so AA guns could be installed. In 1952, the RIM-2 Terrier missile and the AUM-N-2 Petrel missile were installed for training. She was scrapped in 1956.

USS Mississippi (DLGN/CGN-40), Virginia class, nuclear powered guided missile cruiser, reclassified as a Guided Missile Cruiser before launch, in commission from 1978 to 1997.

USS Mississippi (SSN-782), Virginia Class Block II, in commission from 2012 to present.

There was one ship commissioned named after the Mississippi river.

USS Mississippi (1841), Mississippi class, 10 gun sidewheel steam frigate, in commission from 1841 to 1863. Fought in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. She pushed the ram, CSS Manassas onto shore and hit her with two full broadsides. She was abandoned and destroyed to prevent capture when she ran aground in 1863.

source, source

NPL: smc_mss0000187_000601_019

NHHC: NH 86366

330-CFD-DN-SC-85-01551

NARA: 513004