USS IOWA
By Patrick McSherry
An Account of Danger in Fireroom
2! (Medal of Honor Recipents on the IOWA)
Iowa in drydock
||| An IOWA broadside painting
||| Chart of hits recieved by the
IOWA in the Battle of Santiago
Click
here for link to Capt. Evans' account of the Naval Battle of Santiago
GENERAL:
The USS IOWA was the very newest American battleship in the Spanish-American
War. Like the INDIANA class, IOWA was classified
as a "Seagoing Coastline Battleship", but she was a better sea boat than
the earlier battleships. She took part in the Battle
of Santiago on July 3, 1898.
BACKGROUND:
USS IOWA was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, and was ordered to blockade
duty off Santiago de Cuba on May 28, 1898. She was the first US ship to
sight Admiral Cervera's Spanish ships coming
out of the channel on July 3, and fired the first shot in the Battle of
Santiago de Cuba. In a 20-minute duel with Spanish cruisers MARIA
TERESA and OQUENDO, IOWA's effective fire
helped set both ships aflame and drive them upon the beach. Later in the
engagement, IOWA joined with INDIANA and GLOUCESTER
in destroying the Torpedo Boat Destroyers PLUTON and
FUROR. IOWA then turned her attention to the Spanish cruiser VIZCAYA
which she pursued until the Spanish ship was run aground and surrendered.
After the battle, IOWA received on board many Spanish prisoners, including
Admiral Cervera and the officers and crews of the VIZCAYA,
FUROR and PLUTON.
USS IOWA arrived in New York from Cuban waters on August 20, 1898.
That October, she departed for the Pacific, sailing around Cape Horn, and
arriving in San Francisco on February 7,1899. After a refit at Bremerton,
Washington, she conducted training cruises, drills, and target practice.
IOWA left the Pacific early in February 1902 to become flagship of the
South Atlantic Squadron. She sailed for New York February 12, 1903 where
she decommissioned June 30th. She was recommissioned that December, returned
to reserve in July, 1907, and again decommissioned in July, 1908. IOWA
was recommissioned for training duties from May, 1910 to May, 1914. She
was in limited commission for receiving, training and guardship duties
beginning April 28, 1917, and was decommissioned for the last time on March
31, 1919. USS IOWA was stricken in 1920, reinstated as IX 6 that same year,
and converted to a radio controlled target ship and sunk March 23, 1923.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
The major advantage of USS IOWA over the ships of the INDIANA class
was the new battleship's higher freeboard, which made the guns easier to
work in heavy seas. She was not, however, a full-fledged first class battleship
equal to those of Great Britain and other powers. Also, IOWA was of single-screw
design and shipped only 12" main guns, both features were a step backwards
from the INDIANAs.
TECHNOTES:
| Classification: |
|
Sea-Going Coast-Line Battleship, BB 4 |
| Keel Laid: |
|
August 5, 1893 |
| Launched: |
|
March 28, 1896 |
| Commissioned: |
|
June 16, 1897 |
| Rig: |
|
One military mast. |
| Armament: |
|
Four 12" guns |
|
|
Eight 8" guns |
|
|
Six 4" guns |
|
|
Twenty 6 pounders |
|
|
Four 1 pounders |
|
|
Four 14" torpedo tubes |
| Contractor: |
|
William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, PA. |
| Length: |
|
362.5 feet |
| Beam: |
|
72 feet |
| Mean draft: |
|
24 feet |
| Normal Displacement: |
|
11,410 tons |
| Displacement Fully Loaded: |
|
12,647 tons |
| Complement: |
|
727 Officers and Enlisted Men, under the |
|
|
command of Captain Robey D. Evans. |
| Engine type: |
|
Vertical triple expansion engines, |
|
|
generating 11,000 hp. Single screw. |
| Boiler type: |
|
Five 160 psi boilers. |
| Speed: |
|
17 knots |
| Armor: |
|
4-14" belt, 2.75-3" deck, 12.5-15" barbettes, 15-17" turrets. |
Clerk of Joint Comittee on Printing, "The Abridgement of Message from
the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress", Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1899. 4 vols. (all are documents relating to
the war)
Gardiner, Robert, Ed., "Conway's History of the Ship: Steam, Steel
& Shellfire - The Steam Warship 1815-1905", London: Conway Maritime
Press Ltd., 1992.
Naval History Department, Navy Department, "Dictionary of American
Naval Fighting Ships", Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1959.
Reynolds, Francis J. "The United States Navy", New York: P. F. Collier
& Son, 1918
