Asheville-class gunboat (1917)

Asheville, during her service in the Canal Zone.
Class overview
BuildersCharleston Naval Shipyard, North Charleston, South Carolina
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byUSS Sacramento
Succeeded byErie class
Built1917–1919
In commission1920–1946
Completed2
Lost1
Scrapped1
General characteristics
TypeGunboat
Displacement1,575 long tons (1,600 t)
Length241 ft 2 in (73.51 m)
Beam41 ft 3 in (12.57 m)
Draft11 ft 4 in (3.45 m)
Propulsion3 × Thornycroft Bureau Modified steam boilers
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement159
Armament

The Asheville-class gunboat was a class of two gunboats, USS Tulsa and USS Asheville,[1][2] which was based on Sacramento, an earlier gunboat.[3] Laid down between 1917 and 1919, construction was completed in the early 1920s after which both ships were employed to project US naval power across several different theaters, including Central America and the Pacific, during the interwar years. Tulsa principally served in Asia, assigned variously with the South China Patrol, Yangtze Patrol, and the Inshore Patrol; Asheville mostly stayed in Central America, but did spend a few years on the South China Patrol alongside Tulsa. When war broke out with Japan in the Pacific, both ships were used to escort convoys. Asheville was lost during the war, but Tulsa survived to be broken up in the late 1940s. The class was awarded a total of three battle stars, one for Asheville and two for Tulsa.[1][2]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference t was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Silverstone, Paul (2013). The New Navy, 1883–1922. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 9781135865429.