 USS Chester
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Chester class |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by | St. Louis class |
| Succeeded by | Omaha class |
| Built | 1905–1908 |
| In commission | 1908–1923 |
| Planned | 3 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Scrapped | 3 |
| Preserved | 0 |
| General characteristics (as built)[1] | |
| Type | Scout cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 423.1 ft (129.0 m) |
| Beam | 47.1 ft (14.4 m) |
| Draft | 16.8 ft (5.1 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 24 kn (44.4 km/h; 27.6 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 2 × lifeboats |
| Complement | 359 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | |
The three Chester-class cruisers were the first United States Navy vessels to be designed and designated as fast "scout cruisers" for fleet reconnaissance. They had high speed but little armor or armament.[2] They were authorized in January 1904, ordered in fiscal year 1905, and completed in 1908. In 1920 all scout cruisers were redesignated as "light cruisers" (CL).[3]
Birmingham was the first ship in the world to launch an airplane, in 1910 with pilot Eugene Ely, who also performed the first landing on a ship the following year, on USS Pennsylvania.[4] The class patrolled the Caribbean prior to World War I, sometimes supporting military interventions, with Chester playing a key role at the start of the United States occupation of Veracruz in 1914. The ships escorted convoys in World War I. The class was decommissioned 1921-1923 and sold for scrap to comply with the limits of the London Naval Treaty in 1930.[3]
- ^ Gardiner and Chesneau, p. 155
- ^ Friedman, pp. 67-71, 468-469
- ^ a b Bauer and Roberts, p. 155
- ^ "Birmingham I (Scout Cruiser No. 2)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2016.