&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:USS_Illinois_BB-7.jpg) Illinois at anchor
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Illinois |
| Namesake | Illinois |
| Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News |
| Laid down | 10 February 1897 |
| Launched | 4 October 1898 |
| Commissioned | 16 September 1901 |
| Decommissioned | 15 May 1920 |
| Renamed | Prairie State, 8 January 1941 |
| Stricken | 26 March 1956 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap on 18 May 1956 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Illinois-class battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 375 ft 4 in (114.40 m) loa |
| Beam | 72 ft 3 in (22.02 m) |
| Draft | 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Crew | 536 |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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USS Illinois (BB-7) was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the Illinois class, and was the second ship of the U.S. Navy to be named for the 21st state. Her keel was laid down in February 1897 at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, and she was launched in October 1898. She was commissioned in September 1901. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 13-inch (330 mm) guns and she had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).
Illinois served with the European Squadron from 1902 to 1903, and with the North Atlantic Fleet until 1907, by which time it had been renamed the Atlantic Fleet. During this time, she accidentally collided with two other battleships. From December 1907 to February 1909, she circumnavigated the globe with the Great White Fleet. From November 1912, the ship was used as a training ship. She was lent to the state of New York in 1919 for use as a training vessel for the New York Naval Militia. The ship was converted into a floating armory in 1924 as a result of the Washington Naval Treaty, and it was as a floating armory, barracks and school that she served for the next thirty years. In January 1941 she was reclassified as IX-15 and renamed Prairie State so that her former name could be given to USS Illinois (BB-65), a new Iowa-class battleship. Prairie State was ultimately sold for scrap in 1956.