Tennessee-class cruiser

Tennessee class

USS North Carolina
Class overview
Builders	Newport News Shipbuilding New York Shipbuilding William Cramp & Sons
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Pennsylvania class
Succeeded by	None
Built	1903–1906
In commission	1906–1946
Completed	4
Lost	1
Scrapped	3
General characteristics
Type	Armored cruiser
Displacement	14,500 long tons (14,733 t) tons standard 15,712 long tons (15,964 t) tons full load
Length	504 ft 6 in (153.8 m)
Beam	72 ft 10 in (22.2 m)
Draft	25 ft (7.6 m)
Installed power	23,000 ihp (17,150 kW)
Propulsion	16 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 2 × vertical triple expansion engines 2 shafts
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Complement	887 officers and enlisted
Armament	4 × 10 in (254 mm)/40 Mark 3 guns in twin turrets 16 × 6 in (152 mm)/50 Mk.8 guns in single casemates 22 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns in single mountings 12 × 3-pounder guns 4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor	Waterline belt: 3–5 in (76–127 mm) Deck: 1.5–4 in (38–102 mm) Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm) Gun turrets: 2.5–9 in (64–229 mm)

The Tennessee-class cruisers were four armored cruisers built for the United States Navy between 1903 and 1906. Their main armament of four 10-inch (254 mm) guns in twin turrets was the heaviest carried by any American armored cruiser. Their armor was thinner than that of the six Pennsylvanias which immediately preceded them, a controversial but inevitable decision due to newly imposed congressional restraints on tonnage for armored cruisers and the need for them to be able to steam at 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). However, the fact their armor covered a wider area of the ship than in the Pennsylvanias and their increased firepower caused them to be seen by the Navy as an improvement.

The Tennessees were the largest and last American armored cruisers built, a response to foreign developments and the changing notion of the armored cruiser from fast scout, convoy escort and commerce raider to auxiliary capital ship in a battle line, despite its thin armor protection compared to that of battleships. The Battle of Tsushima in 1905 was seen to validate this concept. While they were being built, questions remained in U.S. naval circles over whether they possessed enough speed, armament or armor to perform their intended duties adequately. They were generally considered armed and protected strongly enough to combat an enemy armored cruiser successfully. Even so, it was generally conceded that with this class a limit had been reached and that the modern armored cruiser no longer exemplified the logical principles of attack and defense in warship design, which meant using the most efficient weapon to its desired end. The appearance of the British Invincible-class battlecruisers, with their greater speed and firepower, ensured their obsolescence as fighting units.

All four ships in this class were given the hull classification symbol CA (armored cruiser) when the Navy adopted that system in 1920, and renamed by then so their original names could be used for new battleships. USS Tennessee, renamed Memphis, was wrecked by a tsunami while at anchor in Santo Domingo harbor in 1916. The other three ships served in World War I. The Navy considered modernization in 1922 and 1928 to upgrade their speed and fighting capability but this did not materialize. USS North Carolina, renamed Charlotte, and USS Montana, renamed Missoula, were scrapped under the terms of the London Naval Treaty, which set an aggregate tonnage limit for the Navy's cruisers, and the new heavy cruisers of the Pensacola class and subsequent classes were entering service. USS Washington, renamed Seattle, was reclassified in 1931 and served as a receiving ship and floating barracks until scrapped in 1946.