USS Florida (BB-30)

1911 WORLD WAR 1

• 1 History of USS Florida (BB-30)
• 2 USS Florida (BB-30) Specification
  • 2.1 Basic
  • 2.2 Roles
  • 2.3 Dimensions
  • 2.4 Weight
  • 2.5 Performance
  • 2.6 Performance
  • 2.7 Armor
  • 2.8 Wing

History of USS Florida (BB-30)

At one point in naval history, the battleship Dreadnought represented the pinnacle of warship design - thanks in large part to the Royal Navy's Dreadnought, which entered service in 1906. The British warship introduced a unified heavy primary battery supplemented by a heavy secondary battery, powered by steam turbines (the first capital ship to do so), and exploited an excellent balance of armor and speed.

Her designs led her to rewrite the book of new century battleship design, all previous designs were outdated by comparison, hence the name "Pre-Dreadnought" for these ships.

The United States Navy (USN) noticed the changing tide and attempted to modernize its fleet by introducing its own dreadnought design. The Florida class was one such initiative, which appeared before World War I (1914-1918), the group consisted of just two battleships, the USS Florida (BB-30) itself and the sister of USS Utah (BB-31) ship. The USS Florida was ordered on May 13, 1908, and built by the New York Navy Yard on March 8, 1909.

She was launched on May 12, 1910, and officially commissioned on September 15, 1911.

At the time of construction, USS Florida had a displacement of 25,400 tons (short), a length of 521.7 feet, a beam of 88.2 feet, and a draft of 28.2 feet. Power comes from 12 Babcock & Wilcox boilers that power 4 Parsons steam turbines driving 4 shafts at 28,000 hp.

Top speed under ideal conditions reaches 21 knots. Her crew consisted of 1,001 officers and was drafted into the army. A twin mast/twin pipe design is used and her silhouette is recognisable. The bridge is included with the mass of the superstructure located amidships.

Armor protection ranges from 11 inches on the belt and 12 inches on the turret side to 11.5 inches on the conning tower and 1.5 inches on the deck.

In terms of armament, Florida retains 10 x 12" (300 mm)/45 caliber guns in its main battery, which are five turrets, each containing two guns. Two of the turrets are mounted in On the foredeck, the remaining three were mounted aft in the superstructure mass, her secondary battery consisted of 16 x 5" guns mounted on either side of the hull.

Like other surface warships of the period, she carried torpedo tubes (2 x 21 inch launchers).

USS Florida began her career in training exercises in the US East Coast and Caribbean waters before being classified as part of the Atlantic Fleet. Her first "call to arms" was during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), where she took part in the occupation of Veracruz (leading to a US victory) with her sister, the USS Utah.

With the declaration of war on Germany in April 1917, the United States officially entered World War I, and with this declaration, the battleship Florida was assigned to the 9th Battleship Division, which was based in Scapa Flow In place to reinforce items contributed by the British. The escort cruise ensued, and the USS Florida took no action against her guns and torpedoes.

The war ended with an armistice in November 1918, and after escorting President Wilson to France for peace talks, she returned to the United States to complete her role in the war.

The USS Florida was used in a variety of roles during the interwar period, including training exercises and goodwill cruises. In 1924, she underwent a comprehensive modernization, including strengthening the deck for additional protection against raids, removing the less efficient 5-inch gun mount, removing the torpedo tubes, and redesigning the mounting on her hull Torpedo "airbags" to improve survivability.

Her propulsion schematic has been updated with 4 x White-Forster boilers, which now power the Curtiss steam turbine. The new arrangement means their double-funnel silhouette is now a single-funnel.

One of her original masts was replaced by a simpler pole mast, which further defined her silhouette. [ /p]

With these changes, USS Florida enjoyed a relatively quiet career as it entered its final chapter of service. As world powers shifted across the globe to prevent another global naval arms race, Florida fell victim to politics, decommissioned on February 16, 1931, removed from the Naval Register in April, and scrapped by the end of the year, officially Put into use.

Ended her tenure as a battleship.

USS Florida (BB-30) Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing