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The USS ''Vermont''
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(US)
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1904-05-21
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1905-08-31
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1907-03-04
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1920-06-30
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sold for scrap
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1923-11-10
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16,000 tons
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4563 feet
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769 feet
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245 feet
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880 officers and men
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4 × guns<br />8 × guns<br />12 × guns<br />20 × guns<br />12 x three-pounders <br />4 x one-pounders<br />4 x 30-caliber machine guns<br />2 x 30-caliber Colt machine guns
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The , a
''Connecticut''-class Battleship , was the second ship of the
United States Navy to be named after
The 14th State .
Her keel was laid down on
1904-05-21 at
Quincy, Massachusetts , by the
Fore River Shipbuilding Company. The ''Vermont'' was
Launched on
1905-08-31 sponsored by Miss Jennie Bell, the daughter of Governor Charles J. Bell of
Vermont , and
Commissioned at the
Boston Navy Yard on
1907-03-04 with Captain William P. Potter in command.
After her shakedown cruise off the eastern seaboard between
Boston, Massachusetts , and
Hampton Roads ,
Virginia , ''Vermont'' participated in maneuvers with the 1st Division of the Atlantic Fleet and, later, with the 1st and Second Squadrons. Making a final trial trip between Hampton Roads and
Provincetown, Massachusetts , between
August 30 and
September 5 , ''Vermont'' arrived at the Boston Navy Yard on
September 7 and underwent repairs until late in November 1907.
Departing Boston on
November 30 , she coaled at
Bradford, Rhode Island ; received "mine outfits and stores" at
Newport, Rhode Island ; and picked up ammunition at
Tompkinsville, New York ; and arrived at Hampton Roads on
December 8 .
There, she made final preparations for the globe-girdling cruise of the United States Atlantic Fleet. Nicknamed the "
Great White Fleet " because of the white and spar color of their paint schemes, the 16 pre-dreadnought battleships sailed from Hampton Roads on
December 16 , standing out to sea under the gaze of
President Of The United States Theodore Roosevelt who had dispatched the ships, around the globe as a dramatic gesture toward Japan, a growing power on the world stage.
''Vermont'' sailed as a unit of the 1st Division, under the overall command of
Rear Admiral Robley D. "Fighting Bob" Evans , who was concurrently the Commander in Chief of the Fleet. Over the ensuing months, the battleship visited ports in
Chile ,
Peru ,
Mexico ,
California ,
Hawaii ,
New Zealand ,
Australia , the
Philippines ,
Japan ,
China , and in the
Mediterranean Sea , before she returned to Hampton Roads again passing in review before President Roosevelt on Washington's Birthday,
1909-02-22 . During the voyage, ''Vermont''’s commanding officer, Captain Potter, was advanced to flag rank and took command of the division; his place was taken by Captain (later Admiral) Frank Friday Fletcher.
Following her return to the United States, ''Vermont'' underwent repairs at the Boston Navy Yard from
March 9 to
June 23 and then rejoined the fleet off Provincetown. She subsequently spent
1909-07-04 at Boston as part of the 1st Division of the Fleet before spending nearly a month, from
July 7 to
August 4 , in exercises with the Atlantic Fleet. Subsequently coaling at Hampton Roads, the battleship conducted target practice off the Virginia capes in the operating area known as the Southern Drill Grounds.
For the remainder of 1909, ''Vermont'' continued maneuvers and exercises, broken by visits to
Stamford, Connecticut , for Columbus Day festivities and to
New York City for the observances of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration from
September 22 to
October 9 . She spent the Christmas holidays at New York City, anchored in the North River.
The battleship then moved south for the winter, reaching
Guantánamo Bay on
1910-01-12 . For the next two months, she exercised in those Caribbean climes, returning to Hampton Roads and the Virginia capes for elementary target practice that spring. Ultimately reaching Boston on
April 29 , the battleship underwent repairs at that yard through mid-July, before embarking members of the Naval Militia at Boston for operations between that port and Provincetown from
July 22 to
July 31 .
''Vermont'' subsequently visited Newport and then sailed for Hampton Roads on
August 22 , where she then prepared for target practices between
September 25 and
September 27 , before visiting New York City with other ships of the Atlantic Fleet.
After minor repairs at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard , the battleship sailed for European waters on
November 1 . Reaching the
British Isles a little over two weeks later, ''Vermont'', with other units of the Third Division, Atlantic Fleet, visited
Gravesend, England , from
November 16 to
December 7 and then called at
Brest, France , where she remained until heading for the
West Indies on
December 30 .
''Vermont'' engaged in winter maneuvers and drills out of Guantánamo Bay,
Cuba , from
1911-01-13 to
March 13 , before sailing for Hampton Roads. In the ensuing weeks, the battleship operated in the Southern Drill Grounds and off
Tangier Island in
Chesapeake Bay , where she conducted target practice. After dropping off target materials at Hampton Roads on
April 8 , ''Vermont'' sailed later that day for Philadelphia where she arrived on
April 10 and entered drydock.
Later in the spring, ''Vermont'' resumed her operations with the other pre-dreadnought battleships of the Third Division. She operated off
Pensacola, Florida , and ranged into the
Gulf Of Mexico , calling at
Galveston, Texas , from
June 7 to
June 12 before returning to Pensacola on
June 13 for provisions.
Shifting northward to
Bar Harbor, Maine , ''Vermont'' spent
1911-07-04 there before she drilled and exercised with the Fleet in
Cape Cod Bay and off Provincetown. The battleship then operated off the
New England seaboard through mid-August, breaking her periods at sea with a port visit to
Salem, Massachusetts , and alterations at the Boston Navy Yard. She then shifted south to conduct experimental gunnery firings and autumn target practice in the regions from Tangier Sound to the Southern Drill Grounds.
After repairs at the
Norfolk Navy Yard from
September 12 to
October 9 , ''Vermont'' rejoined the Fleet at Hampton Roads before participating in the naval review in the North River, at New York City, between
October 24 and
November 2 . She then maneuvered and exercised with the 1st Squadron of the Fleet before returning to Hampton Roads.
Touching briefly at Tompkinsville on
December 7 and
December 8 , ''Vermont'' reached the
New York Navy Yard on the latter day for year-end leave and upkeep and remained there until
1912-01-02 , when she sailed for the
Caribbean Sea and the annual winter maneuvers. She operated in Cuban waters, out of Guantánamo Bay and off
Cape Cruz , until
March 9 , when she sailed for the Norfolk Navy Yard and an overhaul that lasted into the autumn.
She departed Norfolk on
October 8 and reached New York City on
October 10 . She participated in the naval review at that port from
October 10 to
October 15 before embarking Commander, Second Division, Atlantic Fleet, at Hampton Roads between
October 16 and
October 18 .
''Vermont'' subsequently worked out of Hampton Roads, in the Virginia capes Southern Drill Grounds area, into December. During that time, she conducted target practices and twice participated in humanitarian deeds, searching for the stranded steamship
SS ''Noruega'' on
November 2 and assisting the submarine
B-2 between
December 13 and
December 15 .
The battleship spent Christmas 1912 at the Norfolk Navy Yard before steaming for Cuba and winter maneuvers. En route, she visited
Colon, Panama , a terminus of the nearly completed
Panama Canal , and reached Guantánamo Bay on
1913-01-19 . She subsequently operated out of Guantánamo and
Guayancanabo Bay until sailing for
Mexican waters on
February 12 .
''Vermont'' arrived at
Veracruz on
February 17 and remained at that port into the spring, protecting American interests until
April 29 , when she sailed north to rejoin the fleet in Hampton Roads. The battleship conducted one midshipman's training cruise that summer, embarking the midshipmen at
Annapolis, Maryland , on
June 6 . After rejoining the fleet, ''Vermont'' cruised in
Block Island Sound and visited Newport.
The battleship then received her regular overhaul at Norfolk from July into October before she conducted target practice off the Southern Drill Grounds. ''Vermont'' then made her second European cruise, departing Hampton Roads for French waters on
October 25 , reaching
Marseille on
November 8 . Ultimately departing that Mediterranean port on
December 1 ''Vermont'' reached the Norfolk Navy Yard five days before Christmas, making port on the end of a towline because of storm damage to a propeller.
Soon after she had completed her post-repair trials and had begun preparations for the spring target practice with the Fleet in the Southern Drill Grounds, tension in Mexico beckoned the battleship. Departing Hampton Roads on
April 15 , ''Vermont'' reached
Veracruz very early in the morning of
April 22 in company with
''Arkansas'' (Battleship No. 33) ,
''New Hampshire'' (Battleship No. 25) ,
''South Carolina'' (Battleship No. 26) , and
''New Jersey'' (Battleship No. 16) .
Her landing force, a "battalion" of 12 officers and 308 men, went ashore after daybreak that same day as United States forces occupied the port to block an arms shipment to the dictator
Victoriano Huerta . In the fighting that ensued, two officers from the staff were awarded
, the battalion commander, and Surgeon Cary DeV. Langhornes, the regimental surgeon of the Second Seaman Regiment. During the fighting, ''Vermont''’s force suffered one fatality, a private from her Marine detachment, killed on
April 23 . But for a visit to
Tampico, Mexico , from
September 21 to
October 10 , ''Vermont'' remained in that Mexican port into later October.
Over the next two and one-half years, ''Vermont'' maintained her schedule of operations off the eastern seaboard of the United States, ranging from Newport to Guantánamo Bay, before she lay in reserve at Philadelphia from
October 1 to
1916-11-21 . ''Vermont'' subsequently supported the Marine Corps Expeditionary Force in
Haiti from
1916-11-29 to
1917-02-06 and then conducted battle practices out of Guantánamo Bay. She ultimately returned to Norfolk on
1917-03-29 .
On
1917-04-04 , ''Vermont'' entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs. Two days later, the
United States declared war on
Germany . The battleship emerged from the yard on
1917-08-26 and sailed for Hampton Roads for duty as an engineering training ship in the Chesapeake Bay region. She performed that vital function for almost the entire duration of hostilities, completing the assignment on
1918-11-04 , a week before the armistice stilled the guns of
World War I .
Her service as a training ship during the conflict had been broken once in the spring of 1918 when she received the body of the late
Chile an ambassador to the United States on
1918-05-28 ; embarked the American Ambassador to Chile, the Honorable J. H. Shea, on
June 3 and got underway from Norfolk later that day. The battleship transited the
Panama Canal on
June 10 ; touched at
Port Tongoy, Chile , on
June 24 ; and arrived at
Valparaíso on the morning of
June 27 .
There, the late ambassador's remains were accompanied ashore by Admiral
William B. Caperton and Ambassador Shea. Departing that port on
July 2 , ''Vermont'' visited
Callao ,
Peru , on
July 7 , before retransiting the Panama Canal and returning to her base in the York River.
''Vermont'' entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard on
November 5 and was there converted to a troop transport. She subsequently sailed from Norfolk on
1919-01-09 on the first of four round-trip voyages, returning "doughboys" from "over there." During her time as a transport, the battleship carried some 5,000 troops back to the United States, completing her last voyage on
1919-06-20 .
Prepared at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for inactivation, ''Vermont'' departed the east coast on
July 18 , sailing from Hampton Roads on that day, bound for the west coast. After transiting the Panama Canal, the battleship visited
San Diego, California ,
San Pedro, California ,
Monterey, California , and
Long Beach, California ,
Astoria, Oregon , and
San Francisco, California , before reaching the
Mare Island Navy Yard at
Vallejo, California , on
September 18 . There, the battleship was decommissioned on
1920-06-30 . She was reclassified as BB-20 on
July 17 of that same year. (She was previously known simply as "Battleship #20.")
''Vermont'' remained inactive at Mare Island until her name was struck from the
Naval Vessel Registry on
1923-11-10 . She was then sold for scrapping on
1923-11-30 in accordance with the
Washington Naval Treaty limiting naval armaments.
See
USS ''Vermont'' for other ships of this name.
Alden, John D. ''American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989. ISBN 0870212486
Friedman, Norman. ''U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0870217151
Reilly, John C. and Robert L. Scheina. ''American Battleships 1996-1923: Predreadnought Design and Construction.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1980. ISBN 0870215248
