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Protected Cruiser U.S.S. Boston


The Cruiser U.S.S. Boston
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Click here for an 1898 crew roster
Click here to read an account of the Battle of Manila Bay as told by one of the BOSTON's gunners

GENERAL:

The USS BOSTON was a Cruiser of the ATLANTA class, the first "modern" United States Navy ships. Long overdue when ordered, these vessels were obsolete upon completion.

BACKGROUND:

USS BOSTON was assigned to the United States Asiatic Squadron under Commodore Dewey. She took part in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, and the capture of the city of Manila on August 13th. The cruiser remained in the Philippines, assisting in their pacification, until June 1899. BOSTON returned to San Francisco in August, 1899 and went out of commission, rejoining the Pacific Squadron in 1902. In June, 1905 she helped represent the Navy at the Lewis and Clark Exposition at Portland, Oregon, and between April 23 and May 10, 1906 she helped care for the victims of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. As a militia training vessel and receiving ship she survived until 1946.

TECHNOTES:

Plan and Profile of the U.S.S. Boston
Note: gun sizes listed in metric sizes.

  

Classification:
Protected Cruiser
Laid Down:
November 15, 1883
Launched:
December 4, 1884
Commissioned:
May 2, 1887
Armament:
Two 8" guns


Six 6" guns


Two 6 pounders


Two 1 pounders


Two 47mm Hotchkiss Revolving Cannons


Two 37mm Hotchkiss Revolving Cannons


Two Gatling Guns
Contractor:
John Roach and Sons, Chester, Pa.
Length:
283 feet
Beam:
42.1 feet
Draught:
16.83 feet
Displacement:
3189 Tons
Complement:
19 Officers and 259 Enlisted Men under the command of Capt. Frank Wildes
Engine Type:
Horizontal Compound engines, 3,500 hp. 1 shaft.
Boiler type:
8100 psi boilers
Speed:
15.6 knots
Armor:
1.5 inches deck on both the sloped and flat portion of the protective deck, 2inches on barbettes, 2 inches casamate.

Bibliography:

Naval History Department, Navy Department, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1959.

Clerk of Joint Comittee on Printing, The Abridgement of Message from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress, Vol. 2, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899.


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