Arkansas during her initial fitting out |
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Arkansas |
| Laid down: | 14 November 1899 |
| Launched: | 10 November 1900 |
| Commissioned: | 28 October 1902 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 August 1919 |
| Renamed: | Ozark, 2 March 1909 |
| Fate: | Sold, 26 January 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Monitor |
| Displacement: | 3,225 long tons (3,277 t) |
| Length: | 255 ft 1 in (77.75 m) |
| Beam: | 50 ft (15.2 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Complement: | 220 officers and men |
| Armament: | • 2 × 12 in (300 mm) breech-loading rifles • 4 × 4 in (100 mm) guns • 2 × 6-pounder guns |
| Armor: | Belt: 5–11 in (130–280 mm) Barbettes: 9–11 in (230–280 mm) Turrets: 9–10 in (230–250 mm) Conning tower: 7.5 in (190 mm) |
The second USS Arkansas, a single-turreted "New Navy" monitor and one of the last monitors built for the United States Navy, was laid down 14 November 1899 by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company; launched 10 November 1900; commissioned on 28 October 1902, Commander Charles Edward Vreeland in command.
After shakedown, Arkansas’ first duty was with the U.S. Naval Academy as an instruction and cruise ship for midshipmen. She was then assigned to the Coast Squadron, North Atlantic Fleet, and cruised off the east coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the West Indies. She continued to make summer practice cruises with midshipmen, however, and in 1906 was again assigned to the Naval Academy for instructional purposes.
Renamed Ozark, 2 March 1909, she was assigned to the District of Columbia Naval Militia from 26 June 1910 to 6 March 1913. Later that month she began refitting in Norfolk, Virginia as a submarine tender and began duties as a tender 12 July. After special duty in Mexican waters during most of 1914, she participated in Atlantic Fleet maneuvers in 1915 and operated in the Chesapeake Bay area in 1916.
Ozark was ordered to SubDiv 6, Atlantic Fleet, 6 April 1917 and soon proceeded to Tampico, Mexico where she cruised off the coast protecting American and Allied interests. She sailed for New Orleans, 18 December 1918 after which she cruised off Key West, Central America and the Panama Canal Zone. She returned to Hampton Roads 23 June 1919 and decommissioned in Philadelphia, 20 August. Ozark was sold, 26 January 1922.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
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