Dubuque-class gunboat

USS Paducah (PG-18)
Class overview
Builders: Gas Engine & Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company, Morris Heights, New York
Operators:  United States Navy
Built: 1903-1905
In commission: 1905-1946
Planned: 2
Completed: 2
Retired: 2
General characteristics [1][2]
Type:Gunboat
Displacement:1,174 tons
Length:200 ft (61 m)
Beam:35 ft (11 m)
Draught:12 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion:2 x 500ihp Gas Engine Power Co. vertical triple-expansion engines
2 x 623.5ihp vertical triple-expansion engines (1921)
Speed:13 knots
Complement:162
161 (1921)
Armament:
1905-
1911-
  • 6 x 4 in (100 mm)/50 cal rapid fire guns
  • 4 x 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) rapid fire guns
  • 2 x 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) rapid fire guns
1918-
  • 4 x 4 in (100 mm)/50 cal rapid fire guns
  • 4 x 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) rapid fire guns
1921-
1940-

The Dubuque class gunboats were a class of gunboats built by the United States prior to World War I. The class was designed in 1903. The United States Navy commissioned 2 Dubuque-class gunboats in 1903. Dubuques had a design speed of 12 knots, and a main armament of six 4" rapid fire guns and four 6-pounder rapid fire guns in single mounts.

Design

In 1902, two gunboats, Dubuque and Paducah were ordered from Gas Engine & Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company of New York for survey and patrol duties in the Caribbean. They were 174 feet (53.04 m) long between perpendiculars and 200 feet 5 inches (61.09 m) long overall, with an unusual high and rounded bow, fitted with a bowsprit. Beam was 35 feet (10.67 m) with a draft of 13 feet 4 inches (4.06 m). Displacement was 1,084 long tons (1,101 t). The hull was of composite construction, with steel above the waterline and wood below. Two Babcock & Wilcox boilers fed vertical triple-expansion steam engines rated at 1,250 indicated horsepower (930 kW), driving two shafts and giving a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). Two tall and thin funnels were fitted.[3][4]

Ships

Ship Laid down[5] Launched[5] Completed[5] Fate
Dubuque 22 September 1903 15 August 1904 31 May 1905 Sold 19 December 1946[6]
Paducah 22 September 1903 11 October 1904 31 August 1905 Sold 19 December 1946[7]
Purchased by Haganah and renamed Geulah, caught trying to smuggle Jewish refugees to Palestine 2 October 1947. Merchant ship 1948, scrapped 1951.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "PG-18 Paducah". Navsource.org. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ "PG-17 Dubuque". Navsource.org. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ Friedman 2009, p. 417.
  4. ↑ Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 167.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Friedman 1987, p. 462.
  6. ↑ "Dubuque (Gunboat No. 17) i 1905-1946". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Paducah (Gunboat No. 18) i". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 7 April 2015.

External links