USS Montgomery (C-9)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Montgomery.
Career
Name: USS Montgomery
Builder: Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, Maryland
Cost: $1,037,922.87
Launched: 5 December 1891
Commissioned: 21 June 1894
Decommissioned: 16 May 1918
Renamed: Anniston, 14 March 1918
Struck: 25 August 1919
Fate: Sold, 14 November 1919
General characteristics
Type:Montgomery-class unprotected cruiser
Displacement:2,094 long tons (2,128 t)
Length:269 ft 6 in (82.14 m)
Beam:37 ft (11 m)
Draft:14 ft 7 in (4.45 m)
Speed:17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement:125 officers and enlisted
Armament:• 9 × 5 in (127 mm) guns
• 6 × 6-pounder guns
• 2 × 1-pounder guns
• 3 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes

The fourth USS Montgomery (C-9) was an unprotected cruiser in the United States Navy authorized in the naval appropriations act of September 7, 1888.[1] Montgomery served during the Spanish-American War and in World War I and was named for Montgomery, Alabama.

Montgomery was launched 5 December 1891 by Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland; sponsored by Miss Sophia Smith; and commissioned at Norfolk Navy Yard 21 June 1894, Commander Charles W. Davis in command.

Service history

Assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron, the new cruiser operated along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean. During the Spanish-American War, she cruised near Cuba and Haiti in April 1898 and in May joined the blockade of Havana. She took two prizes, Lorenzo and Frasquito, 5 May, and shelled the Spanish forts a week later. On 13 June a 280mm Krupp gun at the Santa Clara Battery fired on Montgomery, at a range of 9000 meters, apparently without effect.

In April 1899 Montgomery transferred to the South Atlantic Squadron and operated along the Atlantic coast of South America until returning to the United States and decommissioning at New York 15 September 1900. Recommissioned 15 May 1902, she was assigned to the Caribbean Division, North Atlantic Squadron, and operated in the West Indies until decommissioning at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 15 September 1904.

Montgomery recommissioned 2 January 1908 and operated in the 5th Naval District as a torpedo experimental ship. From 1914 to 1918 she served with the Maryland Naval Militia. Renamed Anniston 14 March 1918, she was assigned to Division 2, American Patrol Detachment, for patrol and escort duty along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean.

Decommissioning at Charleston, South Carolina, 16 May 1918, Anniston was struck from the Navy list 25 August 1919 and sold 14 November 1919.

References

  1. Burr, Lawrence (2011). US Cruisers 1883-1904: The birth of the steel navy. Osprey Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 9781780962702. Retrieved 5 July 2014.

External links

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