USS Kearsarge ( BB - 5 ) USS " Kearsarge " ( BB - 5 ) , the lead ship of her class of pre - dreadnought battleship s , was a United States Navy ship , named after the sloop - of - war . Her keel was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Virginia , on 30 June 1896 . She was launched on 24 March 1898 , sponsored by the wife of Rear Admiral Herbert Winslow , and commissioned on 20 February 1900 . Between 1903 and 1907 " Kearsarge " served in the North Atlantic Fleet , and from 1907 to 1909 she sailed as part of the Great White Fleet . In 1909 she was decommissioned for modernization , which was finished in 1911 . In 1915 she served in Atlantic , and between 1916 and 1919 she served as a training ship . She was converted into a crane ship in 1920 , renamed " Crane Ship No . 1 " in 1941 , and sold for scrap in 1955 . Design . The " Kearsarge " - class battleships were designed to be used for coastal defense . They had a displacement of , an overall length of , a beam of and a draft of . The two 3 - cylinder vertical triple - expansion steam engines and five Scotch boilers , connected to two propeller shafts , produced a total of , and gave a maximum speed of . " Kearsarge " was manned by 40 officers and 514 enlisted men , a total of 554 crew . " Kearsarge " had two double turrets , with two guns and two guns each , stacked in two levels . The guns and turret armor were designed by the Bureau of Ordnance , while the turret itself was designed by the Bureau of Construction and Repair . This caused the guns to be mounted far back in the turret , making the ports very large . Admiral William Sims claimed that as a result , a shell fired into the port could reach the magazines below , disabling the guns . In addition to these guns , " Kearsarge " carried fourteen guns , twenty 6 - pounder ( ) guns , eight 1 - pounder ( ) guns , four machine guns , and four torpedo tube s . " Kearsarge " had a very low freeboard , which resulted in her guns becoming unusable in bad weather . The ship ' s waterline armor belt was thick and the main gun turrets were protected by of armor , while the secondary turrets had of armor . The barbette s were thick , while the conning tower had of armor . The armor was made of harveyized steel . " Kearsarge " carried 16 smaller boats . A steam cutter , with a capacity of 60 men , together with a steam cutter , were used for general carrying from and to port , and could tow the other boats if needed . Two 33 - foot launches , each capable of carrying 64 men , were the " working boats " . There were ten boats : four cutters , each with a capacity of 45 men , the Admiral ' s barge , two whaleboats ( which served as lifeboats ) , and the Captain ' s gig . Four smaller boats completed " Kearsarge " s small fleet : two dinghies and two catamarans . Construction . " Kearsarge " was authorized on 2 March 1895 , the contract for her construction was awarded on 2 January 1896 , and the keel of the vessel was laid down on 30 June 1896 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Virginia . The total cost was US $ 5 , 043 , 591 . 68 . She was named soon after the American Civil War sloop - of - war sank , and was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named , by act of Congress , in its honor . She was the only US battleship not named after a state . She was christened on 24 March 1898 ( the same day as her sister ship , Kentucky ) by the wife of Rear Admiral Herbert Winslow , daughter - in - law of Captain John Ancrum Winslow , the commander of the original " Kearsarge " . She was commissioned on 20 February 1900 , under the command of Captain William M . Folger . Service history . Early career . As flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron , " Kearsarge " sailed along the Atlantic seaboard and the Caribbean Sea . In May 1901 Captain Bowman H . McCalla assumed command of " Kearsarge " , although by May 1902 the ship was being commanded by Captain Joseph Newton Hemphill . Reassigned as flagship of the European Squadron , she sailed from Sandy Hook on 3 June 1903 , on her way to Kiel , Germany . She was visited by Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany on 25 June , and by the Prince of Wales – who would later become King George V of the United Kingdom – on 13 July . " Kearsarge " returned to Bar Harbor , Maine on 26 July , and resumed her position as flagship . On 1 December the ship sailed from New York for Guantánamo Bay , Cuba , where she was present as the United States took formal possession of the Guantanamo Naval Reservation on 10 December . On 26 March 1904 Captain Raymond P . Rodgers assumed command of the ship . Following maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea , " Kearsarge " left with the North Atlantic Squadron for Lisbon , Portugal , where she met King Carlos I of Portugal on 11 June 1904 . Independence Day was celebrated in Phaleron Bay , Greece , with King George I of Greece and his son and daughter - in - law , Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg . The squadron visited Corfu , Trieste , and Fiume before returning to Newport , Rhode Island , on 29 August 1904 . On 31 March 1905 , replaced " Kearsarge " as flagship of the North Atlantic Fleet , although she remained with the fleet . Captain Herbert Winslow took command of the ship during December . On 13 April 1906 , while participating in an exercise off Cape Cruz , Cuba , the gunpowder in a 13 - inch gun ignited accidentally , killing two officers and eight men . Great White Fleet . Attached to the Fourth Division of the Second Squadron , and under command of Captain Hamilton Hutchins , she sailed on 16 December 1907 with the Great White Fleet . The fleet left from Hampton Roads , passed by Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro , and then passed through the Straits of Magellan . From there she passed by the west coast of South America , visiting Punta Arenas and Valparaíso , Chile , Callao , Peru , and Magdalena Bay , Mexico . The fleet reached San Diego on 14 April 1908 and moved on to San Francisco on 6 May . Two months later the warships sailed for Honolulu , Hawaii , and from there to Auckland , New Zealand , arriving 9 August . The fleet made Sydney , Australia , on 20 August , and after a week sailed for Melbourne . " Kearsarge " departed Albany , Western Australia , on 18 September for ports in the Philippine Islands , Japan , China , and Ceylon before transiting the Suez Canal . The fleet split at Port Said , with " Kearsarge " leaving on 10 January 1909 for Malta , and arriving in Algiers on 24 January , before reforming with the fleet at Gibraltar on 1 February . She returned to Hampton Roads on 22 February , and was inspected by U . S . President Theodore Roosevelt . World War I . As with most of the Great White Fleet ships , " Kearsarge " was modernized on her return . She was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 4 September 1909 , and the modernization was completed in 1911 , at a cost of US $ 675 , 000 . The ship received cage masts , new water - tube boilers , and another four 5 - inch guns . The 1 - pounder guns were removed , as were sixteen of the 6 - pounders . She was recommissioned on 23 June 1915 , and operated along the Atlantic coast . On 17 September she left Philadelphia to land a detachment of US Marines at Veracruz , Mexico , remaining there from 28 September 1915 to 5 January 1916 . She then carried the Marines to New Orleans , Louisiana , before joining the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia on 4 February . Until the United States joined World War I , she trained naval militia from Massachusetts and Maine . During the war she was used to train Armed Guard crews and naval engineer s during cruises along the Atlantic seaboard . On 18 August 1918 " Kearsarge " rescued 26 survivors of the Norwegian barque " Nordhav " which had been sunk by , bringing them to Boston . Inter - war period . Between 29 May and 29 August 1919 , " Kearsarge " trained United States Naval Academy midshipmen in the Caribbean . " Kearsarge " sailed from Annapolis , Maryland to the Philadelphia Navy Yard , where she decommissioned on either 10 May or 18 May 1920 . " Kearsarge " was converted into a crane ship , and was given hull classification symbol IX - 16 on 17 July 1920 , but it was changed to AB - 1 on 5 August . Her turrets , superstructure , and armor were removed , and were replaced by a large revolving crane with a lifting capacity of 250 tons ( 230 tonnes ) , as well as blisters , which improved her stability . The crane ship was utilized often over the next 20 years , including the raising of in 1939 . World War II . On 6 November 1941 , " Kearsarge " was renamed " Crane Ship No . 1 " , allowing her name to be given to , and later to . She continued her service , however , handling guns , turrets , armor , and other heavy lifts for vessels such as , , , , and . She was transferred to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard in 1945 , where she participated in the construction of " Hornet " , , and the re - construction of . In 1948 she left the West Coast for the Boston Naval Shipyard . On 22 June 1955 her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register , and she was sold for scrap on 9 August . Bibliography . Books Newspapers Online resources