USS Delaware ( BB - 28 ) USS " Delaware " ( BB - 28 ) was a dreadnought battleship of the United States Navy , the lead ship of her class . She was laid down at Newport News Shipbuilding in November 1907 , launched in January 1909 , and completed in April 1910 . The sixth ship to be named for the First State , " Delaware " was armed with a main battery of ten guns all on the centerline , making her the most powerful battleship in the world at the time of her construction . She was also the first battleship of the US Navy to be capable of steaming for 24 continuous hours without suffering a breakdown . " Delaware " served in the Atlantic Fleet throughout her career . During World War I , she sailed to Great Britain to reinforce the British Grand Fleet , in the 6th Battle Squadron . She saw no action during the war , however , as both the British and Germans had abandoned direct confrontation with each other . After the end of the war , she returned to her peacetime duties of fleet maneuvers , midshipmen cruises , and good - will visits to foreign ports . Under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty , " Delaware " was retained until the new battleship was completed in 1924 , at which point she was broken up for scrap in accordance with the treaty . Design . " Delaware " was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced as designed and up to at full combat load . The ship was powered by two - shaft vertical triple - expansion engine s rated at and fourteen coal - fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers , generating a top speed of . The ship had a cruising range of at a speed of . " Delaware " was the first American battleship capable of steaming for 24 hours straight without suffering a breakdown or needing repairs . She had a crew of 933 officers and men . The ship was armed with a main battery of ten 12 inch / 45 Mark 5 guns in five twin gun turret s on the centerline , two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward . The other three turrets were placed aft of the superstructure . The secondary battery consisted of twenty - one 5 - inch / 50 guns mounted in casemate s along the side of the hull . As was standard for capital ship s of the period , she carried a pair of torpedo tube s , submerged in her hull on the broadside . The main armored belt was thick , while the armored deck was thick . The gun turrets had thick faces and the conning tower had thick sides . At the time of her construction , " Delaware " was the largest and most powerful battleship then building in the world . Service history . " Delaware " was built by Newport News Shipbuilding ; she was laid down on 11 November 1907 , and launched on 6 January 1909 . After completion of the fitting - out work , the ship was commissioned into the US Navy on 4 April 1910 . On 3 October , she steamed to Wilmington , Delaware , where she received a set of silver service from her namesake state . The battleship then returned to Hampton Roads on the 9th , and remained there until she left to join the First Division , Atlantic Fleet , on 1 November . She and the rest of the division visited England and France , and then conducted maneuvers off Cuba in January 1911 . On 17 January , a boiler explosion aboard " Delaware " killed eight men and badly scalded another . On 31 January , the ship carried the remains of Anibal Cruz , the Chilean ambassador to the United States , back to Chile . She steamed by way of Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , around the tip of South America , to Punta Arenas , Chile . She returned to New York City on 5 May , and then left for Portsmouth on 4 June to participate in the coronation fleet review for King George V . Throughout the next five years , " Delaware " participated in the normal peacetime routine of fleet and squadron maneuvers , gunnery drills , and torpedo practice in the Atlantic Fleet . During the summer months , she conducted training cruises for midshipmen from the Naval Academy . She was present in the Naval Review of 14 October 1912 , attended by President William Howard Taft and the Secretary of the Navy George von Lengerke Meyer . In 1913 , she conducted a good - will visit to Villefranche , France , along with the battleships and . She participated in the intervention in Mexico at Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution , to protect American citizens in the area . World War I . Following the American entrance into World War I on 6 April 1917 , " Delaware " had recently returned to Hampton Roads from fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea . There , she trained new armed guard crews and engine room personnel as the Atlantic Fleet prepared to go to war . On 25 November 1917 , she sailed with the rest of Battleship Division 9 , bound for Britain to reinforce the Grand Fleet in the North Sea . Once in Scapa Flow , the division joined the Grand Fleet as the 6th Battle Squadron . The 6th Battle Squadron was tasked with serving as the " fast wing " of the Grand Fleet . On 14 December , " Delaware " participated in joint Anglo - American maneuvers to practice coordination of the Allied fleet . Starting in late 1917 , the Germans had begun to use surface raiders to attack the British convoys to Scandinavia ; this forced the British to send squadrons from the Grand Fleet to escort the convoys . On 6 February 1918 , the 6th Battle Squadron and eight British destroyer s escorted a convoy of merchant ships to Norway . While steaming off Stavanger on the 8th , " Delaware " was attacked twice by a German U - boat , though evasive maneuvers allowed " Delaware " to escape undamaged . The squadron was back in Scapa Flow on 10 February ; " Delaware " escorted two more such convoys in March and April . On 22 – 24 April , the German High Seas Fleet sortied to intercept one of the convoys in the hope of cutting off and destroying the escorting battleship squadron . " Delaware " and the rest of the Grand Fleet left Scapa Flow on 24 April in an attempt to intercept the Germans , but the High Seas Fleet had already broken off the operation and returned to port . Starting on 30 June , the 6th Battle Squadron and a division of British destroyers covered a group of American minelayer s as they laid the North Sea mine barrage ; the work lasted until 2 July . King George V inspected the Grand Fleet , including " Delaware " , at Rosyth . Thereafter , " Delaware " was relieved by the battleship ; " Delaware " then sailed across the Atlantic , arriving in Hampton Roads on 12 August . Post - war . " Delaware " remained at York River until 12 November 1918 , the day after the Armistice with Germany was signed , effectively ending World War I . She then sailed to Boston Navy Yard for an overhaul . " Delaware " rejoined the fleet on 11 March 1919 for training maneuvers off Cuba . She returned to New York with her division on 14 April , where additional divisional , squadron , and fleet exercises were conducted . She was present for another Naval Review on 28 April 1921 in Hampton Roads . From 5 June to 31 August 1922 , " Delaware " conducted a training cruise for midshipmen to various ports in the Caribbean along with to Halifax , Nova Scotia . She went on another cruise to Europe from 9 July to 29 August 1923 , and visited Copenhagen , Greenock , Cádiz , and Gibraltar . In the years immediately following the end of the war , the United States , Britain , and Japan all launched huge naval construction programs . All three countries decided that a new naval arms race would be ill - advised , and so convened the Washington Naval Conference to discuss arms limitations , which produced the Washington Naval Treaty , signed in February 1922 . Under the terms of Article II of the treaty , " Delaware " and her sister were to be scrapped as soon as the new battleships and , then under construction , were ready to join the fleet . On 30 August 1923 , " Delaware " accordingly entered dry dock in the Norfolk Navy Yard ; her crew was transferred to the recently commissioned " Colorado " , and the process of disposal began . " Delaware " was transferred to the Boston Navy Yard , decommissioned on 10 November , and disarmed . She was then sold on 5 February 1924 and subsequently broken up for scrap . Notes . Footnotes Citations References . Online sources