Yorktown - class gunboat The " Yorktown " - class was a class of three steel - hulled , twin - screw gunboats built for the United States Navy beginning in 1887 . All three ships of the class were named after cities near American Revolutionary War battles . The ships were just over long and abeam and displaced a little more than . They were equipped with two steam engines which were supplemented with three schooner - rigged mast s . The main battery of each ship consisted of six guns and was augmented by an assortment of smaller caliber guns . Ships of the class were in commission between 1889 and 1919 . For most of their service , the ships were in the Pacific , patrolling the coasts of North and South America , Hawaii , and the western Pacific . " Yorktown " - class ships saw service in many of the conflicts involving the United States from the 1890s through World War I , with all three ships seeing action during the Philippine – American War . was involved in the 1891 " Baltimore " Crisis in Chile , participated in the China Relief Expedition carried out in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion , and served as a convoy escort in World War I . was a part of Admiral George Dewey ' s fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish – American War . " Yorktown " had the longest career in commission , being decommissioned for the final time in 1919 ; " Concord " left active service ten years before that , and " Bennington " was taken out of service after a boiler explosion in July 1905 at San Diego , California . Design and construction . The " Yorktown " - class gunboats — unofficially considered third - class cruisers — were the product of a United States Navy design attempt to produce compact ships with good seakeeping abilities and , yet , able to carry a heavy battery . Contemporary news reports indicate the class was loosely based on , the first ship of the Royal Navy ' s s . was authorized in the 1886 fiscal year and and were authorized in the 1888 fiscal year . The construction contract for " Yorktown " was awarded to the William Cramp and Sons shipyard of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and her keel was laid down in May 1887 . The contract for the other pair was awarded to N . F . Palmer & Co . , who sublet the construction of the hulls to the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works , also of Philadelphia . " Concord " and " Bennington " were laid down in May and June 1888 , respectively . The hulls of the " Yorktown " class were designed by the Navy ' s Bureau of Construction and Repair while the mechanical layout was designed by the Cramp yard for " Yorktown " and replicated in her sister ships . Layout . The " Yorktown " - class ships were in length and abeam . The steel hulls had an average draft of , which was expected to give them the ability to escape from larger ships into shallow water . At the waterline was a turtleback deck of 3 / 8 - inch ( 9 . 5 mm ) steel that formed a watertight seal over the lower spaces . This deck had a crown at the level of the waterline and curved downwards to below the waterline at the sides of the ship . Below this armored deck were twelve compartments separated by watertight bulkheads ; the spaces above were equipped with watertight doors intended to be closed during battle . Above the armored deck , each ship had forecastle and poop decks with an open gun deck that spanned the length of the ship between them . The conning tower was located forward on the forecastle deck and was oval - shaped to deflect shot . It was outfitted with a steam - powered steering wheel , a telegraph , and speaking tubes ; it was protected by of steel armor plate . Propulsion . The " Yorktown " - class ships were powered by two triple - expansion steam engines which each drove one of the pair of , three - bladed screw propellers . The cylinders of each engine were 22 , 31 , and 51 inches ( 56 , 79 , and 130 cm ) in diameter and had a stroke . Each engine was rated at and as a pair were designed to move the ships at , though all three exceeded that speed in trials ; " Bennington " reached a top speed of . The engines , situated in separate watertight compartments , were each fed by a pair of coal - fired boilers . Each boiler was horizontally mounted and was in diameter and in length with a total grate area of . The coal bunkers of each ship could carry up to of the fuel , and were shielded from " shot and shell " . At a near top - speed of 16 knots , the ships could cover in 6½ days ; at the more economical speed of they could cruise over 62 days . To supplement the steam power plant , the ships were built with three mast s that were schooner - rigged . They had a total sail area of . The steam and sail combination was expected to allow the " Yorktown " - class ships to remain at sea for months at a time during wartime . Armament . The main battery of the " Yorktown " - class consisted of six / 30 guns , with each gun weighing in excess of . Two were mounted on the forecastle deck , two on the poop deck , and the other pair amidships on the gun deck . The two guns on the gun deck were mounted above the waterline , while the other four were above . The guns fired armor - piercing projectile s with a propellant charge weighing at . At an elevation of 30 . 2° , the guns had a range of . Each gun was shielded with steel plating thick . The secondary battery for " Yorktown " and " Concord " consisted of two guns [ with a caliber of ] , two guns [ ] , and two guns [ ] ; " Bennington " was armed with four 6 - pounders and four 1 - pounders . All were based on designs of the French arms company Hotchkiss . According to a 1902 Bureau of Ordnance publication , an armor - piercing round fired from a 6 - pounder gun could penetrate of armor at a distance of . Class members . Of the three class members , " Yorktown " had the longest U . S . Navy career , spanning from her 1889 commissioning to her final decommission ing in 1919 . " Concord " remained afloat the longest : she was decommissioned in 1910 , but served as a training ship for the Washington Naval Militia until 1914 , and as a quarantine ship for the Public Health Service in Astoria , Oregon , until 1929 . " Bennington " had the shortest Navy career : she suffered a boiler explosion in July 1905 at San Diego , California , that killed over 60 crewmen . Her hulk was used as a water barge at Honolulu for the Matson Line from 1912 to 1924 , when she was scuttled off Oahu . " Yorktown " . " Yorktown " was laid down by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia in May 1887 and launched in April 1888 . After her April 1889 commissioning , " Yorktown " joined the Squadron of Evolution of " New Navy " steel - hulled ships . Detached from that squadron , " Yorktown " , under the command of Robley D . Evans , sailed to Valparaíso , Chile , during the 1891 " Baltimore " Crisis and relieved at that port . After that situation was resolved , " Yorktown " took part in the joint British – American sealing patrol in Alaskan waters and served as a station ship before returning to the United States in 1898 . " Yorktown " was out of commission during the Spanish – American War , but took part in actions in the Philippine – American War and the Boxer Rebellion in 1899 and 1900 , respectively , after she had been recommissioned . After three years out of commission from 1903 to 1906 , " Yorktown " hosted Secretary of the Navy Victor H . Metcalf on board when he greeted the Great White Fleet on its arrival in San Francisco in May 1907 . Over the next five years , most of " Yorktown " ' s time was spent in sealing patrols in Alaska and duty in Latin American ports . From July 1912 , " Yorktown " was out of commission for alterations , but resumed duties off the Mexican , Nicaraguan , and Honduran coasts beginning in April 1913 . Through World War I , " Yorktown " continued in the same role , until she departed for the East Coast of the United States in April 1918 . She served an escort for one convoy headed to Halifax in August , and remained in coastal escort duties in the east until January 1919 . After arrival at San Diego in February , she was decommissioned for the final time in June 1919 ; she was sold in 1921 to an Oakland firm and broken up that same year . " Concord " . The contract to build " Concord " was awarded to N . F . Palmer & Co . of Chester , Pennsylvania , in the 1888 fiscal year . Her hull was subcontracted to the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works , which laid down her keel in March 1888 . " Concord " was launched in March 1890 . After her 1891 commissioning , " Concord " spent the next few years sailing along the East Coast of the United States , in the West Indies , and in the Gulf of Mexico . In 1893 , " Concord " cruised on the Asiatic Station and also sailed on the sealing patrol , keeping check on fur seal hunters in Alaska . After another stint in the Far East in 1894 , " Concord " spent a year out of commission at San Francisco from May 1896 to May 1897 . After spending most of the rest of 1897 in Alaskan waters , " Concord " returned to the Asiatic Station in January 1898 . She joined Admiral George Dewey ' s fleet for the 1 May 1898 Battle of Manila Bay , a decisive American victory over the Spanish Fleet in the Spanish – American War . After the battle , " Concord " supported United States Army operations in the Philippines in the Philippine – American War . From 1901 to 1909 , " Concord " alternated between Alaskan patrols , cruising the Mexican coast , and periodic trips to China , serving for a time on the Yangtze Patrol . In November 1909 , " Concord " was decommissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard . For the next five years , she served as a barracks ship for the Washington Naval Militia . In 1914 , the former " Concord " was transferred to the Public Health Service and served as a quarantine ship at Astoria , Oregon until 1929 . After a brief return to Navy custody , the ship was sold in June 1929 . " Bennington " . " Bennington " was awarded to N . F . Palmer & Co . of Chester , Pennsylvania in November 1887 , but her hull was subcontracted to the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works which laid down her keel in June 1888 . " Bennington " was launched in June 1890 . After her June 1891 commissioning at New York , " Bennington " joined the Squadron of Evolution for its cruise to South America . The gunboat made two Mediterranean tours between 1892 and 1894 , after which she was assigned to duties in the Pacific . She sailed the Pacific coasts of North and Central America and spent time in the Hawaiian Islands protecting American interests there . On her way to support U . S . Army operations of the Philippine – American War , " Bennington " claimed Wake Island for the United States . After two years in the Philippines , she returned to the United States and was taken out of commission for 18 months for repairs and refitting . After her March 1903 re - commissioning , most of the next two years were spent patrolling the Pacific coasts of North and South America . On 21 July 1905 at San Diego , California , " Bennington " suffered a boiler explosion that killed 66 men and injured nearly everyone else on board . Shortly after the explosion , a tug beached the ship to prevent her from sinking . Eleven men were awarded the Medal of Honor for " extraordinary heroism " in the aftermath of the explosion . After " Bennington " was refloated , the damage was deemed too extensive to repair and the ship was decommissioned in September . The ship was sold for scrapping in 1910 , but instead served as a water barge for the Matson Line at Honolulu from 1912 . The former " Bennington " was scuttled off the coast of Oahu in 1924 .