View source for USS Montana (ACR-13)

{{Short description|Armored cruiser of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Montana|USS Missoula}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USSMontanaACR13.jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Montana'' (ACR-13), starboard view underway, 1919.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1930}}
|Ship name=''Montana''
|Ship namesake=State of [[Montana]]
|Ship builder=[[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News Drydock & Shipbuilding Co.]], [[Newport News, Virginia]]
|Ship laid down= 29 April 1905
|Ship launched= 15 December 1906
|Ship commissioned= 21 July 1908
|Ship decommissioned=2 February 1921
|Ship renamed=''Missoula'', 7 June 1920
|Ship struck=15 July 1930
|Ship fate=Sold 29 September 1930
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Tennessee|cruiser|0}} [[armored cruiser]]
|Ship displacement=
*{{convert|14500|LT|t|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} (standard)
*{{convert|15981|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} (full load)
|Ship length=*{{convert|504|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}} [[length overall|oa]]
|Ship beam={{convert|72|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=
*16 × [[Babcock & Wilcox boiler]]s
*{{convert|23000|ihp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 × [[Triple expansion engine|Triple expansion steam engines]]
|Ship speed={{convert|22|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=914
|Ship armament=
*4 × [[10"/40 caliber gun Mark 3|{{convert|10|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/ 40]] [[caliber (artillery)|caliber]] Mark 3 guns
*16 × [[6"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|6|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/50 caliber Mark 8 guns]]
*22 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/50 caliber]] guns
*12 × [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss#American service|3-pounder]] guns
*4 × [[QF 1-pounder pom-pom#United States|1-pounder]] guns
*4 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armor=
*[[Belt armor|Belt]]: {{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
*[[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
*[[Gun turret|Turret]]s: {{convert|9|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
*[[Conning tower]]: 9&nbsp;in
}}
|}

'''USS ''Montana'' (ACR-13/CA-13)''', also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 13", later renamed '''''Missoula''''' and reclassified '''CA-13''', was a {{sclass|Tennessee|cruiser|0}} [[armored cruiser]] of the [[United States Navy]]. She was built by the [[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News Drydock & Shipbuilding Co.]]; her [[keel]] was laid down in April 1905, she was launched in December 1906, and she was commissioned in July 1908. The final class of armored cruisers to be built for the US Navy, ''Montana'' and her sisters were armed with a main battery of four {{convert|10|inch|adj=on|0}} guns, and they were capable of a top speed of {{convert|22|kn|lk=in}}.

''Montana'' spent her active duty career in the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]]. She made two cruises to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to protect American citizens in the [[Ottoman Empire]], the first in 1909 in the aftermath of the [[Young Turk Revolution]] and the second during the [[Balkan Wars]] in 1913. ''Montana'' was also involved in political unrest in Central American countries, sending landing parties ashore in Haiti and in Mexico during the [[United States occupation of Veracruz|Occupation of Veracruz]], both in 1914.

After the United States entered [[World War I]] in April 1917, ''Montana'' was tasked with [[convoy]] escort and [[training ship]] duties. With the end of the war in November 1918 came a new task, transporting American soldiers back from the battlefields of Europe. She made six round trips to France and carried back a total of 8,800&nbsp;men. ''Montana'' was then transferred to the [[Puget Sound Naval Yard]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington state]], where she was decommissioned and renamed ''Missoula''. She remained in the reserve fleet until 1930, when she was stricken under the terms of the [[London Naval Treaty]]. The ship was eventually sold for scrap in 1935 and [[ship breaking|broken up]].

==Design==
{{main|Tennessee-class cruiser|l1=''Tennessee''-class cruiser}}
[[File:Tennessee class cruiser schematic.gif|thumb|left|Line-drawing of a ''Tennessee''-class cruiser, with mid-ship cross section]]

''Montana'' was {{convert|504|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} [[length overall|long overall]] and had [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|72|ft|10|in|m}} and a [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on}}. She displaced {{convert|14500|LT|t|lk=in}} normally and up to {{convert|15981|LT|t}} at full load.<ref>Musicant, pp. 149&ndash;150</ref> The ship was propelled by two 4-cylinder, vertical [[triple-expansion engine]]s, with steam provided by sixteen coal-fired [[Babcock & Wilcox]] [[water-tube boiler]]s trunked into four [[funnel (ship)|funnels]]. The engines were rated at {{convert|23000|ihp|lk=in}}, which produced a top speed of {{convert|22|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}. She had a storage capacity for up to {{convert|2000|LT|t}} of coal, which allowed her to steam for {{convert|6500|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}. She had a crew of 914&nbsp;officers and men. Originally fitted with a pair of [[military mast]]s, ''Montana'' had her foremast replaced with a [[lattice mast|cage mast]] in 1911.<ref name=F467>Friedman, p. 467</ref><ref name=G149>Gardiner, p. 149</ref>

''Montana'' was armed with a [[main battery]] of four [[10"/40 caliber gun Mark 3|{{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on|0}} 40]]-[[caliber (artillery)|caliber]] Mark 3 guns in two twin [[gun turret]]s, one forward and one aft. These were supported by a [[secondary battery]] of sixteen [[6"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on|0}} 40-caliber Mark 8 guns]] mounted in [[casemate]]s, eight on each [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]]. For defense against [[torpedo boat]]s, she carried twenty-two [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on|0}} 50-caliber guns]] in single pedestal mounts either in casemates or [[sponson]]s in the hull. She also carried a variety of smaller guns, including twelve 3-pounder automatic guns and four 1-pounders. Like other contemporary armored cruisers, she was also armed with four {{convert|21|in|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s located below the [[waterline]] in her hull. ''Montana'' was protected by a combination of [[Krupp cemented armour|Krupp cemented steel]] and older [[Harvey armor|Harvey steel]]. The ship's [[armored belt]] was {{convert|5|in|abbr=on|0}} thick and the maximum thickness of the armor deck was 3&nbsp;in thick. The main battery turret faces were {{convert|9|in|abbr=on|0}} thick, as were the sides of the [[conning tower]].<ref name=F467/><ref name=G149/>

==Service history==
[[File:U.S.S Montana.jpg|thumb|left|''Montana'' on 4 May 1912]]
The [[keel]] for ''Montana'' was laid down at the [[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News Drydock & Shipbuilding Co.]] in [[Newport News]] on 29 April 1905. Her completed hull was launched on 15 December 1906, and after [[fitting-out]] work was completed, the new cruiser was commissioned into the [[United States Navy]] on 21 July 1908. She was assigned to the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] and was transferred to [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], Virginia. ''Montana'' steamed out of Norfolk on 5 August for a cruise off the eastern coast of the United States that lasted until 25 January 1909.<ref name=DANFS>{{cite web|title=Montana (Armored Cruiser No. 13) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/montana.html|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command | date=30 October 2015 |access-date=12 November 2015|last=Evans|first=Mark}}</ref> On 8 October 1908 she put on a searchlight display as part of a fireworks display at [[Philadelphia]]. During the display her searchlights blinded the operator of [[Philadelphia Police Department]] steamer {{SS|Visitor||2}} that then had a slight collision with a barge that "Visitor" was going to, to help put out a fire on board caused by malfunctioning fireworks.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000071882796&view=1up&seq=255 |title=Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1909|publisher=Penn State University | access-date=26 December 2019}}</ref> After a stop in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], South Carolina, she continued south through the [[Caribbean Sea]], arriving at [[Colón, Panama]] on 29 January. There, she joined the [[Special Service Squadron]]. This duty was interrupted twice;<ref name=DANFS/> the first came in February, when she returned to [[Hampton Roads]], Virginia, where she and the rest of the Atlantic Fleet greeted the [[Great White Fleet]] at the conclusion of its circumnavigation of the globe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2014/02/22/great-white-fleet-naval-presence-around-the-world/|title=Great White Fleet: Naval Presence Around the World|last=Kelly|first=Jason|access-date=26 January 2016|date=22 February 2014}}</ref> The second came in April, owing to instability in the [[Ottoman Empire]] following the [[Young Turk Revolution]] that threatened American interests. ''Montana'' departed [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]], [[Cuba]], on 2 April, when she was sent to the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] to protect Americans in the region. She remained there until 23 July, when she left [[Gibraltar]], arriving in [[Boston]] on 3 August. She thereafter returned to her normal operations patrolling the eastern coast of the United States.<ref name=DANFS/>

''Montana'' departed Hampton Roads on 8 April 1910, bound for South America for the [[Argentina Centennial]].<ref name=DANFS/> She steamed in company with her [[sister ship]] {{USS|North Carolina|ACR-12|2}}, eventually reaching [[Maldonado, Uruguay]], where the two cruisers met their sister {{USS|Tennessee|ACR-10|2}} and the armored cruiser {{USS|South Dakota|ACR-9|2}}, which had steamed down independently. The four ships then continued on to [[Bahía Blanca]], [[Argentina]], for the centennial celebrations.<ref>{{cite web|last=Evans|first=Mark|title=Tennessee (Armored Cruiser No. 10) iv |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/tennessee-armored-cruiser-no-10-iv.html|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command | date=8 June 2015 |access-date=11 November 2015}}</ref> The ship left Argentina on 30 June and arrived back in Hampton Roads on 22 July. After resuming her normal peacetime routine for the following three months, ''Montana'' was tasked with escorting President [[William Howard Taft]] aboard ''Tennessee'' for a trip to [[Panama]]. The two ships departed Charleston on 10 November for the visit, which lasted a week. On 26 July 1911, ''Montana'' was transferred to the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]] and she began an [[:wikt:overhaul|overhaul]] at the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] that lasted until 11 November 1912.<ref name=DANFS/> During the overhaul, a cage mast was installed in place of her original fore military mast.<ref name=G149/>

[[File:USS Montana ACR13 LOC 15885.jpg|thumb|''Montana'' underway on 10 May 1914]]
After returning to service in late 1912, ''Montana'' made another trip to the eastern Mediterranean, departing in December.<ref name=DANFS/> ''Montana'' again joined ''Tennessee'' for the patrol, which was ordered in response to the [[Balkan Wars]] between the Ottoman Empire and the [[Balkan League]], which again threatened American interests in the region. The ships operated under the command of Rear Admiral [[Austin M. Knight]].<ref>Page & Page, p. 421</ref> During the trip, which lasted until June 1913, she made stops in [[Beirut]], [[İskenderun]], and [[Mersin]]. After returning to the United States, the ship resumed her peacetime routine of training cruises off the American east coast, as well as cruises to [[Mexico]], Cuba, and [[Haiti]], over the following year.<ref name=DANFS/> During this period, on 23 January 1914, ''Montana'' was in Haiti when [[Michel Oreste]] abdicated from the presidency. ''Montana'' and the German [[protected cruiser]] {{SMS|Vineta|1897|6}} landed marines in [[Port-au-Prince]] to prevent rioting in the capital.<ref>Colby, p. 332</ref> Later that year, for a few days between 28 April<ref>[http://www.naval-history.net/OWShips-WW1-05-HMS_Essex.htm Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era - HMS ESSEX]</ref> and early May, ''Montana'' took part in the [[United States occupation of Veracruz]], where the ship's commander, [[Louis McCoy Nulton]], led a landing party in the city during the occupation.<ref name=ap>{{cite news|title = Annapolis Ex-Head Dies - Admiral Louis M. Nulton, Led Naval Academy 1925-28| newspaper=The New York Times |agency = Associated Press| date = 11 November 1954| url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C10FF3955117A93C0A8178AD95F408585F9}}</ref> ''Montana'' also carried the remains on the seventeen sailors and marines who had been killed in the fighting back to New York City, arriving on 10 May. There, the Navy held a ceremony attended by President [[Woodrow Wilson]] and [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[Josephus Daniels]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Vera Cruz Dead Here on Warship|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/05/11/100314498.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 May 1914|access-date=6 May 2016}}</ref>

===World War I===
[[File:USS Montana in dazzle camouflage.tif|thumb|''Montana'' underway in 1918 in [[dazzle camouflage]]]]
After the United States entered [[World War I]] on 6 April 1917, ''Montana'' initially was tasked with transporting men and materiel in the [[York River (Virginia)|York River]] area, along with conducting training exercises. On 17 July, she was assigned to the [[Cruiser and Transport Force]]; she spent the majority of 1917 and 1918 escorting [[convoy]]s from Hampton Roads, New York City, and [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] to [[France]].<ref name=DANFS/> These operations included a [[troopship]] convoy of four transports—{{SS|Finland||2}}, {{USS|Henderson|AP-1|2}}, {{USAT|Antilles||2}}, and {{USAT|San Jacinto||2}}—carrying part of the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] on 6 August 1917.<ref name=C&W-603>Crowell & Wilson, p. 603</ref> In early 1918, she was briefly used as a [[training ship]] for [[naval cadet]]s from the [[United States Naval Academy]] in the [[Chesapeake Bay]].<ref name=DANFS/> A troopship convoy followed in June 1918 in company with the cruisers {{USS|South Dakota|ACR-9|2}} and {{USS|Huntington|CA-5|2}} and the [[destroyer]]s {{USS|Gregory|DD-82|2}} and {{USS|Fairfax|DD-93|2}}, protecting the Italian steamers {{SS|Re d'Italia||2}}, {{SS|Caserta||2}}, and {{SS| Duca d'Aosta||2}}, the French {{SS|Patria||2}}, and American transports ''Pocahontas'' and ''Susquehanna''.<ref>Crowell & Wilson, p. 611</ref>

In September 1918, ''Montana'' took part in another troopship convoy to France with the [[battleship]] {{USS|Georgia|BB-15|2}}, the armored cruiser {{USS|North Carolina|ACR-12|2}}, and the destroyer {{USS|Rathburne|DD-113|2}}.<ref>Jones, p. 118</ref> The convoy consisted of the transports {{USS|Princess Matoika|ID-2290|2}}, {{USS|President Grant|ID-3014|2}}, {{USS|Mongolia|ID-1615|2}}, ''Rijndam'', ''Wilhelmina'', British steamer ''Ascanius''.<ref>Crowell & Wilson, pp. 559, 617</ref> The following month she joined the battleship {{USS|Nebraska|BB-14|2}} to escort twelve British [[merchant ship]]s bound for [[Liverpool]].<ref>Jones, p. 120</ref> Following the Allied victory in November 1918, ''Montana'' was sent to France to begin the process of transporting American soldiers back from Europe.<ref name=DANFS/> These operations were interrupted in March 1919, when on 5 March ''Montana'' departed New York in company with the passenger ship {{SS|George Washington}}, which was carrying Wilson back to France for the conclusion of the peace treaty negotiations.<ref>{{cite web|title=United States Navy and World War I: 1914–1922|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/us-navy-world-war-i-redirect.html|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command | date=28 November 2016|access-date=29 November 2016|last=Blazich|first=Frank A. Jr.}}</ref> By July 1919, she had made six round trips between France and the United States, carrying a total of some 8,800 American soldiers.<ref name=DANFS/>

After the conclusion of the repatriation effort, ''Montana'' was transferred to the west coast of the United States. She arrived in the [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]] in [[Seattle]] on 16 August, where she remained until 2 February 1921, when she was decommissioned. During this period of inactivity, she was renamed ''Missoula'' on 7 June 1920 so her original name could be used for one of the planned [[South Dakota-class battleship (1920)|''South Dakota''-class battleships]], and she reclassified with the [[hull number]] CA-13. Though decommissioned in 1921, the ship remained in the Navy's inventory until 15 July 1930, when she was formally stricken from the [[naval register]], according to the terms of the [[London Naval Treaty]], which placed aggregate tonnage limits on the cruiser fleets of the signatory countries. She was sold to John Irwin Jr. on 29 September and was eventually broken up in 1935.<ref name=DANFS/>

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|20em}}

==References==
* {{cite book | editor-last=Colby | editor-first=Frank Moore | title=The New International Year Book | publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company | location=New York | year=1915 | oclc=977563414 }}
* {{cite book | last = Crowell | first = Benedict | author-link = Benedict Crowell |author2=Robert Forrest Wilson | title = The Road to France: The Transportation of Troops and Military Supplies, 1917–1918 | url = https://archive.org/details/roadtofrancetra04wilsgoog | series = How America Went to War: An Account From Official Sources of the Nation's War Activities, 1917–1920 | location = New Haven | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 1921 | oclc = 18696066 }}
* {{cite book | last=Friedman | first=Norman | title=US Cruisers: An Illustrated History | location=Annapolis | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=1984 | isbn=978-0-87021-715-9 }}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Gardiner | editor-first=Robert | title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905 | year=1979 | location=London | publisher=Conway Maritime Press | isbn=978-0-85177-133-5 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
* {{cite book | last=Jones | first=Jerry W. | title=U.S. Battleship Operations in World War I | location=Annapolis | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=1998 | isbn=978-1-55750-411-1 }}
* {{cite book | last=Musicant | first=Ivan | title=U.S. Armored Cruisers: A Design and Operational History | location=Annapolis | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=1985 | isbn=978-0-87021-714-2 }}
* {{cite journal | editor-last1 = Page | editor1-first = Walter Hines | editor-last2 = Page | editor-first2 = Arthur Wilson | title = The War Chiefs of the Navy | journal = The World's Work: A History of Our Time | volume = XXX | date = August 1915 | publisher = Doubleday, Page & Company |pages = 409–427 | oclc = 1017147195 }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last = Alden | first = John D. | title = American Steel Navy: A Photographic History of the U.S. Navy from the Introduction of the Steel Hull in 1883 to the Cruise of the Great White Fleet | location = Annapolis | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 1989 | isbn = 978-0-87021-248-2 }}
* {{cite book | title = Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I | editor-last = Moore | editor-first = John E. | publisher = Studio Editions | location = London | year = 1990 | isbn = 978-1-85170-378-4 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{navsource|04/acr13/acr13|USS Montana (ACR-13)}}

{{Tennessee class cruisers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montana (ACR-13)}}
[[Category:Tennessee-class cruisers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia]]
[[Category:1906 ships]]
[[Category:World War I cruisers of the United States]]