View source for USS Vesuvius (1888)

{{Short description|American ship}}
{{other ships|USS Vesuvius}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:Vesuvius (dynamite-gun cruiser). Port bow, underway, 1891 - NARA - 512899.tif|300px|USS Vesuvius]]
|Ship caption=''Vesuvius'' in 1891
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1921}}
|Ship name=USS ''Vesuvius''
|Ship namesake=[[Mount Vesuvius]]
|Ship ordered=3 August 1886<ref name=sunline>''University of New Mexico NROTC Sun Line'' Vol.II No.3 March 1964</ref>
|Ship builder=[[William Cramp & Sons]], [[Philadelphia]]
|Ship yard number=256
|Ship laid down=September 1887
|Ship launched=28 April 1888<ref name="cramp">{{cite book|title=Cramp's shipyard founded by William Cramp, 1830|year=1902|publisher=Cramp Shipbuilding Company|url=https://archive.org/details/crampsshipyardf00cogoog}}</ref>{{rp|49}}
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|Ship commissioned=3 June 1890<ref name="cramp"/>{{rp|50}}
|Ship decommissioned=21 October 1921
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|Ship struck=21 April 1922
|Ship reinstated=
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|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type=[[Dynamite gun]] [[cruiser]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|930|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|246|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="cramp"/>{{rp|50}}
|Ship beam={{convert|26|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="cramp"/>{{rp|50}}
|Ship depth={{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="cramp"/>{{rp|50}}
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|Ship propulsion=2 × {{convert|2183|hp|0|abbr=on}} 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines<ref name=sunline/>
|Ship speed={{convert|21|kn|lk=in}} 
|Ship complement=70 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=*3 × {{convert|15|in|mm|abbr=on}} [[Dynamite gun|pneumatic guns]]
*3 × [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss#American service|3-pounder]] guns
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'''USS ''Vesuvius''''', the third ship of the [[United States Navy]] named for [[Mount Vesuvius|the Italian volcano]], was a unique vessel in the Navy inventory which marked a departure from more conventional forms of main battery armament. She is considered a [[dynamite gun]] [[cruiser]] and was essentially an operational [[testbed]] for large dynamite guns.

''Vesuvius'' was laid down in September 1887 at [[Philadelphia]] by [[William Cramp & Sons]] Ships and Engine Building Company, subcontracted from the [[Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Company]] of [[New York City]]. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 28 April 1888 sponsored by Miss Eleanor Breckinridge and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 2 June 1890 at the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]] with Lieutenant [[Seaton Schroeder]] in command.

==Dynamite guns==
[[File:USS Vesuvius dynamite gun muzzles LOC 4a13991v.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|Dynamite gun muzzles on ''Vesuvius''}}]]

''Vesuvius'' carried three {{convert|15|in|cm|adj=on}} cast-iron [[Dynamite gun|pneumatic guns]], invented by D. M. Medford and developed by [[Edmund Zalinski]], a retired officer of the [[United States Army]].<ref name="navweaps.com">[http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_Zalinsky.htm Zalinsky Pneumatic "Dynamite" Guns at NavWeaps.com]</ref> They were mounted forward side by side at a fixed elevation of 16 degrees. Gun barrels were {{convert|55|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} long with the muzzles extending {{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} through the deck {{convert|37|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} abaft the bow. In order to train these weapons, the ship had to be aimed, like a gun, at its target. Compressed air from a 1000 psi (70 atm) reservoir projected the shells from the dynamite guns. Two air compressors were available to recharge the reservoir.<ref name=sunline/>

The shells fired from the guns were steel or brass casings {{convert|7|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} long with the explosive contained in the conical forward part of the casing and spiral vanes on the after part to rotate the projectile. The explosive used in the shells themselves was actually a "desensitized blasting gelatin" composed of [[nitrocellulose]] and [[nitroglycerin]]. It was less sensitive to shock than regular [[dynamite]], but still sensitive enough that compressed air, rather than powder, had to be utilized as the propellant. Shells containing {{convert|550|lb|kg}} of explosive had a maximum range of {{convert|1|mi|km}}, but range could be extended to {{convert|4000|yd|km}} by reducing projectile weight to {{convert|200|lb|kg}}. Maximum muzzle velocity was {{convert|800|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} per second. Range could be reduced by releasing less compressed air from the reservoir. Ten shells per gun were carried on board, and 15 shells were fired in 16 minutes 50 seconds during an 1889 test. The shells employed an electrical fuze which could be either set to explode on contact or delayed to explode underwater.<ref name=sunline/><ref name="navweaps.com"/>

==Service history==

===Shakedown cruise===
[[File:Launching of USS Yorktown (PG-1) and USS Vesuvius, April 28, 1888 (18478430736).jpg|thumb|''Vesuvius'' (left) and [[USS Yorktown (PG-1)|''Yorktown'']] being launched in Philadelphia, 28 April 1888]]
''Vesuvius'' sailed for New York shortly after commissioning and then joined the Fleet at [[Gardiner's Bay, New York]], on 1 October 1890. She operated off the east coast with the North Atlantic Squadron into 1895. Highlights of this tour of duty included numerous port visits and participation in local observances of holidays and festivals, as well as gunnery practice and exercises. Experience showed that the ship's unique main battery had two major drawbacks: first, the range was too short; second, the method of aiming was crude and inaccurate.

===Spanish–American War===
Decommissioned on 25 April 1895 for major repairs, ''Vesuvius'' re-entered service on 12 January 1897 with Lieutenant Commander [[John E. Pillsbury]] in command. The ship got underway from [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]], bound for [[Florida]], and operated off the east coast through the spring of the following year, 1898. By this time, American relations with [[Spain]] were worsening. The American Fleet gathered in Florida waters, and ''Vesuvius'' hurried south from [[Newport, Rhode Island]], and arrived at [[Key West, Florida]], on 13 May. She remained there until 28 May, when she headed for blockade duty in [[Cuba]]n coastal waters. ''Vesuvius'' performed special duties at the discretion of the Fleet Commander in Chief and served as a dispatch vessel between Cuba and Florida into July 1898.

On 13 June, ''Vesuvius'' conducted the first of eight shore bombardment missions against [[Santiago, Cuba]]. The cruiser stealthily closed the shore under cover of darkness, loosed a few rounds of her 15-inch dynamite charges, and then retired to sea. Psychologically, ''Vesuvius''{{'}}s bombardment caused great anxiety among the Spanish forces ashore, for her devastating shells came in without warning, unaccompanied by the roar of gunfire usually associated with a bombardment. [[William T. Sampson|Admiral Sampson]] wrote accordingly, that ''Vesuvius'' bombardments had "great effect."  Although the dynamite guns were relatively quiet, detonation of their large [[high explosive]] shells sounded different from contemporary [[gunpowder]]-filled artillery shells; and soldiers observed the explosions "made holes like the cellar of a country house."<ref name=sunline/>

===Post-war conversion===
After hostilities with Spain ended later that summer, ''Vesuvius'' sailed north and called at [[Charleston, South Carolina]], New York, and Newport, before reaching [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. Taken out of active service on 16 September 1898, ''Vesuvius'' remained at the [[Boston Navy Yard]] until 1904, when she began conversion to a torpedo-testing vessel.<ref name="cramp"/>{{rp|50}} ''Vesuvius'' lost her unique main battery and acquired four [[torpedo tube]]s &mdash; three [[American 18 inch torpedo|18 inch (450 mm)]] and one 21-inch. Recommissioned on 21 June 1905, ''Vesuvius'' soon sailed for the [[Naval Torpedo Station]] in Newport, Rhode Island to begin her new career.

She conducted torpedo experiments at the station for two years until decommissioned on 27 November 1907 for repairs. Recommissioned again on 14 February 1910, ''Vesuvius'' remained at Newport for the next 11 years, on occasion serving as station ship, into 1921.

In May 1913, a torpedo fired from ''Vesuvius'' ran a circular course and punctured the hull of the ship. Damage control efforts by her crew and the quick judgment of her commanding officer, Chief Gunner Thomas Smith, prevented her from sinking before she was intentionally run aground on [[Prudence Island]] in [[Narragansett Bay]].<ref>New York Times. March 20, 1913. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/05/20/100621335.pdf</ref>

She was decommissioned and ordered appraised for sale on 21 April 1922 to J. Lipsitz and Company of [[Chelsea, Massachusetts]].

The ship's bell of ''Vesuvius'' is on display in the administration building of the Rhode Island Veterans Home in [[Bristol, Rhode Island]].

==Awards==
*[[Sampson Medal]]
*[[Spanish Campaign Medal]]
*[[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]]

==See also==
*[[USS Vesuvius (AE-15)|USS ''Vesuvius'' (AE-15)]]
*[[USS Katahdin (1893)|USS ''Katahdin'']]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*R. Busetto, ''La USS Vesuvius'', in Rivista Marittima, 1997, vol. 507, p.&nbsp;81
*{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Harold |title=Question 30/53 |journal=Warship International |date=September 2017 |volume=LIV |issue=3 |pages=192–193 |issn=0043-0374}}
*''The White Squadron''.  [Toledo, Ohio]: Woolson Spice Co., 1891. {{OCLC|45112425}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/v/vesuvius-iii.html}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Vesuvius (ship, 1890)}}
* [http://www.navsource.net/archives/04/vesuvius/vesuvius.htm NavSource: USS ''Vesuvius'']
* [http://www.hazegray.org/features/vesuvius/ hazegray.org: Photographs of the ''Vesuvius'']

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesuvius (1888)}}
[[Category:Spanish–American War cruisers of the United States]]
[[Category:Cruisers of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built by William Cramp & Sons]]
[[Category:1888 ships]]