Figure 1: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) running her standardization trial off Rockland, Maine, 19 December 1907. Note that her 12-inch gun turrets have not yet been installed. Photographed by N.L. Stebbins. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, DC. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) photographed circa 1908.The original photograph is printed on postal card stock. Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) at anchor, circa 1909. Courtesy of Colonel J. Willcox, USMC (Retired). US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: View of USS New Hampshire’s (BB-25) bow decoration, taken while the battleship was in dry dock at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, 6 January 1909. Note giltwork on the eagle figurehead and associated decorations, stockless anchors in hause pipe, stocked anchor on billboard further aft, sailors leaning on the bow bulwark, jack at half-mast, bell mounted in front of the ship's pilothouse, and barred portholes. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) taking on coal from a barge moored alongside at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, circa 1909. View looks aft from over the port forward 8-inch gun turret. Note boat crane, coal booms, hatches and bags, and 46-star US ensign flying from New Hampshire's flagstaff. USS Vestal is fitting out at right. Courtesy of John B. Dowty, 12th Naval District Museum, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) photographed on 29 July 1910. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) photographed in harbor, circa 1910. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) underway, circa 1910. From the collection of Lieutenant Commander Abraham DeSomer, donated by Myles DeSomer, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, 1911. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) firing her 12-inch main battery guns at the target ship San Marcos (ex-Texas) in Chesapeake Bay, March 1911. Photographed by N.G. Moser. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 11: USS New Hampshire (BB-25) in the Hudson River, New York City, 27 December 1918. Note wartime modifications, including removal of some of the 7-inch and 3-inch broadside guns and fitting of blast deflection shields on the "cage" mast fire control positions. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
The
16,000-ton USS New Hampshire (BB-25)
was a Connecticut class battleship
that was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey,
and was commissioned on 19 March 1908. The ship was approximately 456 feet long
and 76 feet wide, had a top speed of 18 knots, and had a crew of 850 officers
and men. New Hampshire was heavily
armed with four 12-inch guns, eight 8-inch guns, 12 7-inch guns, 20 3-inch
guns, and four 21-inch torpedo tubes.
In June of
1908, New Hampshire carried a Marine
Corps expeditionary regiment to Panama. She then made ceremonial visits to
Quebec, Canada, and to various ports in the northeastern United States. New Hampshire spent the bulk of her
career taking part in training exercises off America’s east coast and in the
Caribbean, as well as making a number of voyages to Europe. In late 1910, after
her appearance was altered by the installation of a pair of “cage” masts, and
again in 1911, the battleship crossed the Atlantic to visit several northern
European ports.
New Hampshire was active in protecting American
lives and property in Mexico and the Dominican Republic from 1912 to 1915. In
December 1912, New Hampshire
patrolled off Hispaniola in the Dominican Republic, which at that time was
engulfed in political turmoil. From 14 June to 29 December 1913, New Hampshire protected American
interests along the coast of Mexico. She returned to Mexico on 15 April 1914 to
support the American occupation of Vera Cruz. The battleship sailed north on 21
June to Norfolk, Virginia, for an overhaul and then participated in naval
exercises along the east coast and in the Caribbean. New Hampshire returned to Vera Cruz in August 1915.
New Hampshire returned to Norfolk on 30 September
1915 and patrolled northern waters until 2 December 1916. She then sailed to
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,
where her commanding officer actually took part in the government of that
revolt-plagued country. The ship went back to Norfolk in February 1917 for an
overhaul, where she stayed until the United States entered World War I. During
the war, New Hampshire was used
mainly for training duties along America’s vast coastline. But the ship also
escorted some convoys to France towards the end of the war. After hostilities
ended in November 1918, New Hampshire
was used as a transport, bringing troops back to the United States from France
from December 1918 to June 1919.
In mid-1920, New Hampshire
transported US Naval Academy midshipmen on a cruise through the Panama Canal to
America’s west coast and Hawaii. She patrolled off the coast of Haiti later
that year and into 1921, when New
Hampshire sailed to Sweden on a diplomatic mission. On that, her final
voyage, the battleship also visited Germany and England. USS New Hampshire was decommissioned on 21
May 1921 and sold for scrapping on 1 November 1923.
