USS Arkansas (BM-7)

Figure 1: "US Monitors Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida and Wyoming." Pen and ink side elevation and plan view, by the Bureau of Construction and Repair. These monitors (numbers 7-10, respectively) were built under the 1898 ship construction program. Connecticut (Monitor No. 8) was renamed Nevada in January 1901, after launching but more than two years before completion. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: Launching of USS Arkansas (BM-7) at Newport News, VA, 10 November 1900. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: The monitor USS Arkansas (BM-7) fitting out at Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., 1 July 1902. Her armament has been completely installed and the ship is only four months away from commissioning. The ship in the background is the battleship Missouri (BB-11). US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



Figure 4: Postcard of the Arkansas (BM-7). Photograph courtesy of SK/3 Tommy Trampp. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: Officers and crew of the monitor USS Arkansas (BM-7), circa 1907. US National Archives photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Ozark (formerly USS Arkansas) as completed, port-side view. She was renamed Ozark in March 1909. Date and location of this photograph is unknown. Photograph from National Archives and Record Administration (NARA), Record Group 19-N, Box 33. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Ozark (formerly USS Arkansas) painted in wartime gray. She was renamed Ozark in March 1909. US Navy photograph courtesy of US Warships of WW1 by Paul Silverstone. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS Ozark (BM-7) probably in a Mexican port, circa 1914-1918. The original photograph is printed on postal card stock. Photographed by Carreras. Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after the state of Arkansas, the 3,225-ton USS Arkansas (BM-7) was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Virginia, and was the lead ship in a class of single-turreted “New Steel Navy” monitors. She was one of the last monitors built for the US Navy and was commissioned on 28 October 1902. The ship was approximately 255 feet long and 50 feet wide, had a top speed of 12 knots, and had a crew of 220 officers and men. Arkansas carried two 12-inch guns in its single turret, plus four 4-inch guns and three 6-pounders.

After her shakedown cruise, Arkansas was initially used as a training ship for the US Naval Academy. She then was ordered to join the Coast Squadron of the North Atlantic Fleet. Her primary duties included patrolling off America’s east coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the West Indies. But Arkansas continued making summer training cruises for the midshipmen at the Naval Academy and in 1906 was assigned to the Academy as a training ship for more than three years.

To free up her name for a new battleship that was being built at the time, Arkansas was renamed USS Ozark on 2 March 1909. The ship then was assigned to the District of Columbia’s Naval Militia from 26 June 1910 to 6 March 1913. Later that month, Ozark was sent to Norfolk, Virginia, to be converted into a submarine tender. Although she began those new duties on 12 July 1913, Ozark was sent off the coast of Mexico for most of 1914 and participated in Atlantic Fleet training exercises in 1915. In 1916, Ozark was assigned to patrol the Chesapeake Bay area off the coasts of Virginia and Maryland.

On 6 April 1917, the day the United States entered World War I, Ozark was assigned to Submarine Division (SubDiv) 6 of the Atlantic Fleet as a submarine tender. But Ozark soon was ordered to steam to Tampico, Mexico, where she was used as a gunboat to protect American lives and property along the coast of that politically unstable country. Ozark left for New Orleans on 18 December 1918 and then patrolled off the coasts of Key West, Florida, as well as Central America and the Panama Canal Zone. Ozark returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 23 June 1919 and was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 20 August. USS Ozark remained there until 26 January 1922, when she was sold for scrapping.

USS Nevada (BM-8)

Figure 1: "U.S. Monitors Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida and Wyoming." Pen-and-ink side elevation and plan view, by the Bureau of Construction and Repair. These monitors (numbers 7-10, respectively) were built under the 1898 ship construction program. Connecticut (Monitor No. 8) was renamed Nevada in January 1901, after launching but more than two years before completion. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: Color postcard of the USS Nevada (BM-8) at anchor at New London, Connecticut, in 1905. Photograph by Enrique Muller, courtesy of Tommy Trampp. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: Caption of this black-and-white photograph reads: “The crew of the USS Tonopah (BM-8) dressed in whites in 1909, while the ship was at anchor, probably on a Sunday. “ But this photograph looks like the picture used by Enrique Muller for the color postcard dated 1905. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: Starboard view of USS Nevada (BM-8) circa 1903-09, location unknown. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Tonopah (BM-8) heading out to sea, circa 1914. Originally laid down as USS Connecticut, she was renamed USS Nevada to avoid confusion with a pre-dreadnought battleship. She was again renamed in March 1909 to USS Tonopah. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: View on USS Tonopah’s (BM-8) foredeck, showing 12-inch guns and crewmen, taken while she was serving as submarine tender at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, circa 1917. Submarines alongside are USS L-11 (Submarine No. 51) and USS L-9 (Submarine No. 49). Note the workbench, with vise attached, in the left foreground. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Tonopah (BM-8) in the harbor at Ponta Delgada, Azores, in April 1918. She is painted in what appears to be Mackay-type camouflage. Photographed from USS Margaret (SP-527) by Raymond D. Borden. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: Postcard of USS Nevada (BM-8), date and place unknown. US Navy photograph courtesy of Darryl L. Baker. Click on photograph for larger image.



USS Connecticut (BM-8) was a 3,225-ton Arkansas class monitor that was laid down on 17 April 1899 at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, and was launched on 24 November 1900. But the ship was re-named USS Nevada in January 1901 and was commissioned on 5 March 1903. Nevada was approximately 225 feet long and 50 feet wide, had a top speed of 13 knots, and had a crew of 220 officers and men. Nevada was armed with one main turret that held two 12-inch guns and also carried four 4-inch guns and two 6-pounders.

Nevada’s initial career was rather subdued. She was in commission for roughly three years when the ship was decommissioned on 19 August 1906. Nevada was then re-named USS Tonopah on 2 March 1909 to allow Battleship Number 36 to be named Nevada. Re-commissioned on 14 May 1909, Tonopah was assigned to the US Navy’s Atlantic Fleet as a submarine tender. Tonopah operated along America’s east coast from Massachusetts to Key West, Florida, until January 1918.

Although briefly based in Bermuda, Tonopah was sent to Ponta Delgada on the island of San Miguel, Azores, in February 1918. From February to December 1918, the ship tended to five submarines and several submarine chasers operating from the Azores. In December, Tonopah was towed to Lisbon, Portugal, and then returned to the United States. The ship was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in October 1919. On 26 January 1922, USS Tonopah was sold for scrapping.

The era of the big-gun monitor had drawn to a close. They were powerful ships, but anachronisms, with a design that belonged to a previous century. Monitors were very slow, poorly ventilated, and extremely sluggish and hard to handle in heavy seas. In fact, it’s amazing more of them were not lost in stormy weather. Yet from 1865 to about 1900, they were still considered by many old-fashioned admirals to be the last word in battleship design. But with time came change and with so many newer and more modern battleships joining the American fleet after 1900, there was no need for them, even as coastal patrol boats. Most of these strange-looking warships were disposed of by the 1920s.

USS Massachusetts (BB-2)

Figure 1: USS Massachusetts (BB-2) halftone photograph, taken prior to 1898. Copied from the contemporary publication Uncle Sam's Navy. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Massachusetts (BB-2) photographed by E.H. Hart off New York City during the Spanish-American War victory review, circa August 1898. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Massachusetts (BB-2) photograph taken in 1898. The original photograph was copyright J.F. Jarvis and printed on a stereograph card. Courtesy of Captain George Atkins, USNR(DC), 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Massachusetts (BB-2) at anchor, 1898. The original photograph was copyright 1898 by J.F. Jarvis and published on a stereograph card. Courtesy of Commander Donald J. Robinson, USN(MSC), 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Massachusetts (BB-2) in 1893. This could be a black-and-white photograph from either a book or a postcard that has had color added to it by the publisher. Courtesy of Arnold A. Putnam. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: Starboard bow view of USS Massachusetts (BB-2) at a wharf, June 1901. US Naval Historical Center Photograph #1 81-NYS-15-46. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Massachusetts (BB-2) is seen at the coaling facility (Building 109) on Pier 1 of the Boston Navy Yard in 1904. Astern of the battleship is USS Constitution. Photograph by E. Chickering, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-10053, courtesy of Stephen P. Carlson, Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: Pre-cruise fitting out of USS Massachusetts (BB-2) at the New York Navy Yard, 1904. USS Indiana (BB-1) is in the background. USNI/USN photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: The Massachusetts (BB-2) in dry dock, possibly at the New York Navy Yard, 1904. USNI/USN photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: USS Massachusetts (BB-2) in harbor, date and place unknown. This is a black-and-white photograph on a postcard that has had color added to it by the publisher. Courtesy of Arnold A. Putnam. Click on photograph for larger image.



USS Massachusetts (BB-2) was a 10,288-ton battleship of the Indiana class and was built by William Cramp & Sons at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was commissioned on 10 June 1896. The ship was approximately 350 feet long and 69 feet wide, had a top speed of 16 knots, and had a crew of 473 officers and men. Massachusetts was armed with four 13-inch guns, eight 8-inch guns, four 6-inch guns, 20 6-pounders, six 1-pounders, and four 18-inch torpedo tubes.

Massachusetts left on her shakedown cruise on 4 August 1896. She conducted trials and maneuvers off the east coast of the United States until 30 November and then entered the New York Navy Yard in New York City for an overhaul. For almost two years, Massachusetts patrolled off America’s Atlantic coastline and participated in training maneuvers with the North Atlantic Squadron off Florida.

After the start of the Spanish-American War on 21 April 1898, Massachusetts participated in the naval blockade of Cuba. She was stationed off Cienfuegos, Cuba, and on the afternoon of 31 May she bombarded the forts at the entrance of Santiago de Cuba and exchanged gunfire with the Spanish cruiser Cristobal Colon, forcing the enemy ship to retire into the inner harbor of Santiago for safety. Massachusetts remained on patrol off Santiago, occasionally bombarding the Spanish fortifications there until 2 July 1898. The battleship went to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for coal and this trip caused her to miss the naval Battle of Santiago, which occurred on 3 July. But Massachusetts quickly steamed back to Santiago and did arrive in time to help the battleship USS Texas force the Spanish cruiser Reina Mercedes to beach and surrender at midnight on 6 July. The ship then supported the American occupation of Puerto Rico from 21 July to 1 August. After that, Massachusetts steamed home and arrived in New York City on 20 August.

For the next seven years, Massachusetts patrolled off America’s Atlantic coast and in the eastern Caribbean as a member of the North Atlantic Squadron. From 27 May to 30 August 1904, she served as a training ship for US Naval Academy midshipmen off New England and then entered the New York Navy Yard in New York City for an overhaul. After the overhaul was completed, Massachusetts left New York on 13 January 1905 and went to the Caribbean on training maneuvers. The battleship returned to New York on 12 November 1905, where she underwent inactivation overhaul and was decommissioned on 8 January 1906.

Massachusetts was placed in “reduced commission” on 2 May 1910 and served as a summer practice ship for US Naval Academy midshipmen. Over the next four years, Massachusetts made three midshipman cruises (two of them to Europe) and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in September 1912. After a brief trip to New York from 5 to 16 October 1912 for a Presidential Fleet Review, Massachusetts went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was based there until being decommissioned on 23 May 1914.

Massachusetts was re-commissioned at Philadelphia on 9 June 1917. She left there on 9 October and arrived at the Naval Training Station at Newport, Rhode Island, on 15 October and embarked US Naval Reserve gun crews for gunnery training in Block Island Sound off Rhode Island. Massachusetts continued serving as a training ship during World War I. After the war ended, Massachusetts was re-designated Coast Battleship No. 2 on 29 March 1919. USS Massachusetts was decommissioned for the last time on 31 March 1919. She was struck from the Navy list on 22 November 1920 and given to the War Department as a target ship. Towed to Pensacola, Florida, on 6 January 1921, the ship was bombarded by guns from nearby Fort Pickens and sunk. Her hulk remains there to this day.

USS Brooklyn (CA-3)

Figure 1: USS Brooklyn (CA-3) at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, NY, 1898. Photographed by Enrique Muller. Collection of the New York Naval Shipyard. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Brooklyn (CA-3) in New York Harbor during the Spanish-American War victory naval parade, August 1898. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Brooklyn (CA-3) in New York Harbor during the victory fleet review, August 1898. USS New York (CA-2) is in the left background. The original photograph was copyright by George P. Hall & Son, New York, 1898. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Brooklyn (CA-3) returns to the United States from Cuban waters, August 1898. Her crewmen are waving to the photographer. The original photograph was published on a stereograph card by Strohmeyer & Wyman, New York, 1898. Donation of Louis Smaus, 1985. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Brooklyn (CA-3) steaming in the New York naval parade, August 1898, upon the return of the fleet from Cuban waters. The original photograph was published on a stereograph card by the American Stereoscopic Company, copyrighted by R.Y. Young, 1899. Donation of Louis Smaus, 1985. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Brooklyn (CA-3) in drydock at the New York Navy Yard, 1898, with men working over her side. Note rudder and starboard propeller. Original photograph was copyright 1899 by R.Y. Young. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, Corte Madera, CA, 1971. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Brooklyn (CA-3) sailors and Marines on the cruiser's forecastle, with mascot goat, 1898. Note details of pilothouse and bridge, improvised gun port shields on her forward 8-inch gun turret, and very odd "flathat" worn by one sailor. The original photograph was published on a stereograph card, copyright by C.L. Wasson, 1899. Courtesy of Commander Donald J. Robinson, USN(Ret), 1982. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: "Next" -- Barber shop scene on board USS Brooklyn (CA-3) in 1898. Note that this shop uses a portable barber's chair, set up in Brooklyn's windlass room. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



Originally named after the city of Brooklyn (before it was incorporated into New York City as a borough in 1898), the 9,215-ton USS Brooklyn (CA-3) was an armored cruiser that was built by William Cramp and Sons at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was commissioned on 1 December 1896. The ship was approximately 402 feet long and 64 feet wide, had a top speed of 20 knots, and had a crew of 561 officers and men. Brooklyn was armed with eight 8-inch guns, 12 5-inch guns, 12 6-pounder guns, four 1-pounders, and five 18-inch torpedo tubes.

After her shakedown cruise, Brooklyn steamed to Great Britain to represent the United States during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebration. She left England on 6 July 1897 and returned to New York City on 17 July. After that, Brooklyn patrolled along America’s east coast and in the West Indies. Brooklyn became the flagship of Commodore W.S. Schley’s “Flying Squadron” on 28 March 1898, shortly after the battleship USS Maine was sunk in Havana harbor, Cuba, on 15 February. Congress declared war on Spain on 25 April 1898, marking the official beginning of the Spanish-American War.

Schley’s Flying Squadron arrived off Cienfuegos, Cuba, on 21 May 1898 and established a blockade of that port. On 26 May, the Flying Squadron moved to Santiago, Cuba, where the Spanish fleet was hiding behind the protection of Spanish coastal forts. When the Spanish fleet finally left Santiago to do battle with the American fleet on 3 July 1898, Brooklyn was one of the key US naval vessels that took part in what turned out to be the Battle of Santiago. Brooklyn scored numerous hits on the Spanish ships. The US warships ended up dominating the battle and destroyed the Spanish Fleet. Brooklyn also demonstrated her toughness by sustaining 20 hits, but losing only one man killed and one man wounded.

Brooklyn returned to New York on 20 August 1898 and resumed patrolling off America’s east coast and in the Caribbean. She participated in the Spanish-American War victory celebration in New York on 5 October 1899 and then steamed to Manila in the Philippines, going via the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal. Brooklyn arrived in Manila on 16 December 1899 and became the flagship of the US Asiatic Squadron. She participated in the North China Relief Expedition (8 July to 11 October 1900), also known as the “Boxer Rebellion,” and completed a cruise to Australia and the Dutch East Indies from 10 April to 7 August 1901. Brooklyn remained with the Asiatic Squadron until 1 March 1902 and then returned to the United States, again via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. She arrived at the New York Navy Yard on 1 May 1902.

On 20 May 1902, Brooklyn arrived at Havana, Cuba, and participated in ceremonies that transferred control of that island from the United States to the new Cuban government. For the next four years, Brooklyn sailed with the North Atlantic Fleet and with the European Squadron, eventually returning to New York on 25 May 1905. On 7 June 1905, while acting as flagship for Rear Admiral C.D. Sigsbee, Brooklyn sailed for Cherbourg, France, where the remains of John Paul Jones were received and transported back to the United States. The ship returned to the United States and arrived at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, where the remains were transferred to shore and placed into a vault at the Naval Academy on 23 July 1905.

After completing a cruise with the naval militia and a tour of the Mediterranean, Brooklyn went into reserve on 16 May 1906. She was placed back into commission for a brief period of time from 30 June to 2 August 1906 for a trip to Havana, Cuba. But Brooklyn was again placed in reserve until the spring of 1907, when she was used as a display for the Jamestown Exposition at Jamestown, Virginia. The ship was placed back in reserve on 21 December 1907.

Brooklyn was decommissioned on 23 June 1908 and remained that way until she was re-commissioned on 2 March 1914. She was assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and became a receiving ship at the Boston Navy Yard at Boston, Massachusetts, from July 1914 to March 1915. With World War I raging in Europe, Brooklyn conducted neutrality patrols around Boston until November 1915. Brooklyn was sent back to the Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines where she served as the flagship for the commander-in-chief there. She made numerous visits to China, Japan, and Russia until September 1919. Brooklyn went on to become flagship for the commander of Division 1 of the Asiatic Fleet and then in January 1920 was assigned to the Pacific Fleet as the flagship for the commander of destroyer squadrons. She continued functioning in that capacity until 15 January 1921. USS Brooklyn was decommissioned for the last time at the Mare Island Navy Yard in California on 9 March 1921 and was sold for scrap on 20 December of that same year.

USS Florida (BM-9)

Figure 1: USS Florida (BM-9) photographed in 1904 by Enrique Muller, while serving with the Coast Squadron training midshipmen on summer cruises and operating along the East Coast and in Caribbean waters. Photo courtesy of greatwhitefleet.info, by William Stewart. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: Postcard of USS Florida (BM-9). Image taken from a photograph by Enrique Muller, 1905. Photograph courtesy of SK/3 Tommy Trampp. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: Postcard of USS Florida (BM-9). Image possibly taken from a photograph by Enrique Muller, 1905, and published by Tuck & Sons. Photograph courtesy of Henry Higgins. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: The submarines K-6 and K-5 alongside the monitor USS Tallahassee (formerly USS Florida, BM-9) at Hampton Roads, Virginia, 10 December 1916. Photograph from the National Archives & Record Administration (NARA), Record Group 19-N, Box 33. Click on photograph for larger image.



The 3,225-ton USS Florida (BM-9) was an Arkansas class monitor built by the Crescent Shipyard at Elizabethport, New Jersey, and was commissioned on 18 June 1903. The ship was approximately 252 feet long and 50 feet wide, had a top speed of 12 knots, and had a crew of 220 officers and men. Florida was armed with two 12-inch guns in a single turret, four single 4-inch guns, and one 3-inch gun.

After briefly being assigned to the US Navy’s “Coast Squadron,” Florida was used as a training ship on summer cruises for midshipmen attending the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. While serving in this capacity, she steamed along America’s East Coast and in the Caribbean. Florida also took part in the Presidential Naval Review held by Theodore Roosevelt at Oyster Bay, Long Island, on 3 September 1906. Four days later, Florida became a full-time training ship at the Naval Academy. The ship was placed in reserve on 11 September 1906, but was fully commissioned from 7 June to 30 August 1907 for a midshipman cruise. Once the cruise was completed, the ship was decommissioned and placed in reserve.

From 21 May to 19 June 1908, Florida was subjected to an extraordinary set of ordnance tests. Florida was used as a target ship while her sister ship, the monitor USS Arkansas, fired several shots at Florida using her 12-inch and 4-inch guns. According to the US Navy at the time, the tests were conducted “to strike the Florida’s turret with an energy little short of penetration, in such a way that most of the [shell] fragments will fly across the bows clear of the ship. It is not intended to penetrate the turret armor, and the test is in no respect a contest of gun against armor or armor against gun, the effect of the shock only being desired. The shock, under the conditions above noted, will be approximately the greatest that could be experienced in battle.” An experimental steel “cage” mast also was placed on board Florida for the test and the shell hits would determine the sturdiness of the new mast design. The test took place on 27 May 1908 off Hampton Roads, Virginia, with Arkansas firing several shots at Florida at close range. Evidently, Florida survived the test very well. According to an article in the New York Tribune dated 28 May 1908, “The biggest naval gun, the heaviest projectile and the highest explosive known, combined with close range and deadly aim, were allowed to work their full havoc on the turret plate of the monitor Florida today. The result is declared to be a victory for turret construction, and this notwithstanding the 11-inch hardened steel plate was blackened, broken, the seams of the turret sprung and the rivets and screws loosened and twisted.” The article went on to say that Florida’s 12-inch guns were still operational even after being pounded by Arkansas. In addition, the experimental “cage” mast that was placed on board Florida for the test also sustained only minor damage and withstood all of the shell hits. The test proved that although monitors were very slow and rapidly becoming obsolete in terms of naval technology, they were still formidable warships and hard to sink. Then, incredibly, Florida was repaired after this test and returned to the fleet. This is probably the only time in American naval history where a warship was actually used as a target for target practice and then repaired and sent back to active duty.

On 1 July 1908, USS Florida was renamed USS Tallahassee to free up the state’s name for a new battleship that was being built. On 1 August 1910, Tallahassee was placed in reserve and became a gunnery test ship and performed occasional duties as a submarine tender in the Panama Canal Zone and at Norfolk, Virginia. During World War I, the ship served as a submarine tender in the Panama Canal Zone, the Virgin Islands, and Bermuda. On 30 September 1918, Tallahassee entered Charleston Navy Yard at Charleston, South Carolina, and was decommissioned there on 3 December.

Tallahassee was assigned to the Sixth Naval District as a reserve training ship on 19 February 1920, but was not re-commissioned. The ship was officially placed back in commission as a training ship from 3 September 1920 to 24 March 1922, when Tallahassee was decommissioned for the last time. USS Tallahassee was sold for scrapping at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 25 July 1922.