USS South Carolina (BB-26)
USS South Carolina (BB-26), the
lead ship of
her class of dreadnought
battleship, was the fourth ship of the
United States Navy to be named in honor of
the eighth state. She was the first battleship in the world to be commissioned with superimposed, or superfiring turrets
Her keel was laid down on
18 December 1906 at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by
William Cramp and Sons. She was
launched on
1 July 1908, sponsored by Frederica Ansel (daughter of
Martin F. Ansel the governor of South Carolina), and
commissioned on
1 March 1910 with Captain Augustus F. Fechteler in command.
South Carolina departed Philadelphia on
6 March for shakedown, cruised to the
Danish West Indies and
Cuba, and then visited
Charleston, South Carolina, from
10 April to
15 April. After conducting trials off the
Virginia Capes and off
Provincetown, Massachusetts, the battleship visited
New York City on
17 June and
18 June on the occasion of a reception for former
President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt. Voyage repairs at
Norfolk, Virginia, naval militia training duty, and Atlantic Fleet maneuvers off Provincetown and the Virginia Capes occupied her time from the end of June until the beginning of November. Between
1 November 1910 and
12 January 1911, she voyaged to
Europe and back with the Second Battleship Division. This visit took her to
Cherbourg,
France, and
Portland, England. Upon her return to Norfolk, she entered the navy yard for repairs, and then conducted tactics training and maneuvers off the New England coast.
Following a short visit to New York, she steamed east with the Second Battleship Division for a visit to
Copenhagen,
Denmark;
Stockholm,
Sweden; and
Kronstadt,
Russia. During the return from Kronstadt, she reached
Kiel,
Germany, on
21 June in time to join in the
Kiel Yachting Week, hosted by
Kaiser Wilhelm II. On
13 July 1911, she arrived off
Provincetown, Massachusetts, and engaged in battle practice along the coast to the
Chesapeake Bay.
Late in
1911, she took part in the
naval review at New York and maneuvers with the First Squadron out of
Newport, Rhode Island on
3 January 1912, she departed New York for winter operations in the vicinity of
Guantánamo Bay,
Cuba.
South Carolina returned to Norfolk on
13 March and, until late June, cruised the east coast as far north as Newport. In June, she joined in the welcome receptions at
Hampton Roads and New York given in honor of the visiting German Squadron, comprised of
battle cruiser Moltke and two small cruisers,
Bremen and
Stettin. On
30 June, she entered the yard at Norfolk for overhaul.
Just over three months later, she sailed to New York for a four-day visit, from
11 October to
15 October. Next came a month of exercises off the coast of
New England and the
Virginia Capes. From mid-November until mid-December,
South Carolina steamed with the Special Service Division on visits to
Pensacola, Florida,
New Orleans, Louisiana,
Galveston, Texas, and the Mexican port,
Veracruz. She returned to Norfolk on
20 December and remained there until
6 January 1913, when she sailed to
Colon, Panama, where her crew saw the newly-completed canal. After maneuvers in the area of Guantánamo Bay, she reentered Norfolk on
22 March; then cruised north as far as Newport, stopping at New York from
28 March to
31 May for the dedication of a memorial to the battleship
Maine.
After a brief period training midshipmen in the Virginia Capes area,
South Carolina embarked upon a 16-month period during which she carried the "
Big Stick" to the
Gulf of Mexico and the
Caribbean Sea. From late June until mid-September
1913, she cruised the eastern coast of
Mexico protecting American interests at
Tampico and
Veracruz. She was overhauled at Norfolk from late September
1913 until early January
1914, and then headed for maneuvers off
Culebra Island.
On
28 January, the battleship landed marines at
Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, to guard the
United States legation and to establish a field radio station during that period of political convulsions. She departed Port-au-Prince on
14 April after the restoration of some order under General
Orestes Zamar, the new Haitian President. She coaled at
Key West, Florida, then steamed to Veracruz where she sent a landing force ashore to join in the occupation of that city until her departure a month later.
South Carolina spent the troubled summer of 1914 investigating conditions in
Santo Domingo and Haiti.
By the time she returned to Norfolk on
24 September,
World War I had already been raging for almost two months. A little less than a month later, on
14 October, the battleship entered the yard at Philadelphia. She emerged revitalized on
20 February 1915 and headed south for the usual battle practice in the vicinity of Cuba. The exercises took on new meaning since they were held on the heels of the diplomatic crisis triggered by
Germany's declaring the waters around
England to be a war zone. However, cooler heads prevailed and not even the sinking of
Lusitania could provoke the United States to belligerency. Accordingly, for almost two years,
South Carolina continued her routine of winter and spring exercises out of Guantánamo Bay, summer operations off Newport, and periodic repairs at Philadelphia.
The entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Allies in April
1917 did not presage dramatic events for the Navy. Except for
U-boats and an occasional disguised
commerce raider, the
Royal Navy had already cleared the seas of German naval might at such battles as the
Battle of Jutland and the
Battle of the Falkland Islands. Therefore,
South Carolina continued to operate along the east coast through
1917 and for the first eight months of
1918.
On
9 September 1918, she joined the escort of a convoy bound for
France. A week later, she turned the convoy over to other escorts in mid-ocean and steamed back to the United States. After a brief repair period at Philadelphia, she returned to gunnery training service and was so employed at the time of the Armistice,
11 November 1918.
From mid-February until late July
1919,
South Carolina made four round-trip voyages between the United States and
Brest, France. By
26 July, when she entered Hampton Roads at the end of the last of these voyages, she had returned over 4,000 World War I veterans to the United States. Following an overhaul at the
Norfolk Navy Yard, she embarked midshipmen at
Annapolis, Maryland, for a cruise to the Pacific. She departed Annapolis on
5 June 1920, transited the
Panama Canal, sailed to
Hawaii, and then to the west coast. She visited
Seattle, Washington,
San Francisco, California, and
San Diego, California, as she sailed down the western seaboard.
South Carolina cleared San Diego on
11 August, retransited the canal, and sailed for Annapolis on
2 September; then she headed on to Philadelphia, where she remained for seven months.
In early April of
1921, she cruised to Culebra Island in the
West Indies for training, and then operated in the Chesapeake Bay. On
29 May, the battleship embarked another complement of midshipmen at Annapolis. She called at
Christiana, Norway, and
Lisbon, Portugal, before heading to the Guantánamo Bay area to round out the midshipmen's summer training cruise. She debarked the midshipmen at Annapolis on
30 August and steamed to Philadelphia where she arrived the following day.
South Carolina was decommissioned at Philadelphia on
15 December 1921 and remained there until her name was struck from the
Naval Vessel Registry on
10 November 1923. Her hulk was sold for scrap on
24 April 1924 in accordance with the terms of the
Washington Naval Treaty.
Her
silver service is presently on display in the South Carolina Governor's Mansion.
*
Navy photographs of South Carolina (BB-26)*
Maritimequest USS South Carolina BB-26 Photo GallerySee
USS South Carolina for other Navy ships of the same name.
