The Boston, the "B" of the ABCD ships, was a 3,189-ton steel cruiser, somewhat smaller than the Atlanta (to view an enlargement of the photo above, click here). She was built at Roach's Philadelphia yard, which had been responsible for so many badly-jobbed Navy vessels in the 1870s, and so was judged an excellent choice to generate the New Navy. Launched in 1884, the Boston had all the gravitas of a revenue cutter, but for five years was among the most modern cruisers in the U.S. Navy. She was despatched to Hong Kong to reinforce the Asiatic Squadron in 1895. Three years later the Squadron was strengthened by the addition of the cruiser Baltimore and the gunboat Vixen and was ordered to prepare for action by Undersecretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt. Boston ended up on the winning side in a world-famous battle as the U.S. Asiatic Squadron steamed up Manila Bay under the command of Commodore George E. Dewey. She was, in fact, one of the three heavier cruisers in Dewey's squadron of six. Steaming into Manila Bay on the night of April 30/May 1, the Squadron surprised Adm. Montojo's inferior fleet at anchor at 7:30 a.m. and entirely destroyed it. Every ship in the Spanish squadron was either sunk or scuttled by its own crew by 10:45 a.m., and the Spanish facilities surrendered at 12:30. Boston and the fleet remained to hold the position until later in the year when U.S. troops arrived to complete the Yankee Conquest of the Philippines.
Specifications for the Boston:
Dimensions: 283 x 42'1" x 17' Displacement: 3,189 tons. Armament: (2) 8"/30 BLR, (6) 6"/30 BLR, (2) 6-pdr, (2) 1-pdr guns, and (6) machine guns. Propulsion: coal-fired Scotch boilers; horizontal compound engine developing 3500 HP, shafted to single screw. Maximum speed: 15.6 kts. Service speed: 13 kts. Crew: 19 officers and 259 enlisted men.
Metric specs:
Dimensions: 86¼m x 12.83m x 5.18m Displacement: 3,189 tons. Armament: (2) 203 mm/30 BLR; (6) 152 mm/30 BLR; (2) 6-pdr; (2) 1-pdr. (6) machine guns. Propulsion: Coal-fired Scotch boilers; horizontal compound engine developing 2,610 kW, shafted to single screw. Maximum speed: 28.9 km/hr. Service speed: 24.1 km/hr. Crew: 19 officers and 259 enlisted men.At left, the crew adopts stagey "action poses" for the lens in a photo titled "Look Sharp for Torpedo Attack." This shot clearly shows the foredeck and the gun mountings for the Boston and Atlanta: the gun crew's only protection a crude barbette with armored parapet. The guns were sited off-center, offset in opposite directions on the foredeck and quarterdeck (en échelon). The old-fashioned trunnion on which the gun barrel balances is quite apparent, as is the tubular armored conning tower at the front of the superstructure. In combat the ship would be conned and steered from this station, with the slit windows their only means to see ahead.
The ABCD vessels formed a de facto leadership school for the Navy to practice tactics and formulate their recommendations for the next round of ships they desired: the Olympia, New York, and Brooklyn, and America's first generation of modern battleships.
The Boston had a long career with the navy; her notable record in the Spanish-American War, an episode that brought such lustre to the navy's reputation. Whether sentiment had some bearing on the decision to retain the ship, she had a long duty as a receiving ship at Yerba Buena Island, a naval training facility in the San Francisco Bay. Completely remodeled in 1918 to add interior space, she housed a large barracks, classrooms, storage, and administrative offices. She was a fixture at the naval base all the way through the end of World War II. Vintage 1930s photos show her placidly anchored, dwarfed by the rising piers of the nearby Bay Bridge. In 1940 she was renamed Despatch to free up the name Boston for a new cruiser (the Baltimore class heavy cruiser, CA-69); at the end of 1941 she was redesignated IX-2. During the War she served principally as a floating barracks, remaining at Yerba Buena through 1945. On April 8 of the following year, the faithful cruiser was towed off of San Francisco and sunk as a target.
Today the 8-inch guns of the Boston are preserved in a small memorial in Shoreline, Washington, a few miles north of Seattle.
Boston in drydock at the Brooklyn Navy yard shortly after commissioning in 1888. This view shows the ram-bowed profile and hull shape shared by the ABCD ships.
An accurate illustration of the Battle of Manila Bay, May 1, 1898. The Spanish fleet (left) was surprised at dawn, anchored at Cavite. The U.S. line, led by the Olympia, steamed back and forth, deliberately bombarding the Spanish fleet, forts, and naval asenal starting from a range of 5,000 yards. Enlarge
How the public saw it: A lurid lithographic representation of the Manila Bay battle by a deservedly forgotten illustrator, signed F. Fetherston '98. Fetherston found no need to study the battle dispositions, where only the Spanish flagship stirred from anchor and the two fleets never approached closer than 2,000 yards. The U.S. line is led by the Olympia, followed by the Baltimore (staggered to the right) and Boston (staggered left). The order of battle and the imputation of lopsided victory are both accurate, though little else in this cartoon-book rendering could be so described. Click here to enlarge the picture above. There was a very great deal of patriotic garbage art produced in America at the time, some of it much worse than this.
Boston with sails removed, around 1903 during her service with the Asiatic Squadron. After hard combat experience, armored shields had been installed over the 8" barbettes.
Boston's long 8-in, 30-calibre guns on display in Hamlin Park, Shoreline, WA. These early model guns were built up with successive layers of banding around the tube: The Mark 1 consisted of A tube, jacket, 19 hoops and an elevating band with integral trunnions. The Mark 2 was similar, but had the hoops differently arranged, did not have integral trunnions, and had its rear sights controlled by worm and miter gears. These are the original weapons that fought the Battle of Manila Bay. Two 6-in guns from the gunboat Concord, also in the firing line that day, are on display at Woodland Park, Seattle, some 15 miles from Shoreline. Photo by Larry Neilson.
- Technical Info on the Boston and Atlanta's 8-inch Mark 1 Guns
- The U.S. Navy's 6-inch Mark 1 Guns, used in the ABCD ships
- Back to the ABCD Ships
- American Protected Cruisers, 1887 - 1898
- American Armored Cruisers, 1890 - 1896
- The Spanish-American War, 1898
