U.S.S. Oregon (1896)
USS Oregon was a very successful and powerful pre-Dreadnought design, famous for her part in the Spanish-American War and her 14,500-mile passage around the Horn to join the fight in Cuban waters. Oregon's four 13-inch guns were housed in twin turrets fore and aft, but she also boasted a secondary armament of eight 8-inch guns in turrets at the four corners of her citadel, as well as four 6-inch guns and a very heavy ensemble of 6-pounders and machine-guns. By European standards, she was small and low to the waves; also slow and heavily armed and armored. 351 feet long by 69 feet in beam, she displaced 10,288 tons and could steam at 15.5 knots. One imagines she looked like this -- forging along with billowing smoke and a bone in her teeth -- when she charged into the Battle of Santiago at 18 knots -- 2½ knots more than her maximum designed speed! One suspects some dedicated wizardry by the engineering staff anticipating the crucial moment -- and yeoman work by the stokers when it came.
Built at the Union Iron Works in San Francisco, the Oregon carried a crew of some 500 men, including 44 officers. She was propelled by 9,738-HP triple-expansion piston steam engines shafted to twin screws. Her coal-fired boilers were standard for the period also. She was protected by Harvey process steel armor (ranging from 2-3/4" on the deck to 15" on turrets and 18" over vitals in the hull) and was part of a vigorous effort by the U.S. to build a first-class oceangoing fleet, although her design was principally as a seagoing coast protection vessel. Oregon had two sister ships, Indiana and Massachusetts; a considerably improved version, the USS Iowa, was completed in time for the Spanish-American War as well and fought at Santiago. Only about 2/3 the size of first-line British vessels, the Indianas reflected America's newness to manufacturing modern men-o'-war in several awkward design features, such as low freeboard and steam-powered turret training gear. Worst of all, there was no balancing mechanism in the turrets, so when the guns were trained abeam, the ship listed several degrees to that side, affecting aim and trim -- a defect that was later partially corrected. But these ships -- America's first genuine seagoing ironclad battleships, equipped with coal storage for prolonged sea voyages -- also expressed the country's burgeoning pride and determination to be treated as a great power. The Oregon's long voyage and the Navy's performance at Manila and Santiago backed up that claim beyond dispute.
By popular demand of the people of Oregon, the venerable ship became a war memorial in Portland from 1925 to 1942, but was largely dismantled for scrap metal during WWII, and later used as an ammo hulk in the Pacific during the War. She was finally scrapped in Japan in the 1950s. Her bow insignia, radio shack and mast are preserved at McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon; her twin funnels in Liberty Ship Park.
At right is a stern view of the Oregon in drydock at Mare Island in 1912. Click here for a great enlarged view. By this time she had been fitted with a "cage" mizzenmast, standard in the U.S. Navy at the time. Few other changes had been made, however; the main and secondary guns stand out well in the noontime sun, and the Stars and Stripes stream gaily from the taffrail flagstaff on what looks like a perfect summer's day. This unusual shot clearly shows the beamy shape of the vessel's hull that made her a steady gun platform, the cruiser stern, and arrangement of rudder and screws. Her voyage around the Horn had proved seaworthiness beyond her design parameters, just as the battle proved an unexpected reserve capacity in her propulsion plant. Although a "wet ship," ships of this class did provide stable gun platforms once bilge keels had been fitted and the problems with turret balance had been worked out. Click here for a detailed schematic of the Oregon.
A Mini Gallery of Oregon Photos
Quarter view of the Oregon on her trials -- the other shot in the series shown at top of page. Designed for 15.5 knots, the ship made 16.7 knots for a sustained period on trials, earning a bonus for her builders.
The Oregon's identical sister Massachusetts at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The distinctive towers of the Williamsburg Bridge are visible in the background.
Model of the Massachusetts as she appeared circa 1910, showing the ships' stubby proportions.
Oregon's foredeck was downright imposing, with its tall mast and big guns. Bluejackets gather for a semi-formal portrait for one of their shipmate's Kodaks.
Bursting with excitement, Oregon crewmen watch the end game at the Battle of Santiago: the chase of the Colón by the Brooklyn and their own ship. Their brethren in the stokeholds outdid themselves, giving the Oregon emergency steam for 18+ knots which was just sufficient to close the range with their quarry. At the critical moment, the ship loosed a 2-gun 13" salvo that bracketed the Spanish cruiser close astern. She soon hove-to and struck her colours in surrender, closing the one-sided battle after just under 4 hours. Only 2 seamen had been killed and a handful wounded in the U.S. fleet, versus 474 for Spain, which lost all 6 of its ships at one stroke.
Photo: Oregon Historical Society
Oregon crewmen cheer heartily as the Colón strikes her colours and the Battle of Santiago begins to wind down.
In celebration of their victory, an impromptu "squilgee" band plays atop #1 13" turret, in this view from the hurricane deck over the top of the port forward 8" turret. A smoldering Spanish cruiser can be seen at left background, the cruiser USS Brooklyn at right.
The Oregon in fighting trim, photographed the afternoon after the Battle of Santiago by John C. Hemment, looking, the lensman wrote, "like the very bulldog of the American navy that she is." For an awesome enlarged view, click here.