 USSBirmingham (CS-2), 1908 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Birmingham |
| Namesake | City ofBirmingham, Alabama |
| Ordered | 27 April 1904 |
| Awarded | 17 May 1905 |
| Builder | Fore River Shipyard,Quincy Point,Quincy, Massachusetts |
| Cost | $1,566,000 (contract price of hull and machinery) |
| Laid down | 14 August 1905 |
| Launched | 29 May 1907 |
| Sponsored by | Miss Mary Campbell |
| Commissioned | 11 April 1908 |
| Decommissioned | 1 December 1923 |
| Reclassified | CL-2, 17 July 1920 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 13 May 1930 |
| General characteristics (As built)[1] | |
| Class & type | Chester-classScout cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 47 ft 1 in (14.35 m) |
| Draft | 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m) (mean) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Complement | 42 officers 330 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | |
| General characteristics (1921)[2][3] | |
| Complement | 64 officers 332 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSBirmingham (CS-2/CL-2), named for the city ofBirmingham, Alabama, was aChester-classscout cruiser, reclassified alight cruiser in 1920. Entering service in 1908, the ship became known for the first airplane takeoff from a ship in history in 1910. DuringWorld War I,Birmingham escorted convoys across the Atlantic. The cruiser wasdecommissioned in 1923 and sold forscrap in 1930.
The cruiser waslaid down by theFore River Shipbuilding Company atQuincy, Massachusetts, on 14 August 1905, andlaunched on 29 May 1907; sponsored by Miss Mary Campbell.Birmingham wascommissioned on 11 April 1908,CommanderBurns Tracy Walling in command.[4]
Birmingham served with theAtlantic Fleet until 27 June 1911, and went into reserve atBoston three days later. One of her sailors, Chief ElectricianWilliam E. Snyder, received theMedal of Honor for rescuing a shipmate from drowning on 4 January 1910.[5] FromBirmingham's deck, civilian pilotEugene Ely made thefirst airplane take-off from a warship on 14 November 1910[6] in aCurtiss Model D biplane designed byGlenn Curtiss.
Recommissioned on 15 December 1911, she made a short cruise to theWest Indies and then reverted to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet atPhiladelphia on 20 April 1912. From 19 May – 11 July, she was in commission for service onIce Patrol and then returned to the Philadelphia Reserve Group. Recommissioned on 1 October 1913,Birmingham carried the Commissioners of thePanama–Pacific International Exposition on a South American tour from 3 October – 26 December, and was then outfitted atPhiladelphia Navy Yard as a tender to the Torpedo Flotilla.
She left the yard on 2 February 1914, and resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet asflagship of the Torpedo Flotilla. On April 20, she received orders to carry a detachment of aircraft toTampico as part of theUS occupation of Veracruz, becoming part of the first operational use of naval aircraft.[4] On May 24, after spending a month near Tampico, she rendezvoused with the fleet atVeracruz before returning to the United States.
Following American entrance into World War I,Birmingham patrolled along the northeast U.S. coast until 14 June 1917, when she sailed fromNew York as part of the escort for the first US troop convoy to France. After returning to New York she was fitted for service in Europe and in August reported toGibraltar as flagship forRear AdmiralA. P. Niblack, Commander, US Forces Gibraltar. She escorted convoys between Gibraltar, theBritish Isles, and France until the Armistice. After a short cruise in the easternMediterranean, she returned to the United States in January 1919.
From July 1919 to May 1922, she was based atSan Diego, California, as flagship of Destroyer Squadrons,Pacific Fleet, and then moved toBalboa, Canal Zone as flagship of the Special Service Squadron. After cruising along the Central American and northern South American coast, she returned to Philadelphia and was decommissioned there on 1 December 1923, being sold for scrap on 13 May 1930.
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This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.