Maine Class Battleship
The three Maine class battleships: Maine, Missouri, and Ohio were launched in the first several years of the 20th century. These were the first US capital ships to use smokeless powder for their main batteries, and the last to use Harvey armor. Smokeless powder allowed a decrease in gun size, with an increase in power and efficiency. Harvey armor, though only in use for a decade, was already obsolete. This was also the first US battleship class to use submerged torpedo tubes; this became possible because the hulls were at least 20 feet longer than previous US battleships.
The design was influenced by the Russian battleship Retvizan which was also built by William Cramp and Sons in Philadelphia.
Read more about Maine Class Battleship: Construction
Famous quotes containing the words maine and/or class:
“I heard the dog-day locust here, and afterward on the carries, a sound which I had associated only with more open, if not settled countries. The area for locusts must be small in the Maine Woods.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When once a certain class of people has been placed by the temporal and spiritual authorities outside the ranks of those whose life has value, then nothing comes more naturally to men than murder.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)