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
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