Maine Class Battleship - Construction

Construction

The Maine-class of three battleships was authorized by Congress on 4 May 1898, 8 days after the start of the Spanish-American War. The original plans called for an improved version of the USS Iowa, which had been authorized in 1892. The main batteries were to be increased from 12-inch to 13-inch guns and the 4-inch guns with 5-inch guns.

However, the original design was modified by chief engineer George W. Melville to add new technologies. The planned 13-inch 35 caliber guns were replaced by a smaller but more powerful 12-inch 40 caliber gun, which used the new and more efficient smokeless powder. The new design also specified Krupp cemented armour which would allow the thickness of the belt armor to be reduced from 16.5 to 12 inches.

Further modifications were approved by the Navy Department on 8 October 1898, including adding two more 6 inch/50 caliber guns, moving torpedo tubes from above-water to submerged locations, and dropping the Krupp Cemented armor, returning to the original design with Harvey armor. Some proposed changes were denied including, additions to the secondary batteries and William Cramp and Sons' offer to expand the ships by 15 feet to accommodate more powerful Niclausse boilers. The latter would have increased the speed to 18 knots.