Design and Construction
The inspiration behind Katahdin was Rear Admiral Daniel Ammen, an advocate of a coast defense navy. Ammen was impressed by the British torpedo ram HMS Polyphemus. Unlike Polyphemus, which was primarily a torpedo boat, with ramming a secondary function, the American design was for a pure ram, with no torpedoes carried.
Katahdin's design was a new departure in naval architecture, built to ride extremely low in the water with her bow awash while under way. Her hull embodied several new features later used in early submarines.
An order was placed for construction of a prototype armored ram in 1889. Her keel was laid down by the Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine in July 1891. She was launched on 4 February, 1893, sponsored by Miss Una Soley, daughter of James R. Soley, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 20 February 1897 with Commander Richard P. Leary in command.
Read more about this topic: USS Katahdin (1893)
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