U.S. Navy Shorpy Photo 1908-- Part 2

The USS Columbia (CL12) and USS Minneapolis (CL 13) were in and out of service during their careers.  The Columbia had been decommissioned since May 3, 1907 and returned to service in 1915 where it served during World War I.  It was decommissioned in

June 29, 1921, and sold January 22, 1922.

There was an outhouse perched over the water on the Katahdin's starboard side for relief.  Not too sanitary for the river, though.

The Katahdin was highly innovative in its time, but obsolescent when it was designed after being copied after British 1870s-1880s harbor rams.  She was underpowered and unseaworthy.

It was obsolete when it was launched in 1896 and decommissioned October 1898 after the Spanish-American War.  In 1909 it was struck from the Navy register and designated a target vessel and sunk off Rappahannock Spit, Virginia, in the autumn of 1909.

--Don't Katahdin Me.  --DaCoot

U.S. Navy Shorpy Photos from 1908-- Part 1

From the September 21, 2012, Shorpy "Heavy Metal: 1908."

Philadelphia, curca 1908.  "Ships at League Island Navy Yard.  Cruisers Minneapolis and Columbia and armored ram Katahdin.

One comment quoted the Annual Report of the Navy Department for Fiscal Year 1907 saying that the Katahdin was considered to be of no military value and requested that it be sold.  Its value will continue to decrease and it was last commissioned for service in 1898 for the Spanish-American War.  So far, $54,067.77 had spent on construction and repairs on it.

--Cooter