Pennsylvania-class
Photo's from the Popular Mechanics.
ACR-4 means “Armored Cruiser No. 4”. She was renamed Pittsburgh on 27 August 1912. Laid down at William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 7 August 1901, launched 22 August 1903, sponsored by Miss Coral Quay, commissioned 9 March 1905, decommissioned 10 July 1931 and 21 December of the same year sold to be broken up. Belonged to the Pennsylvania-class.
With a displacement of 13,680 were the dimensions 504 x 69’6” x 26’1”. Her crew numbered 829 men. Her armour consisted of a 3’5”-6” belt, 1’5”-4” deck (on the slopes), conning turret 9”, 6 ½”turrets, and 4” bulkheads. Armed with 4-8” guns, 14-6”guns, 18-3”guns and 2-18”torpedo tubes. The 2 vertical triple expansions engines provided 23.000 ihp allowing with 2 screws a speed of 22 knots. She was fitted out with a wooden small landing platform (120 x 30’) on her afterdeck at the Mari Island Navy yard and fitted out with ropes to stop the plane and 18 January 1911 landed Ely with his plane on board while she was lying in the San Francisco Bay. The drawing represents the Pennsylvania fitted out with the landing platform which slighted inclined and a 30degree ramp at the after end. Her sister ships were the California, Colorado, Maryland, South Dakota and West Virginia. All ships were later renamed after cities.
According to the Popular Mechanics of March 1911, p. 342-343, the platform had the dimensions of 130 x 40 with across pieces of rope stretched “a foot or two apart, to either end of which were attached bags filled with 100 lb. of sand. The under part of the running gear of the Curtiss hydroplane was fitted with hooks, the idea being that the hooks would engage the ropes as the machine was guided along the platform, and the weight pulling against the machine would gradually bring it to a stop…”.
