USS Arkansas (BM-7)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Arkansas and USS Ozark.

USS Arkansas (M-7), fitting out at Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., 1 July 1902. Her armament is completely installed and the ship is only four months away from commissioning. The ship in the background is the battleship Missouri.
History
United States
Name	Arkansas (1899–1909) Ozark (1909–1922)
Namesake	The State of Arkansas Ozark, Arkansas
Ordered	4 May 1898
Awarded	11 October 1899
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia
Cost	$1,110,025 (hull and machinery)
Laid down	18 November 1899
Launched	10 November 1900
Sponsored by	Bobbie Newton Jones
Acquired	8 September 1902
Commissioned	28 October 1902
Decommissioned	20 August 1919
Renamed	Ozark, 2 March 1909
Identification	Hull symbol: M-7 Hull Symbol: BM-7, 17 July 1920
Honors and awards	Mexican Service Medal
Fate	Sold, 26 January 1922
General characteristics
Type	Arkansas-class monitor
Displacement	3,225 long tons (3,277 t) (standard) 3,356 long tons (3,410 t) (full load)
Length	255 feet 1 inch (77.75 m) (overall) 252 ft (77 m) (waterline)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) (mean)
Installed power	4 × Thornycroft boilers 2,400 indicated horsepower (1,800 kW) 1,739 ihp (1,297 kW) (on trials)
Propulsion	2 × Vertical triple expansion engines 2 × screw propellers
Speed	12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) (design) 12.03 kn (22.28 km/h; 13.84 mph) (on trial)
Complement	13 officers 209 men
Armament	2 × 12 in (305 mm)/40 caliber breech-loading rifles (1×2) 4 × 4 in (102 mm)/50 cal guns (4×1) 3 × 6-pounder (57 mm, 2.2 in) guns
Armor	Harvey armor Side belt: 11–5 in (280–130 mm) Barbette: 11–9 in (280–230 mm) Gun turret: 10–9 in (250–230 mm) Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) Conning tower: 8 in (200 mm)

The second USS Arkansas, was a single-turreted "New Navy" monitor and one of the last monitors built for the United States Navy. Arkansas was ordered on 4 May 1898 and awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company on 11 October 1899. She was laid down just over a month later on 18 November 1899. Arkansas was launched almost a year later on 10 November 1900, sponsored by Bobbie N. Jones; but not commissioned for another two years, on 28 October 1902, with Commander Charles E. Vreeland in command.

This last class of monitors had been designed and built because of public demand for coastal defense before the Spanish–American War. By the time they were built and commissioned their purpose had passed. They didn't fit into the Navy's new purpose and so they bounced around from one different assignment to another. In 1909, the ship was renamed Ozark so that her name could be used for a new battleship. Ozark and her sisters were refitted as submarine tenders in 1913 because of their low freeboards.

Design

Main article: Arkansas-class monitor

The Arkansas-class monitors had been designed to combine a heavy striking power with easy concealment and negligible target area. They had a displacement of 3,225 long tons (3,277 t; 3,612 short tons), measured 255 ft 1 in (77.75 m) in overall length, with a beam of 50 ft 1 in (15.27 m) and a draft of 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m). She was manned by a total crew of 13 officers and 209 men.

Arkansas was powered by two vertical triple expansion engines driving two screw propellers with steam generated by four Thornycroft boilers. The engines in Arkansas were designed to produce 2,400 indicated horsepower (1,800 kW) with a top speed of 12.5 kn (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph), however, on sea trials she was only able to produce 1,739 ihp (1,297 kW) with a top speed of 12.03 kn (22.28 km/h; 13.84 mph). Arkansas was designed to provide a range of 2,360 nautical miles (4,370 km; 2,720 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph).

The ship was armed with a main battery of two 12-inch (305 mm)/40 caliber guns, either Mark 3 or Mark 4, in a Mark 4 turret. The secondary battery consisted of four 4-inch (102 mm)/50 caliber Mark 7 guns along with three 57 mm (2.2 in) Hotchkiss QF 6-pounder guns. The main belt armor was 11 in (280 mm) in the middle tapering to 5 in (130 mm) at the ends. The armor on the gun turrets was between 10 and 9 in (250 and 230 mm), with 11 to 9 in (280 to 230 mm) barbettes. Arkansas also had a 1.5 in (38 mm) thick deck.

Service history

Ozark (M-7) in October 1915, Pensacola, Florida.

After shakedown, Arkansas' first duty was with the US Naval Academy in 1902 as an instruction and cruise ship for midshipmen. She was then assigned to the Coast Squadron, North Atlantic Fleet, and cruised off the east coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the West Indies from 1903 to 1906. In 1906 she was once again assigned to the Naval Academy for instructional purposes until 1909.

She was renamed Ozark, 2 March 1909, so her name could be used for the new battleship USS Arkansas. She was assigned to the District of Columbia Naval Militia from 26 June 1910 until 6 March 1913, when she was recalled to the Norfolk Naval Yard to begin refitting, later that month, as a submarine tender. Ozark began her new duties as a tender on 12 July. In April 1914, Ozark participated in the United States occupation of Mexico, during the "Tampico Affair", which later made her sailors eligible for the Mexican Service Medal. On 13 October 1915, she arrived in New London, Connecticut, where the Navy established its first submarine base.

Ozark was ordered to SubDiv 6, Atlantic Fleet, 6 April 1917 and soon proceeded back to Tampico, Mexico where she cruised off the coast protecting American and Allied shipping interests. She sailed for New Orleans, 18 December 1918, after which she cruised off Key West, Central America and the Panama Canal Zone.

She returned to Hampton Roads 23 June 1919 and then on to Philadelphia, on 20 August, where she was decommissioned. When the US Navy went to two letter designators in 1920 she was redesignated BM-7 on 17 July. Ozark was sold, 26 January 1922 for scrapping.

Bibliography

• Ford, Jonathan (29 May 2008). "USS Arkansas (M-7)". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. The Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
• Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
• Friedman, Norman (1985). U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-247-8.
• Grobmeier, Alvin H. (1990). "Question 2/89". Warship International. XXVII (2): 198–199. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Ships' Data, U. S. Naval Vessels, 1911–. US Naval Department. 1 January 1914. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
• "Table 21 – Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 769. 1921.
• DiGiulian, Tony (9 May 2015). "12"/40 (30.5 cm) Mark 3 and Mark 4". Navweaps. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
• DiGiulian, Tony (15 June 2015). "4"/50 (10.2 cm) Marks 7, 8, 9 and 10". Navweaps. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
• Yarnall, Paul R. (24 June 2016). "M-7 USS ARKANSAS". NavSource. Retrieved 9 July 2016.

External links

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• World Battleships List: US "New Navy" Monitors
• U.S.S. Arkansas Scrapbook, 1902-1903, MS 187 held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy