|
USS ''Benham'' (Destroyer No. 49/DD-49) was an built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of Rear Admiral Andrew E. K. Benham. ''Benham'' was laid down by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia in March 1912 and launched in March 1913. The ship was a little more than in length, just over abeam, and had a standard displacement of . She was armed with four guns and had eight torpedo tubes. ''Benham'' was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to . After her January 1914 commissioning, she assisted her sister ship when that ship suffered an explosion in one of her fire rooms in April. After a period in reserve, ''Benham'' served on Neutrality Patrol duty. As a part of that duty in October 1916, she was one of several U.S. destroyers sent to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket. She picked up officers and crew from a Dutch cargo ship before the U-boat sank it. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, ''Benham'' was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of :Queenstown, Ireland. ''Benham'' made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats. During her overseas service, ''Benham'' was rammed by and nearly sunk. Upon returning to the United States after the war in January 1919, ''Benham'' was placed in reduced commission. After alternating periods of activity and time in reserve, ''Benham'' was decommissioned at Philadelphia in July 1922. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in March 1935 and ordered scrapped in April. ==Design and construction== ''Benham'' was authorized in March 1911 as the third of four ships of the , which was almost identical to the s authorized at the same time.〔〔The is considered a part of the by ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921'' (p. 122), but is classed separately by the United States Navy. See, for example, 〕 Construction of the vessel—like her three sister ships—was awarded to William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia which laid down her keel on 14 March 1912.〔 On 22 March 1913, ''Benham'' was launched by sponsor Edith Wallace Benham, daughter of the ship's namesake, Andrew Ellicot Kennedy Benham.〔Benham, p. 21.〕 The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of the American admiral.〔 As built, the destroyer was in length, abeam, and drew .〔〔 The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded.〔〔 ''Benham'' had two steam turbines that drove her two screw propellers, and an additional pair triple-expansion steam engines, each connected to one of the propeller shafts, for cruising purposes. Four oil-burning boilers powered the engines, which could generate , moving the ship at the design speed of ;〔〔 ''Benham'' exceeded her contracted speed in her trials in December 1913, when she averaged over five runs off the Delaware Breakwater. ''Benham''s main battery consisted of four caliber Mark 9 guns,〔〔The ''50'' denotes the length of the gun barrels; in this case, the gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as its bore, or in this case. The Mark number is the version of the gun; in this case, the ninth U.S. Navy design of the 4-inch/50 gun.〕 with each gun weighing in excess of .〔 The guns fired armor-piercing projectiles at . At an elevation of 20°, the guns had a range of .〔 In early 1917, ''Benham''s single guns were replaced with twin guns on an experimental basis. However, before ''Benham'' departed for overseas service during World War I, her original single gun mounts had been restored.〔 ''Benham'' was also equipped with four twin mount torpedo tubes.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Benham (DD-49)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|