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USS ''Bennington'' (Gunboat No. 4/PG-43) was a member of the of steel-hulled, twin-screw gunboats in the United States Navy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was the first U.S. Navy ship named in honor of the town of Bennington, Vermont, site of the Battle of Bennington in the American Revolutionary War. The contract to build ''Bennington'' was awarded to N. F. Palmer & Co. of Philadelphia in November 1887. Her hull was subcontracted to the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works which laid down ''Bennington''s keel in June 1888. ''Bennington'' was launched in June 1890. She was just over long and abeam and displaced . She was equipped with two steam engines which were supplemented with three schooner-rigged masts. The ship's main battery consisted of six guns and was augmented by an assortment of smaller caliber guns. After her June 1891 commissioning, ''Bennington'' was attached to the Squadron of Evolution and for its cruise to South America. The gunboat made two Mediterranean tours between 1892 and 1894, after which she was assigned to the duties in the Pacific. She sailed the Pacific coasts of North and Central America and spent time in the Hawaiian Islands to protect American interests there. On her way to support United States Army operations of the Philippine–American War, ''Bennington'' claimed Wake Island for the United States. After two years in the Philippines, she returned to the United States and was decommissioned for 18 months of repairs and refitting. After her March 1903 re-commissioning, most of the next two years were spent patrolling the Pacific coasts of North and South America. On 21 July 1905 at San Diego, California, ''Bennington'' suffered a boiler explosion, that killed 66 men and injured nearly everyone else on board. Shortly after the explosion, a tug beached the ship to prevent her from sinking. Eleven men were awarded the Medal of Honor for "extraordinary heroism" in the aftermath of the explosion. After ''Bennington'' was refloated, the damage was deemed too extensive to repair and the ship was decommissioned in September. The ship was sold for scrap in 1910, but instead served as a water barge for the Matson Line at Honolulu from 1912. In 1924, the former ''Bennington'' was scuttled off the coast of Oahu. == Design and construction == The ''Yorktown'' class gunboats – unofficially considered third-class cruisers – were the product of a United States Navy design attempt to produce compact ships with good seakeeping abilities and, yet, able to carry a heavy battery. ''Bennington'' was authorized in the 1888 fiscal year, and the contract for her construction was awarded to N. F. Palmer & Co. of Chester, Pennsylvania. The hull for ''Bennington'' was subcontracted to the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding & Engine Works and built to the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair design. The mechanical design was patterned after the layout for her older sister ship developed by William Cramp & Sons.〔 ''Bennington''s keel was laid down in June 1888,〔 and the ship was launched on 3 June 1890, sponsored by Anne Aston,〔 the daughter of Rear Admiral Ralph Aston, Chief Engineer of the U.S. Navy.〔Benham, p. 23.〕 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 Bennington (PG-4)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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