USS Vesuvius: Dynamite Gun Cruiser

"Hiding behind the battleships and cruisers during daylight hours, the little warship would creep inshore at night to belch dynamite shells at the fortifications."1

 

USS Vesuvius was an experimental ship in the late 1800s when the US Navy was developing its new steel navy. Built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the ship was commissioned in 1890. The hope was that this small ship would have a formidable enough armament that it would be a cost effective threat to enemy battleships. At over 21 knots, speed was its best defensive measure.

The most unique aspect of this vessel were the three 15-inch guns protruding from the forward deck. They fired explosive shells which consisted of several hundred pounds of "desensitized blasting gelatin" in a metal casing. The casing was fitted with a wood sabot to ensure a seal in the barrel, which was vital as the volatile composition of these shells only allowed compressed air to be used as a propellant. Although the dynamite shell had great potential, and there was a stealth aspect to firing without gunpowder, the ship had some severe flaws for naval warfare. It had to be pointed where it wanted to fire, and its range was limited to less than 2 miles (controlled by air pressure). 

Layout of USS Vesuvius. The position of the guns can be especially noted in the side view.

15-inch guns

Note the different angles that the three gun tubes are in. These sections of the barrel could be raised and lowered to reload from the magazine on the forward side of the bulkhead in this picture. 

Ammunition was stored in these canisters in the compartment forward of the gun breeches. It is possible that the cylinders rotated much like a revolver. 

Controlling the air pressure for the guns. These stations were right behind the guns, in the same compartment. 

From 1890-1895, Vesuvius was part of the North Atlantic Squadron. As such, the ship participated in the International Naval Rendezvous in 1893. This naval review was held at Hampton Roads to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in America (one year late). Besides two squadron of Navy ships, vessels from several European countries and Brazil attended. 

The unique looking USS Vesuvius shown front and center in a poster commemorating the 1893 event.

After the Spanish-American War started, Vesuvius headed south for blockade and dispatch duty. However, on June 13, 1898, the ship came close to shore under the cover of darkness and bombarded Spanish positions near Santiago, Cuba. As the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships states, Vesuvius' bombardment did limited physical damage, but "caused great anxiety among the Spanish forces ashore, for her devastating shells came in without warning, unaccompanied by the roar of gunfire usually associated with a bombardment." 

Part of the problem with the bombardment was that as the ship was firing at night, the crew was literally firing blind. The dynamite guns could not be utilized effectively during the day because their limited range would put them in danger from enemy fire. Due to these shortcomings, the bombardment at Santiago was the last time the ship was used in combat and the dynamite gun technology was scrapped by the Navy. Vesuvius was converted into a torpedo test vessel in 1905 and was eventually decommissioned after World War I. 

1. John D. Alden, American Steel Navy (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2008), 48.

Story by Hampton Roads Naval Museum Educator Elijah Palmer.

Naval Review in Hampton Roads, 1957

The museum is remembering many events in June, like the Battle of Midway in 1942, and our own relocation to Nauticus in 1994. Not to be forgotten are the exciting weeks of June 1957 when an International Naval Review entertained the residents of Hampton Roads.

The program for the Naval Review, from HRNM's collection. Participating countries
included France, Canada, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, France,
Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom,
Uruguay, and Venezuela.     

Like the 1907 naval review, the 1957 review was tied to the anniversary of the 1607 Jamestown Colony. The State Department invited members of NATO and other countries thought to have an interest in celebrating the colonization of North America. The result, gushed the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, was “one of the mightiest peacetime armadas in history.” Thirty warships representing 17 countries joined 80-some U.S. naval vessels for review by Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson on June 12, 1957.

A searchlight display, open houses at naval installations, television specials, and ship visits comprised some of the festivities. Concerning the opportunity to visit foreign naval ships, the Virginian-Pilot newspaper quoted the advice of two local civilian women: “Don’t say ‘yes’ to anything.  You don’t know what they’re asking.”

Blimps ride herd over the International fleet on June 12. Admiral Claude V. Ricketts,
USN commander of Destroyer Flotilla Four, was the “traffic director” for the ships. 
He did his job from one of these aircraft.

Spectators viewed the parade of ships from the south end of a new bridge off of Willoughby Spit – part of the new Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, which would open in November of 1957. These thousands of spectators probably did not imagine that sitting immobile on that bridge would become a regular feature of transportation in Hampton Roads for decades to come.

(This blog post was written by HRNM Curator Joe Judge.)

1893 Hampton Roads Naval Rendezvous Print

This is a print of the 1893 International Naval Rendezvous that is currently on display in the museum's Steel Navy gallery. Local lithographer and book publisher Sam W. Bowman produced this elaborate and highly detailed image depicting the thirty-seven ships from around the world at anchor in Hampton Roads. Bowman published over 4,000 of the prints and many still survive today.

Along with two squadrons of U.S. Navy cruisers and gunboats, squadrons of ship from Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Holland, Russia, and Spain all sent ships. The peaceful collection of ships was a minor diplomatic triumph as many of the nations present were fierce rivals. After a week in Hampton Roads, the fleet travelled as a group to New York City for a parade in the Hudson River. The event is also noteworthy for the experimental use of a carrier pigeons network to deliver official messages from the USS Dolphin in Hampton Roads to the Secretary of the Navy in Washington and newspapers in New York. Despite a fear that hawks would capture and eat the pigeons en route, the messages got through. Carrier pigeons would be used by the Navy for several more years after this experiment.

 Naval reviews and parades of ships is popular way Hampton Roads has marked historic events. Today is the official beginning of OPSAIL 2012 in Hampton Roads and it starts at Noon with an international parade of ships. OPSAIL 2012's theme is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and America's sea services' role in the conflict. See more at ourflagwasstillthere.org.

In the case of the 1893 Rendezvous and review, the April event was supposed to mark the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World (never mind that they were a year late.) In addition to the ships in the print is a "Proposed Statue of Christopher Columbus" that was to be built on the Rip Raps. Thus, someone had an idea to build a Statue of Liberty-size statue of the Italian explorer at the entrance to Hampton Roads. The idea was quietly rejected when funding for the project was not forthcoming.

The Naval Rendezvous as photographed by Harper's Weekly.

In addition, the Library of Congress has several dozen photographs of the Naval Rendezvous.

USS Saratoga and Lexington off the Virginia Capes

This is a 1930 photo of the aircraft carriers USS Saratoga (CV-2) and Lexington (CV-3) off the Virginia Capes. Along with eleven battleships, USS Langley (CV-1), nine cruisers, twenty-five destroyers, and two fleet submarines (V-2 and V-3), the two 33,000-ton aircraft carriers participated in an official Naval Review by President Herbert Hoover. The President observed the carriers' torpedo bombers practice attack runs on the battleships. A crewmember of the mammoth dirigible USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) took this photo.

The fleet had just completed Fleet Problem X, an official U.S. Navy battle exercise designed to develop naval aviation doctrines, in the Caribbean. After the Review, most of the fleet got underway for San Diego and Pearl Harbor.