USS Granite State

[Waterloo50]

Just wondering if any of our naval experts can shed some light on the USS Granite State. I was looking for some info on the USS Hampshire and this photo came up. What was the story behind the USS Granite State and did it ever see any action?

 

[USS ALASKA]

New Hampshire I (Ship-of-the-Line)
(SL: t. 2,633; l. 203'8"; b. 51'4"; a. 4 100-pdr. P.r., 6 9" D. sb.; cl. North Carolina)

New Hampshire, 9th of the original colonies to enter the Union, ratified the Constitution 21 June 1788.

Alabama, one of "nine ships to rate not less than 74 guns each" authorized by Congress 29 April 1816, was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, N.H., in June 1819, the year the State of Alabama was admitted to the Union. Though ready for launch by 1825, she remained on the stocks for preservation until needed during the Civil War. Renamed New Hampshire 28 October 1863, she was launched 23 April 1864, fitted out as a stores and depot ship of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron; and commissioned 13 May 1864, Commodore Henry K. Thatcher in command.

New Hampshire sailed from Portsmouth 15 June and relieved sister ship Vermont 29 July 1864 as store and depot ship at Port Royal, S.C., and served there through the end of the Civil War. She returned to Norfolk 8 June 1866, serving as a receiving ship there until 10 May 1876 when she sailed back to Port Royal. She resumed duty at Norfolk in 1881 but soon shifted to Newport, R.I. She became flagship of Commodore Stephen B. Luce's newly formed Apprentice Training Squadron, marking the commencement of an effective apprentice training program for the Navy.

New Hampshire was towed from Newport to New London, Conn., in 1891 and was receiving ship there until decommissioned 5 June 1892. The following year she was loaned as a training ship for the New York State Naval Militia which was to furnish nearly a thousand officers and men to the Navy during the Spanish-American War.

New Hampshire was renamed Granite State 30 November 1904 to free the name New Hampshire for a newly authorized battleship. Stationed in the Hudson River, she continued training service throughout the years leading to World War I when State naval militia were practically the only trained and equipped men available to the Navy for immediate service. They were mustered into the Navy as National Naval Volunteers. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels wrote in his Our Navy at War: "Never again will men dare riducule the Volunteer, the Reservist, the man who in a national crisis lays aside civilian duty to become a soldier or Sailor. They fought well. They died well. They have left in deeds and words a record that will be an inspiration to unborn generations."

Granite State served the New York State Militia until she caught fire and sank at her pier in the Hudson River 23 May 1921. Her hull was sold for salvage 19 August 1921 to the Mulholland Machinery Corp. Refloated in July 1922, she and was taken in tow to the Bay of Fundy. The towline parted during a storm, she again caught fire and sank off Half Way Rock in Massachusetts Bay.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/n/new-hampshire-i.html
6

HTH,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

A powder monkey stands by one of the guns of USS New Hampshire off Charleston, S.C. between 1864 and 1865. Powder monkeys were a part of warships' crews during the Age of Sail that carried bags of gunpowder from the powder magazine in the ship's hold to the gun crews. Powder monkeys were usually boys or young teens selected for the job for their speed and height — they were short and would be hidden behind the ship's gunwale, keeping them from being shot by enemy ships' sharp shooters.
Photo from the collections of the Library of Congress.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/098615709.jpg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[1SGDan]

The USS New Hampshire name is now being used by an attack submarine as the naming convention for battleships has been shifted to subs.

 

[Carronade]

New Hampshire was renamed Granite State 30 November 1904 to free the name New Hampshire for a newly authorized battleship.

At that time our naval construction program was outstripping the supply of state names. Eleven armored cruisers, four monitors, and the Great Lakes patrol ship Michigan were renamed so that their names could be given to new battleships, which then became the only type named for states. We can add New Hampshire to the list. In the back of my mind, I think there was one more, but I can't think of it.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Eleven armored cruisers...

USS Tennessee became the USS Memphis
USS Washington became the USS Seattle
USS North Carolina became the USS Charlotte
USS Montana became the USS Missoula
USS Pennsylvania became the USS Pittsburgh
USS West Virginia became the USS Huntington
USS California became the USS San Diego
USS Colorado became the USS Pueblo
USS Maryland became the USS Frederick
USS South Dakota became the USS Huron
USS New York became the USS Saratoga and then USS Rochester

And to swing this back around to the ACW, USS Kearsarge was the only USN BB not named for a state.
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Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Carronade]

In the back of my mind, I think there was one more, but I can't think of it.

Got it! The old battleship Texas, our first steel battleship, was renamed San Marcos in 1911 to free up the name for the dreadnought which is now a museum ship in San Antonio. Ironically San Marcos was sunk as a target and stricken from the Navy List almost immediately afterwards, before the new ship was commissioned.

Texas was the only US battleship not to have a hull number, although her contemporary Maine was ACR-1. BB-1 was USS Indiana.

In 1919, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Iowa were renamed Coast Battleship Number 1, 2, and 4 to free up those names for South Dakota class ships, which ended up being cancelled under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty (the names would reappear in the WWII generation). The famous Oregon (BB-3) got to keep her name.