newportnews

Visiting the Battleship Texas was one of my favorite things after it was retired and placed in Houston, Texas, next to the San Jacinto Monument. It is still there!

This was taken sometime at USS Texas's launching ceremony on 18 May 1912 at Newport News, Virginia.

lifting what appears to be one of the lattice cage mast for a US battleship, several were built there.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_News_Shipbuilding

This crane existed in 1907 already, s. photo in the Daily press., March 24, 1907, Image 21 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045830/1907-03-24/ed-...

And this 1900 article is illustrated by a photo of Hercules in 1898: "In view of the attention which the management has given to the question of the handling of material it is quite natural that the equipment of derricks and cranes should constitute one of the most interesting features of the Newport News yard. First place must be given of course to the 150 ton revolving derrick Hercules. The derrick jib is capable of having its outer end raised or lowered thus giving to the hoisting blocks which depend vertically therefrom a movement of rotation about the center of the derrick, and also one of translation in and out from the center. With the outer end of the jib in its lowest position the hoisting blocks will, on rotation of the derrick, describe the circumference of a circle 207 feet in diameter; with the jib in its highest position the diameter of the circle described is 88 feet. Thus the derrick may operate on weights lying anywhere between these two circles as boundaries. The maximum load of 150 tons can be handled only within a ring the maximum and minimum diameters of which are 147 and 88 feet respectively, but weights not exceeding 70 tons may be handled throughout the entire field of operations. The maximum elevations above mean high water,, for the hoisting blocks, are 118 and 69 feet respectively in the high and lower positions of the jib. The derrick is revolved by duplicate sets of machinery. books.google.com/books?id=Eb1MAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA501&l...

This picture ran in the New York Tribune Review in April, 1918, attributed to Underwood & Underwood. navsource.org/archives/01/pdf/012746.pdf An online source (probably thinking the photo dated from April, 1918, guesses at the ship involved. "Assuming this photograph wasn't aging in a camera somewhere, the mast most likely belongs to the Michigan (BB-27). The only other battleship built within a year of this date was the Mississippi (BB-41), which was commissioned 18 December 1917." www.navsource.org/archives/01/27b.htm

On March 17, 1915, the 15,000 ton superdreadnaught USS Pensylvania was launched at the Newport News (Virginia) Shipbuilding Drydock Company. It was the largest battleship ever launched anywhere in the world, Miss Elizabeth Ludoff Kolb (1896-1979) of Germantown, Pennsylvania, daughter of Louis J. Kolb of Philadelphia and a senior at National Park Seminary in Forest Glen, Maryland, had been invited to the launching ceremonies by Pennsylvania Governor Brumbaugh (term 1915-1919), who called her "the most beautiful and sweetest girl in Pennsylvania". Elizabeth was the official "sponsor" of the ship, which, as far as I can tell, means she offered the name for the ship. Nineteen years young, Elizabeth arrived with her maids of honor, fellow classmates Miss Katherine Kolb (1900–1979) (who was also her younger sister), Miss Katherine Martin and Miss Mildred Harold. Following the prayer and with the words "I Christen thee Pennsylvania", Miss Kolb broke a bottle of champagne on the bow and set in motion one of the greatest battleships of all time.

At the launching: