USS Missouri (BB-11) - December 1903

Creator notes

USS Missouri ( hull number : BB-11 ), a Maine -class battleship , was the second ship of her class and o f th e United States Navy to be named in honor of the 24th state . Missouri was laid down in February 1900 at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company , was launched in December 1901, and was commissioned into the fleet in December 1903. She was armed with a main batte ry of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and could steam at a top s peed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Missouri spent her entire career in the Atlantic with the North Atlantic Fleet , later renamed the Atlantic Fleet . In late 1907, she and the rest of the Atlantic Fleet circumnavigated the globe as the so-called Great W hite Fleet , which ended in February 1909. The ship was decommissioned in 1910, with periodic reactivations for summer training cru ises over the followed six years. After America entered World War I in April 1917, Missouri was brought back into service to train personnel for the expanding w artime Navy. She served briefly as a troopship in 1 919, carrying American soldiers back from France, before being decommissioned in September that year. Ultimately, she was sold for scrapping in January 1922.