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 Yorktown 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.
Read more about this topic: USS Bennington (PG-4)
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