USS Connecticut (BB-18) - Design

Design

The design that evolved into the Connecticut-class battleship was conceived on 6 March 1901 when Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long asked the Board on Construction for a study of future battleship designs. When this was completed, different bureaus supported different designs.

The Board on Construction favored a ship on which 6-inch (150 mm) and 8-inch (200 mm) guns would be replaced by 24 newly designed 7-inch (180 mm) guns, which were the most powerful guns with shells that could be handled by one person. In addition, the ships would mount twenty-four 3-inch (76 mm) anti-torpedo boat guns. The main armor would be thinner overall because it would be distributed over the entire length. The Board's favored design would result in a ship weighing 15,560 long tons (15,810 t) displacement.

The Bureau of Construction and Repair, however, proposed a modified Virginia-class battleship with sixteen 8-inch guns, twelve in turrets and four in casemates; the casemate guns were later eliminated, leaving twelve 8-inch, twelve 6-inch, and eight 3-inch guns on a ship of 15,860 long tons (16,110 t). This design was later rejected because the reduction in anti-torpedo boat guns was too drastic.

Although one of the two designs had been rejected, the debate did not end. In November, the Board decided on a different plan, with eight 8-inch guns mounted in four waist turrets and 12 7-inch guns. This arrangement was chosen because the 8-inch gun could penetrate medium armor on battleships, and the 7-inch gun was capable of rapid fire. The new design also had heavier armor and a thicker belt than the first design. Two ships of this plan, Connecticut and Louisiana, were authorized on 1 July 1902, and three more were added on 2 March 1903: Vermont, Kansas, and Minnesota.