USS South Carolina (BB-26) - Design and Construction

Design and Construction

The idea of an all-big-gun battleship had been discussed in the U.S. Navy beginning in 1901. When the eight-inch intermediate gun then in use was seen to be inadequate in penetrating foreign armor at greater battle ranges, it appeared only natural to replace them with more large guns. In an article published in the March 1902 Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, Lieutenant Matt H. Signor proposed a ship armed with six 12-inch guns in two triple turrets and two 10-inch triple turrets amidships. This article was taken seriously enough for the Procedings to publish rebuttals by Professor P. R. Alger, then the Navy's chief gunnery expert, and David W. Taylor, a future chief constructor whose work on ship propulsion was becoming well known in Navy circles. While Alger did not agree with the suggestion of triple turrets, he did recommend a main battery of eight 12-inch guns for future battleships. Taylor proposed steam turbines for future capital ships; their low fuel economy, he added, could be overcome by using variable-pitch propellers.

All-big-gun proponents in the Navy argued, as did their Royal Navy counterparts in Great Britain, that the increasing range of naval actions demanded more heavy guns. They also cited the need for guns that could outrange torpedoes fired by hostile battleships. They eventually won the argument by increasing effective gun range. The longer the range, the more of an advantage heavy guns showed over intermediate ones. Also, at long range, gunners had to "spot" the fall of shot to correct their aim. This reduced the effective rate of fire that had been the intermediate gun's main advantage since a round could not be fired until the gunner had seen where the previous one had fallen. The longer the range, the lower the theoretical rate of fire. By 1904, gunnery had improved to the point that decisive hits in a naval battle would be made at the longest ranges possible.

South Carolina was the first American dreadnought; her design actually predated the British HMS Dreadnought, although she was completed later. She was the first vessel of any nation to incorporate all of its main guns (8 x 12in guns) in a superfire arrangement, where the second row of guns are higher and can fire over the top of the forward weapons. It was considered essential to conserve length and volume, especially with the 16,000-ton limit for capital ships imposed by Congress at that time. The result was a 3000-ton savings in displacement over Dreadnought and a better protected broadside. She was the last US ship to be limited to 16,000 tons displacement by congressional mandate. The South Carolina was also the first ship to feature cage style masts, that would become standard on American dreadnoughts.

The South Carolina's speed, 18 knots, was designed to conform to the earlier American battleships and this would prove to be a significant weakness later on as she could not operate with the newer, faster battleship designs.