USS West Virginia (ACR-5)

USS Huntington (ACR-5), port view, 1919. Showing cage masts installed 1911 and catapult removed.
History
United States
Name
  • West Virginia (1905–1916)
  • Huntington (1916–1930)
Namesake
Ordered3 March 1899
Awarded24 January 1901
BuilderNewport News Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Virginia
Cost$3,885,000 (contract price of hull and machinery)
Laid down16 September 1901
Launched18 April 1903
Sponsored byMiss Katherine V. White
Commissioned23 February 1905
Decommissioned1 September 1920
RenamedHuntington, 11 November 1916
ReclassifiedCA-5, 17 July 1920
Stricken12 March 1930
Identification
FateSold for scrap, 30 August 1930
General characteristics (as built)
Class & typePennsylvania-class armored cruiser
Displacement
  • 13,680 long tons (13,900 t) (standard)
  • 15,138 long tons (15,381 t) (full load)
Length
  • 503 ft 11 in (153.59 m) oa
  • 502 ft (153 m) pp
Beam69 ft 6 in (21.18 m)
Draft24 ft 1 in (7.34 m) (mean)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed
  • 22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph)
  • 22.15 kn (41.02 km/h; 25.49 mph) (Speed on Trials)
Complement80 officers 745 enlisted 64 Marines
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: 6 in (150 mm) (top & waterline)
  • 5 in (130 mm) (bottom)
  • Deck: 1+12 in (38 mm)- 6 in (amidships)
  • 4 in (100 mm) (forward & aft)
  • Barbettes: 6 in
  • Turrets: 6 - 6+12 in (170 mm)
  • Conning Tower: 9 in (230 mm)
General characteristics (Pre-1911 Refit)
Armament
  • 4 × 8 in/45 cal Mark 6 BL rifles (2×2)
  • 14 × 6 in/50 cal Mark 6 BL rifles
  • 18 × 3 in/50 cal rapid-fire guns
  • 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm) Driggs-Schroeder saluting guns
  • 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes
General characteristics (Pre-1921 Refit)
Armament
  • 4 × 8 in/45 caliber Mark 6 BL rifles (2×2)
  • 14 × 6 in/50 Mark 6 caliber BL rifles
  • 10 × 3 in/50 caliber rapid-fire guns
  • 2 × 3 in/50 caliber anti-aircraft guns
  • 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm) Driggs-Schroeder saluting guns
  • 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried4 × floatplanes (1917)
Aviation facilities1 × Aft catapult (1917)

USS West Virginia (hull number ACR-5/CA-5), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 5", was a United States Navy Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser and the first United States Navy vessel named for the U.S. state of West Virginia. She was renamed Huntington in 1916 as the U.S. Navy designated that only battleships would carry the names of U.S. states.

The ship was launched on 18 April 1903 by Newport News Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Virginia, sponsored by Miss Katherine V. White, and commissioned on 23 February 1905, Captain C. H. Arnold in command. After 15 years in active service, Huntington was decommissioned in September 1920, struck from the naval register in March 1930, and sold for scrap later that year.