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NavSource Online: Cruiser Photo Archive

USS CHICAGO (Protected Cruiser)/(CA 14)/(CL 14)
ALTON (IX 5)

Displacement 4,500 Tons, Dimensions, 342' 2" (oa) x 48' 2" x 22' 7" (Max)
Armament 4 x 8"/30 8 x 6"/30, 2 x 5"/30, 2 x 6pdr, 2 x 1pdr.
Armor, 4" Shields, 1 1/2" Deck, 3" Conning Tower.
Machinery, 5,000 IHP; 2 Compound overhead beam engines, 2 screws
Speed, 14 Knots, Crew 409.
Operational and Building Data
Keel laid at John Roach and Sons, Chester, PA
Launched as 05 DEC 1885
Commissioned 17 APR 1889
Decommissioned 01 MAY 1895
Commissioned 01 DEC 1898
Decommissioned 03 DEC 1903
Commissioned 15 AUG 1904
Decommissioned 27 AUG 1908
Commissioned 14 MAY 1909
Decommissioned 28 AUG 1909
Assigned to the Massachusettes Naval Militia 23 JAN 1910
Assigned to the Pennsylvania Naval Militia 26 APR 1916
Commissioned 06 APR 1917
Reclassified CL 14 in 1921
Decommissioned 30 SEP 1923
Renamed ALTON and reclassified IX 5 16 JUL 1928
Fate: Sold 15 MAY 1936. Foundered in mid-Pacific in July 1936 while being towed from Honolulu to San Francisco.
Click On Image
For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Chicago 243k

Port bow view of USS Chicago, Flagsip of the White Squadron, date and place unknown.

U.S. Navy Photo.

 Darryl Baker
Chicago
chi14		 42k Starboard bow view, date and location unknown. Robert Hurst
Chicago
chi17		 186k Port side view while underway, date and location unknown. kalexis
Chicago
chi16		 241k

USS Chicago (1889-1935) (CA 14)

Ship's Officers and Officers of the Squadron of Evolution on board in 1889. Those present are (seated in front row, left to right):

Ensign Albert P. Niblack, USN;
Lieutenant Sidney A. Staunton, USN, Flag Lt.;
Lieutenant John A.H. Nickels, USN;
Paymaster Edward N. Whitehouse, USN;
Rear Admiral John G. Walker, USN, Commanding Officer, Squadron of Evolution;
Captain Henry B. Robeson, USN, Commanding Officer, USS Chicago;
Medical Inspector Thomas C. Walton, USN; and
Chief Engineer Edward Farmer, USN.

(standing in second row, left to right):
Naval Cadet George F. Hawk, USN;
Chaplain Adam A. McAlister, USN;
Captain George C. Reid, USMC;
Assistant Engineer George R. Salisbury, USN;
Lieutenant William H. Schuetze, USN;
Passed Assistant Surgeon James C. Byrnes, USN;
Lieutenant Commander M.R.S. Mackenzie, USN;
Lieutenant Karl Rohrer, USN;
Lieutenant Raymond P. Rodgers, USN; and
Assistant Surgeon Albert M.D. McCormick, USN.

(standing in back row, left to right):
Naval Cadet Arthur B. Hoff, USN;
Naval Cadet Nathan C. Twining, USN;
Acting Gunner John Westfall, USN;
Naval Cadet Richmond P. Hobson, USN;
Naval Cadet Louis M. Nulton, USN;
Carpenter Herbert M. Griffiths, USN;
Passed Assistant Engineer Robert R. Leitch, USN;
Ensign George R. Evans, USN;
Naval Cadet George H. Rock, USN;
Lieutenant Austin M. Knight, USN;
Naval Cadet Henry K. Benham, USN;
Naval Cadet Sumner E. Kittelle, USN;
Naval Cadet Cleland N. Offley, USN; and
Naval Cadet Edward T. Witherspoon, USN.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph #NH 5415.

 Bill Gonyo
Boston 169k

The Squadron of Evolution, Commanded by Rear Admiral John G. Walker - At anchor in an East Coast port, 1889. Squadron flagship USS Chicago is in the left foreground. Astern of her are (from left to right): gunboat USS Yorktown (PG 1), cruiser USS Boston and cruiser USS Atlanta. Photographed by E.H. Hart, New York.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph #NH 61550.

 USNHC
Chicago 242k

USS Chicago (1889-1936) Underway at sea, circa the early 1890s.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph #NH 61549.

 USNHC
Chicago 244k Port bow, 1891. Image # (19-A-2-31) National Archives
Chicago 79k Starboard side view, 1895. Colin P. Varga
Chicago 324k

Starboard bow view of USS Chicago circa 1898-99 after her conversion.

U.S. Navy Photo.

 Darryl Baker
Chicago
chi13		 134k USS Chicago (CA14), copyright by Enrique Muller, 1899 and published by The Rotograph Company of New York. She is shown after conversion. Robert M. Cieri
Chicago 52k An old Stone Lithograph of the USS Chicago, copywritten 1905 by Enrique Muller, and published by the American News Co., N.Y., Leipzig, & Dresden. Note the rigging difference from the preceeding photographs. It looks like Chicago had undergone a "modernization" sometime between the 1890's and when this Post Card was published. The foremast was converted to a military mast, and the center mast had been removed. From the Collection of Charles Munson. Charles Munson
Chicago 115k USS Alton (IX 5) as a barracks ship at Pearl Harbor. circa 1930's Rick Larson MMCM(SS) USN (Ret.)
Chicago 120k Starboard bow view as USS Alton (IX 5) while being used as a berthing ship during the contruction of the submarine base at Pearl Harbor. Ric Hedman TN(SS)
Chicago 78k Port bow view as USS Alton (IX 5) while being used as a berthing ship during the contruction of the submarine base at Pearl Harbor. Ric Hedman TN(SS)
Chicago 112k Portside view as USS Alton (IX 5) while being used as a berthing ship during the contruction of the submarine base at Pearl Harbor. The stern of R 18 is visible in tie foreground. Ric Hedman TN(SS)
Chicago
chi18		 143k Aerial view of Alton while moored at Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in the 1930's. Robert Hurst
Chicago
chi15		 31k USS Alton (IX 5) at her moorings at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, just days before she sank while being towed to the West Coast for scrapping. Robert Hurst
Commanding Officers
Name/Rank Final Rank Dates
Robeson, Hen ry Bellows, CAPT   04/17/1889 -
Miller, Joseph N., CAPT   05/1891 - 06/1892
Mahan, Alfred Thayer, CAPT   ~1893 - 05/01/1895
Decommissioned   05/01/1895 - 12/01/1898
Cooper, Philip Henry, CAPT RADM 12/1/1898 - 11/20/1899
Rockwell, Charles H., CAPT RADM 11/20/1899 - 05/03/1901
Dayton, James Henry, CAPT   05/03/1901
Decommissioned   12/03/1903 - 08/15/1904
Furlong, William Rea, LT RADM 04/18/1905
Decommissioned   08/27/1908 - 05/14/1909
Moore, Charles Brainard Taylor, CDR   05/14/1909 - 1910
Decommissioned   08/28/1909 - 04/06/1917
Hart, Thomas Charles, CAPT   04/06/1917 - 03/04/1918
Sparrow, Herbert George, CDR   03/04/1918
Nimitz, Chester William, CAPT FADM 05/06/1919 - 04/1922

(List courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves - Photos courtesy of Bill Gonyo)

USS CHICAGO Protected Cruiser/(CA-14)/(CL-14)
/ ALTON (IX 5) History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry on the U.S. Navy Historical Center website.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Cruiser Pages By Andrew Toppan.
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Last updated 01/22/2012