text: uss ohio ( bb - 12 ) uss ohio ( bb - 12 ) , a maine - class battleship pre - dreadnought battleship , was the third ship both of her class and of the united states navy to be named for the 17th state . she was laid down at the union iron works shipyard in san francisco in april 1899 , was launched in may 1901 , and was commissioned into the fleet in october 1904 . she was armed with a main battery of four 12 - inch ( 300 mm ) guns and could steam at a top speed of 18 knots ( 33 km / h ; 21 mph ) . ohio initially served in the asiatic fleet , from 1905 to 1907 , when she returned to the united states . in december that year , she joined the great white fleet for its world cruise , which lasted until early 1909 . she served with the atlantic fleet for the next four years conducting a peacetime training routine . in 1914 , she was sent to mexico to protect american interests in the country during the mexican revolution . she served as a training ship during america 's involvement in world war i from 1917 to 1918 . thoroughly obsolete by that time , ohio was decommissioned in july 1919 , and was ultimately sold for scrap in march 1923 under the terms of the washington naval treaty . description ohio was 393 feet 11 inches ( 120 . 07 m ) long overall and had a beam of 72 ft 3 in ( 22 . 02 m ) and a draft of 24 ft 4 in ( 7 . 42 m ) . she displaced 12 , 723 long tons ( 12 , 927 t ) as designed and up to 13 , 700 long tons ( 13 , 900 t ) at full load . the ship was powered by two - shaft triple - expansion steam engines rated at 16 , 000 indicated horsepower ( 12 , 000 kw ) and twelve coal - fired thornycroft boilers , generating a top speed of 18 knots ( 33 km / h ; 21 mph ) . as built , she was fitted with heavy military masts , but these were quickly replaced by cage masts in 1909 . she had a crew of 561 officers and enlisted men , which increased to 779 – 813 . the ship was armed with a main battery of four 12 - inch ( 305 mm ) / 40 caliber guns in two twin gun turrets on the centerline , one forward and aft . the secondary battery consisted of sixteen 6 - inch ( 152 mm ) / 45 mark 6 guns , which were placed in casemates in the hull . for close - range defense against torpedo boats , she carried six 3 - inch / 50 guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull , eight 3 - pounder guns , and six 1 - pounder guns . as was standard for capital ships of the period , ohio carried two 18 in ( 460 mm ) torpedo tubes , submerged in her hull on the broadside . ohio 's main armored belt was 11 in ( 279 mm ) thick over the magazines and the machinery spaces and 8 in ( 203 mm ) elsewhere . the main battery gun turrets had 12 - inch ( 300 mm ) thick faces , and the supporting barbettes had the same thickness of armor plating on their exposed sides . armor that was 6 in thick protected the secondary battery . the conning tower had 10 in ( 250 mm ) thick sides . service history ohio , the final member of the maine class of pre - dreadnought battleships , was the second ship of the three to be laid down . she was built at the union iron works in san francisco , with her keel being laid down on 22 april 1899 . she was launched on 18 may 1901 and was commissioned on 4 october 1904 . after she entered service , ohio was assigned as the flagship of the asiatic fleet . she left san francisco on 1 april , bound for manila in the philippines . after the new battleship arrived , the party of then - secretary of war william howard taft came aboard for a tour of east asia , including stops in japan and china . ohio returned to the united states in 1907 and was transferred to the atlantic fleet . she and the rest of the atlantic fleet battleships held a naval review for president theodore roosevelt in hampton roads , virginia to mark the start of the cruise of the great white fleet on 16 december 1907 . the following day , the fleet steamed out of hampton roads and cruised south to the caribbean and then to south america , making stops in port of spain , rio de janeiro , punta arenas , and valparaíso , among other cities . after arriving in mexico in march 1908 , the fleet spent three weeks conducting gunnery practice . the fleet then resumed its voyage up the pacific coast of the americas , stopping in san francisco and seattle before crossing the pacific to australia , stopping in hawaii on the way . stops in the south pacific included melbourne , sydney , and auckland . after leaving australia , the fleet turned north for the philippines , stopping in manila , before continuing on to japan where a welcoming ceremony was held in yokohama . three weeks of exercises followed in subic bay in the philippines in november . the ships passed singapore on 6 december and entered the indian ocean ; they coaled in colombo before proceeding to the suez canal and coaling again at port said , egypt . the fleet called in several mediterranean ports before stopping in gibraltar , where an international fleet of british , russian , french , and dutch warships greeted the americans . the ships then crossed the atlantic to return to hampton roads on 22 february 1909 , having traveled 46 , 729 nautical miles ( 86 , 542 km ; 53 , 775 mi ) . there , they conducted a naval review for roosevelt . following the conclusion of the ceremonies , ohio proceeded to new york , where she was based for the following four years . this time was spent conducting normal peacetime training with the fleet and assisting in the training of the new york naval militia . by 1914 , the worsening conditions during the mexican civil war prompted the united states to begin intervening in the conflict . ohio was sent to mexican waters early that year to protect american interests in the country . in mid - 1914 , she returned to the east coast of the united states to conduct a training cruise for midshipmen from the us naval academy . after completing the cruise , ohio was transferred to the reserve fleet based at philadelphia . she returned to service only to conduct additional midshipmen cruises in the summers of 1915 and 1916 . the united states had initially remained neutral during world war i , but by early 1917 , tensions between it and germany rose as the latter 's unrestricted submarine warfare campaign began to sink american merchants ships . on 6 april 1917 , the united states declared war on germany , and on the 24th , ohio was recommissioned . she was based in norfolk and tasked with training crews for the rapidly expanding wartime fleet . this service included gunnery training ; on 1 june 1918 , she was involved in a significant accident during gunnery practice with two other battleships , new hampshire and louisiana . gunners aboard new hampshire accidentally began firing at a pair of submarine chasers . ohio issued a " cease fire " warning , though it was not immediately received aboard new hampshire before one shell struck louisiana . while the ships stopped to assess the damage , lookouts aboard ohio reported an enemy submarine , prompting several salvos from the secondary batteries of ohio and new hampshire , though the submarine chasers found no evidence of a submarine upon investigating the scene . following the german surrender in november 1918 , most of the battleships of the atlantic fleet were used as transports to ferry american soldiers back from france . ohio and her sisters were not so employed , however , owing to their short range and small size , which would not permit sufficient additional accommodations . instead , she was sent to philadelphia on 28 november and remained inactive there until 7 january 1919 , when she was placed back in reserve . on 17 july , the ship was reclassified as bb - 12 . following the 1922 washington naval treaty , which mandated significant reductions in naval armaments , ohio was stricken from the naval register on 31 may 1922 and sold for scrap on 24 march 1923 .