HDMS Herluf Trolle (1899) was a Danish coastal defense ship. The first of her class of three ships (including Olfert Fischer and Peder Skram), she was launched on 2 September 1899 and commissioned on 7 June 1901.
She had an uneventful career, as Denmark remained neutral throughout World War One. Herluf Trolle and her sisters patrolled Denmark’s coast, enforcing her neutrality. Post war, with reduced naval budgets, she was sold for scrap in 1934.
Belt armor: 178 to 203 mm (7 to 8 in) Gun turrets: 170 to 190 mm (6.5 to 7.5 in)
Herluf Trolle class 2-view line drawingPostcard for Danish coastal battleship Herluf TrolleHerluf Trolle prior to being launchedHerluf Trolle under constructionHerluf Trolle (1899)Herluf Trolle (1899)Herluf Trolle (1899)Herluf Trolle c. 1902Herluf Trolle and Peder Skram (to the left) saluting
Commissioned on 18 October 1915, Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya, was the second of the three Imperatritsa Mariya-class dreadnoughts built for the Imperial Russian Navy. Her two sister were Imperatritsa Mariya and Imperator Aleksandr III.
During the First World War, she engaged the Turkish battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm (ex-German Goeben) once, but only inflicted splinter damage while taking no damage herself. The majority of her service saw her covering the actions of smaller vessels during which she did not fire her armament apart from briefly engaging the Turkish cruiser Midilli on 25 June 1917.
Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya was renamed Svobodnaya Rossiya (Free Russia) after the February Revolution of 1917. The ship sailed from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk on 30 April 1918 as German troops approached the city. Svobodnaya Rossiya was scuttled on 19 June by four torpedoes fired by the destroyer Kerch in Novorossiysk harbor to prevent her from being turned over to the Germans as required by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. She was partially salvage in the 1920s.
Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya Under Construction
Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya under constructionImperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya under constructionImperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya fitting out in 1915
Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya In Service
Imperatritsa Ekaterina VelikayaImperatritsa Ekaterina VelikayaImperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya on trialsImperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya fitting out in 1915Imperatritsa Ekaterina VelikayaImperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya in drydock Sevastopol 1915Imperatritsa Ekaterina VelikayaSvobodnaya Rossiya ex Imperatritsa Ekaterina II in 1918Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya main armament
The US Navy pre-dreadnought battleship USS Kearsarge BB-5 was decommissioned in May 1920, Kearsarge and converted into a crane ship. Originally given hull classification IX-16 on 17 July 1920, this was changed to AB-1 on 5 August. Her turrets, superstructure, and armor were removed, and replaced by a large revolving crane with a lifting capacity of 250 tons (230 tonnes), as well as 10-foot (3.0 m) blisters, which improved her stability.
On 6 November 1941, Kearsarge was renamed Crane Ship No. 1, allowing her name to be reused (originally for CV-12, which was later changed to Hornet and then for Kearsarge CV-33). During the Second World War, she was used to facilitate the movement and placement of heavy equipment such as guns, turrets, and armor for ships including the Indiana, Alabama, Savannah, Chicago, and Pennsylvania.
In 1945, after being towed to the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, she worked on the Essex-Class carriers Hornet and Boxer, as well as the Saratoga.
She was sold for scrap on 9 August 1955.
Kearsarge (BB-5) at Philadelphia Navy Yard during her conversion to U.S. Crane Ship No. 1, 13 January 1921US Crane Ship No. 1 testing the 250 ton crane 27 October 1922USS Idaho (BB-42) being re-gunned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, by Crane Ship No. 1 Kearsarge circa the later 1920sCrane Ship No. 1 Kearsarge is forth from left and and three piers away is USS Florida (BB-30) 1925Crane Ship No. 1 Kearsarge at South Boston Oct. 1925US Crane Ship No. 1 in dry dock at South Boston, Massachusetts, while undergoing repairs on 3 October 1925U.S. Crane Ship No. 1 alongside the North Approach Wall of the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal, in 1926US Crane Ship No.1 passing through the Gaillard Cut, while transiting the Panama Canal during the 1920s or 1930sUS Crane Ship No. 1 AB-1 seen at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 1936U.S. Crane Ship No. 1 in Puget Sound, 1937Kearsarge (AB-1), aerial photograph by Naval Aviation Base, Coco Solo, and released 8 July 1938Kearsarge (AB-1) is moored next to the Alabama (BB-60) for lifting the 16 inch gun barrels into placeU.S. Crane Ship (AB-1) at sea, May 1944Kearsarge (AB-1) is seen in the background during a noon time bond rally at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in 1945US Crane Ship No. 1 is seen at Pier 8 of Boston Naval Shipyard in August 1948US Crane Ship No.1US Crane Ship No.1 in Navy Yard drydockUS Crane Ship No.1US Crane Ship No.1 in Navy Yard drydockU.S. Crane Ship No. 1 is seen at Pier 8 of Boston Naval Shipyard in August 1948Crane Ship No. 1 lifting a 120 ton crane from South Boston in November, 1948The raised trawler Lynn is seen alongside U.S. Crane Ship No. 1 5 September 1952
