Dubuque-class gunboat

File:USS Paducah (PG-18).jpg USS Paducah (PG-18)
Class overview
Builders:	Gas Engine & Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company, Morris Heights, New York
Operators:	United States Navy
Built:	1903-1905
In commission:	1905-1946
Planned:	2
Completed:	2
Retired:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Gunboat
Displacement:	1,174 tons
Length:	200 ft (61 m)
Beam:	35 ft (11 m)
Draught:	12 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion:	2 × 500ihp Gas Engine Power Co. vertical triple-expansion engines 2 × 623.5ihp vertical triple-expansion engines (1921)
Speed:	13 knots
Complement:	162 161 (1921)
Armament:	1905- 6 × 4 in (100 mm)/40 cal rapid-fire guns 4 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) rapid-fire guns 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) rapid-fire guns 1 × .30 cal Colt machine gun 1911- 6 × 4 in (100 mm)/50 cal rapid-fire guns 4 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) rapid-fire guns 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) rapid-fire guns 1918- 4 × 4 in (100 mm)/50 cal rapid-fire guns 4 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) rapid-fire guns 1921- 4 × 4 in (100 mm)/50 cal rapid-fire guns 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/23 cal anti-aircraft gun 1940- 1 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal DP gun 2 × 4 in (100 mm)/50 cal guns 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal anti-aircraft gun

The Dubuque class gunboats were a class of gunboats built by the United States prior to World War I. The class was designed in 1903. The United States Navy commissioned 2 Dubuque-class gunboats in 1903. Dubuques had a design speed of 12 knots, and a main armament of six 4" rapid-fire guns and four 6-pounder rapid-fire guns in single mounts.

Design

In 1902, two gunboats, Dubuque and Paducah were ordered from Gas Engine & Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company of New York for survey and patrol duties in the Caribbean. They were 174 feet (53.04 m) long between perpendiculars and 200 feet 5 inches (61.09 m) long overall, with an unusual high and rounded bow, fitted with a bowsprit. Beam was 35 feet (10.67 m) with a draft of 13 feet 4 inches (4.06 m). Displacement was 1,084 long tons (1,101 t). The hull was of composite construction, with steel above the waterline and wood below. Two Babcock & Wilcox boilers fed vertical triple-expansion steam engines rated at 1,250 indicated horsepower (930 kW), driving two shafts and giving a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). Two tall and thin funnels were fitted.

Ships

Ship	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Dubuque	22 September 1903	15 August 1904	31 May 1905	Sold 19 December 1946
Paducah	22 September 1903	11 October 1904	31 August 1905	Sold 19 December 1946 Purchased by Haganah and renamed Geulah, caught trying to smuggle Jewish refugees to Palestine 2 October 1947. Merchant ship 1948, scrapped 1951.