Idaho II BB-24

 

Idaho II

(BB-24: dp. 13,000 n.; 1. 382'; b. 77'; dr. 24'8"; s. 17 k.; cgl. 744; a. 4 12", 8 8", 8 7", 12 3", 2 21" tt.; cl. Mississippi)

The second Idaho (BB-24) was launched by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, on 9 December 1905, sponsored by Miss Louise Gooding, daughter of the Governor of Idaho, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 1 April 1908 with Captain S.W.B. Diehl in command.

The new battleship conducted a shakedown cruise to Cuba in April-May 1908, and after a visit to Panama, returned to Philadelphia for alterations. The ship participated in a large naval review in Hampton Roads on 22 February 1909, celebrating the return of the Great White Fleet from its around-the-world cruise. In March, she returned to the Caribbean for maneuvers, continuing to take part in training operations until October 1910. Idaho sailed on 29 October for exercises in British and French waters and upon her return participated in gunnery exercises in Chesapeake Bay from 19 to 23 March 1911.

Idaho sailed from Philadelphia on 4 May 1911 for a cruise up the Mississippi River to Louisiana ports. She then steamed to the east coast of Florida for battleship maneuvers and continued to operate off the coast and in the Caribbean until entering the reserve at Philadelphia on 27 October 1913. There she remained until 9 May 1914, when the ship sailed to the Mediterranean with midshipmen for at-sea training. After visiting various ports in North Africa and Italy and carrying out a rigorous training program, Idaho arrived in Villefranche on 17 July 1914, transferred her crew to Maine, and decommissioned on 30 July. She was then turned over to the government of Greece, where she served as the coastal defense ship Kilkis until being sunk in Salamis harbor by German aircraft in April 1941.