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USS Idaho (BB-24)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Idaho (BB-24)

USS Idaho (BB-24) was laid down on 12 May 1904 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Co.; launched on 9 December 1905; sponsored by Miss Louise May Gooding, 13-year old daughter of Idaho Governor Frank R. Gooding; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, League Island, on 1 April 1908, Captain Samuel W. B. Diehl in command.

USS Idaho (BB-24), a 13,000-ton Mississippi class battleship built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was commissioned in April 1908. Following operations in the Caribbean area and a period of shipyard work, USS Idaho (BB-24) took part in the February 1909 naval review at Hampton Roads, Virginia, celebrating the "Great White Fleet"'s return home from its World cruise. Over the next five years, Idaho served with the Atlantic Fleet along the U.S. east coast and in the Caribbean, also participating in the naval reviews that were at that time frequent events at New York City. USS Idaho (BB-24) also made a voyage to England and France in late 1910 and cruised on the Mississippi River in 1911.

After several months out of commission, USS Idaho (BB-24) returned to service in May 1914 for a midshipmen's training cruise to the Mediterranean. On 17 July she arrived at Villefranche, France, and transferred her crew to the battleship Maine. Decommissioned on 30 July 1914, USS Idaho (BB-24) was sold to Greece. Renamed Lemnos, she was a unit of the Greek Navy until April 1941. By that time reduced to a hulk, the old ship was sunk by German air attack at Salamis.

For a complete history of USS Idaho (BB-24) please see its DANFS page.