The USS Montana (ACR-13/CA-13), later renamed Missoula, was a Tennessee-class armored cruiser constructed by Newport News Drydock & Shipbuilding Co. Her keel was laid in April 1905, launched in December 1906, and commissioned in July 1908. Measuring approximately 504 feet 6 inches in length overall, with a beam of 72 feet 10 inches and a draft of 25 feet, she displaced around 14,500 long tons normally, reaching nearly 16,000 tons at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of two 4-cylinder vertical triple-expansion engines powered by sixteen coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers, producing 23,000 indicated horsepower and enabling a maximum speed of 22 knots. The ship carried up to 2,000 long tons of coal, giving her a range of 6,500 nautical miles at 10 knots, and had a crew complement of 914 officers and men. Armament included a main battery of four 10-inch (254 mm) 40-caliber guns mounted in twin turrets fore and aft, supplemented by sixteen 6-inch (152 mm) guns in casemates, and twenty-two 3-inch (76 mm) anti-torpedo boat guns. She also had four 21-inch torpedo tubes below the waterline. The armor protection featured a belt 5 inches thick, with the main battery turrets and conning tower armored with 9 inches of steel, and the deck armor up to 3 inches. Montana served primarily with the Atlantic Fleet, participating in various diplomatic and military missions. She made two Mediterranean deployments in 1909 and 1913 to protect American interests amid regional unrest. She was involved in the response to the Balkan Wars and the U.S. occupation of Veracruz in 1914. After the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, she primarily escorted convoys across the Atlantic and served as a training vessel. Post-war, she ferried American soldiers back from Europe, making six round trips and transporting approximately 8,800 men. Decommissioned in 1921 and renamed Missoula in 1920, she remained in reserve until struck in 1930 under the London Naval Treaty and was sold for scrap in 1935. Her service highlights the transitional period in naval design and her role in U.S. naval diplomacy and wartime logistics.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.