Denver-class cruiser

USS Denver at the North Atlantic Fleet review in 1905
Class overview
Name	Denver class
Builders	Various
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Columbia class
Succeeded by	St. Louis class
Built	1900–1905
In commission	1903–1929
Completed	6
Lost	1
Scrapped	5
General characteristics (as built)[1]
Type	Protected Cruiser
Displacement	3,200 long tons (3,251 t)
Length	308 ft 10 in (94.13 m)
Beam	44 ft (13 m)
Draft	15 ft 9 in (4.80 m)
Installed power	6 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers (275 psi) 2 × triple-expansion engines 4,700 ihp (3,500 kW) (design)
Propulsion	2 × screws
Speed	16.41 knots (30.39 km/h; 18.88 mph) (trial)
Range	2,200 nmi (4,100 km; 2,500 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	19 officers and 308 enlisted
Armament	10 × 5 in (127 mm)/50 caliber Mark 5 rapid firing (RF) guns 6 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.2 in)) RF guns 2 × 1-pounder (37 mm (1.5 in)) RF guns 4 × .30 cal. (7.62 mm) machine guns
Armor	Deck: 2+1⁄2 in (64 mm) slopes, 5⁄16 in (8 mm) flat, 1 in (25 mm) ends Casemates: 1+3⁄4 in (44 mm)

The Denver-class cruisers were a group of six protected cruisers in service with the United States Navy from 1903 through 1929. Authorized by Congress in 1899 as part of the naval buildup touched off by the Spanish–American War, they were designed with peacetime duties on foreign stations and tropical service in mind, specifically patrolling Latin America and the Caribbean. However, they had insufficient armament, armor, and speed for combat with most other cruisers. Thus, they were also called "peace cruisers" and were effectively gunboats.^[1] They were intended to augment the Montgomery class in these roles.^[2]