USS Chattanooga (C-16/PG-30/CL-18) was a protected cruiser in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the second Navy ship named for the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Construction Chattanooga was one of six Denver-class protected cruisers ordered for the US Navy on 14 December 1899. She was laid down at the Crescent Shipyard of Elizabethport, New Jersey on 29 March 1900, and launched on 7 March 1903. Construction was much slower than contracted (the contracted completion date was 14 June 1902), and when the shipbuilding trust that owned the Crescent Shipyard, the US Government cancelled the contract and took possession of the part-completed ship, which was moved to the New York Navy Yard for finishing in October 1903. Chattanooga was commissioned on 11 October 1904. After sea trials in January 1905, during which she reached a speed of in a four-hour trial, she reported to the Atlantic Fleet. Service history Pre-war service Chattanooga'''s first cruise following shakedown was to the Caribbean, from which she returned to New York City to join the squadron which cleared for Cherbourg, France 18 June 1905. At Cherbourg, received on board the body of John Paul Jones, which the squadron brought home to the United States Naval Academy, arriving at Annapolis 23 July. Through the remainder of the year, Chattanooga aided in training men of the Maine and Massachusetts Naval Militia, and cruised briefly in the Caribbean. On 28 December she cleared San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the Suez Canal and duty in the Pacific. Between 29 April 1906, when she arrived at Cavite, P.I., and 10 August 1910, when she reported at Puget Sound Navy Yard for inactivation, Chattanooga joined the Asiatic Fleet in its winter operations in the Philippines and summer cruises to China, aiding in representing America's strength and interest in the Orient. Chattanooga was decommissioned at Puget Sound Navy Yard 17 September 1910. World War IChattanooga was placed in reserve commission 31 August 1912, remaining at Puget Sound, and in full commission 21 April 1914, for duty in Mexican waters. Through 1915 and 1916, she cruised to protect American interests from the disorder of the Mexican Revolution, and this duty continued after America's entrance into World War I until May 1917. Chattanooga then sailed through the Panama Canal for several months of patrol duties in the Caribbean, searching for German raiders. From July 1917, she escorted convoys from the