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. They were intended to augment the in these roles. Design and construction Armament The as-built main armament was ten /50 caliber Mark 5 rapid firing (RF) guns, arranged one each fore and aft and the remainder in casemates along the sides; the hull was cut away to allow ahead and astern fire from the end casemates. Secondary armament was six 6-pounder () RF guns, two 1-pounder () RF guns, and four .30 caliber (7.62 mm) machine guns, possibly the M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun. Armor Armor protection was very light. The protective deck was on the slopes, in the flat middle, and at the ends. The 5-inch gun casemates had armor. Engineering The engineering plant included six coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers supplying steam to two vertical triple-expansion engines, totaling for as designed. On trials Galveston achieved at . The low design speed relegated these ships to the gunboat role or commerce raiding against slower merchant ships. The ships normally carried 467 tons of coal for a service range of at ; this could be increased to 675 tons. Refits By 1918 the forwardmost casemated pair of 5-inch guns had been removed for a total of eight. By 1921 a 3"/50 caliber (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun was added. The 6-pounders remained at this time; the 1-pounders and the machine guns had probably been removed. Service Most of the class served in Latin America and the Caribbean on missions ranging from protection of American citizens and interests, disaster relief, and diplomatic negotiations to military intervention. Galveston and Chattanooga served primarily on the Asiatic Station based in the Philippines until World War I, when they were convoy escorts. Shortly after the war Galveston and Des Moines served in the North Russia Intervention, and Galveston patrolled the Caribbean 1924–30. In January 1924 Tacoma grounded and was lost at Blanquilla Reef near Veracruz, Mexico. Two of the class were decommissioned in