 Connecticut was laid down on 10 March 1903 and launched on 29 September 1904 by the Brooklyn Navy Yard . She was sponsored by Miss Alice B. Welles , granddaughter of Gideon Welles , Secretary of the Navy during the American Civil War . A crowd of over 30 @,@ 000 people attended the launch , as did many of the Navy 's ships . The battleships Texas , Massachusetts , Iowa , Kearsarge , Illinois , Alabama , Maine , and Missouri were at the ceremony , along with the protected cruisers Columbia and Minneapolis and the auxiliary cruiser Prairie . 
