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. After sea trials in January 1905, during which she reached a speed of in a four-hour trial, she reported to the Atlantic Fleet. On 29 June, she served as leading honor escort guarding President Woodrow Wilson's departure from France in George Washington, then sailed on to call at German and Belgian ports before arriving in the Mediterranean for service as flagship for U.S. Naval Forces, Turkish Waters. Cruising primarily in the Black Sea, she also served in the Adriatic in connection with the disposal of ships of the former Austro-Hungarian Navy. From January through May 1921, she conducted regular patrols with the cruiser squadron assigned to European waters, and on 1 June, returned to the United States. She was decommissioned at Boston 19 July 1921, and laid up at Portsmouth Navy Yard until sold 8 March 1930.