View source for USS Terror (BM-4)

{{other ships|USS Terror}}
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|Ship image=[[Image:USS Terror LOC det 4a05511.jpg|300px|USS Terror]]
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1907}}
|Ship name=USS ''Terror''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=23 June 1874
|Ship builder=[[William Cramp & Sons]], [[Philadelphia]]
|Ship yard number=195
|Ship laid down=1874
|Ship launched=24 March 1883
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=15 April 1896
|Ship decommissioned=8 May 1906
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=31 December 1915
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|Ship fate=Presumed scrapped, 1930s
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type={{sclass|Amphitrite|monitor|4}} [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|3990|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|263|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|55|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|14|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=[[Steam engine]]
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|Ship speed={{convert|12|kn|lk=in}}
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|Ship complement=150 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=*4 × [[10"/30 caliber gun|{{convert|10|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/caliber]] breechloader rifles
* 2 × {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}} rifles
* 2 × [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|3-pounder]] guns
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'''USS ''Terror''''' (Monitor No. 4)—the totally rebuilt version of the earlier [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]] {{USS|Agamenticus|1863|2}}, which had shared the ''Terror's'' name—was an iron-hulled, twin-screw, double-turreted monitor of the {{sclass|Amphitrite|monitor|4}}; on June 23, 1874 by order of President [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s Secretary of Navy [[George M. Robeson]] in response to the [[Virginius Incident]] laid down (''scrapped and rebuilt'') at [[Philadelphia]] contracted by [[William Cramp & Sons]]. Her construction progressed over the next three years until suspended in 1877. Work was resumed six years later, and the monitor was launched on 24 March 1883.

Delivered to the [[United States Navy|Navy]] in 1887, the still-unfinished warship was taken to the [[New York Navy Yard]] for completion. Over the next seven years, she fitted out at a leisurely pace. ''Terror'' was finally commissioned at [[New York City]] on 15 April 1896.

==Service history==

===Spanish–American War===
Assigned to the [[North Atlantic Squadron]], ''Terror'' operated off the east coast of the [[United States]], from [[Tompkinsville, New York]], to [[Hampton Roads]] and [[Fort Monroe|Fort Monroe, Virginia]]; and from [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey]] to [[Charleston, South Carolina]], through the winter of 1897 and 1898. On 5 May 1897 she collided with steam [[yacht]] "Penelope" off [[Hoffman Island]], [[New York City|New York]] doing $500 in damage to the Yacht.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435066693086&view=1up&seq=32 |page=26 |title=Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1898 |location=Washington |publisher=Government Printing Office |date=1897|via=Haithi Trust |access-date=31 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030180/1897-05-06/ed-1/?sp=7&st=text&r=0.165,0.251,0.521,0.515,0 |title=Image 7 of New York journal and advertiser (New York [N.Y.]), May 6, 1897 |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=31 March 2020}}</ref> The mysterious explosion which wrecked the [[armored cruiser]] {{USS|Maine|ACR-1|2}} at [[Havana]] Harbor on 15 February 1898 materially increased tensions between the United States and [[Spain]]. ''Terror'' sped south from Tompkinsville to join the fleet concentrating in southern waters and arrived at [[Key West]] on 2 April 1898.

On 22 April, after receiving orders from [[President of the United States|President]] [[William McKinley]], [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[William T. Sampson]], commanding the North Atlantic Squadron from {{USS|New York|ACR-2|2}} (Armored Cruiser No. 2), deployed his fleet in preparation for a blockade of the [[Cuba]]n coast. Three days later, the United States [[Declaration of war|declared war]] on Spain, beginning the [[Spanish–American War]]. ''Terror'', which had arrived off [[Cardenas de Cuba|Cardenas, Cuba]], on the 24th, captured a Cuban vessel—''Almansas''—on the first day of hostilities, but later released her. Over the next two days, the monitor took two Spanish ships, ''Ambrosia Bolivar'' and ''Guido'', and sent the prizes to [[Florida]].

Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the Spanish Navy's ''Caribbean Squadron'' under [[Admiral]] [[Pascual Cervera y Topete|Pascual Cervera]] prompted concern in naval circles in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]. Intelligence estimates which reached Sampson noted that the Spanish fleet had departed the [[Cape Verde|Cape Verde Islands]] on the morning of 29 April. Sampson reacted by deciding to meet Cervera's fleet at [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]], the nearest Spanish base in the [[Caribbean|West Indies]]. With his flag in ''New York'', Rear Admiral Sampson scraped together a makeshift squadron—which included ''Terror'' and a sistership, {{USS|Amphitrite|1883|2}} (Monitor No. 2), as well as battleships {{USS|Iowa|BB-4|2}} (Battleship No. 4) and {{USS|Indiana|BB-1|2}}  (Battleship No. 1), {{USS|Porter|TB-6|2}} (Torpedo Boat No. 6), two auxiliaries and a collier—and departed Key West on 3 May.

''Terror'' and ''Amphitrite'' broke down frequently en route and materially delayed Sampson's passage. At one point, ''New York'' took both ''Terror'' and ''Porter'' in tow. Upon arrival off San Juan on 12 May, the Americans found only a couple of minor Spanish gunboats in the harbor. In order to "develop their positions and strength", Sampson decided to conduct a brief bombardment of the shore defenses. The squadron stood in for their target at 04:00, on 12 May 1898, with the ships cleared for action and the lights of the town clearly visible in the predawn darkness. Sounding general quarters at 05:00, the Americans opened fire within 15 minutes, and the Spanish began returning fire at 05:23.

''Terror'' stood in, fifth in column, duelling with the Spanish shore batteries in a spirited engagement for the next three hours. As the action wore on, a tremendous volume of white smoke restricted visibility and caused the Admiral to signal "use large guns only" to cut down on the volume of smoke.

''Terror'' expended thirty-one 10-inch shells in three firing passes against the fortifications at San Juan, and scored a direct hit on a battery which the monitor's commanding officer, Capt. Nicholl Ludlow, considered "the most vicious". ''Terror'', which had moved close inshore to gain a better firing position, kept up a spirited fire until 08:15, when she broke off action and rejoined Sampson's squadron retiring to the northwest.

The monitor subsequently resumed her cruising operations in the West Indies and off Puerto Rico for the duration of hostilities with Spain, into September 1898. At the conclusion of the war, ''Terror'' sailed north for Hampton Roads. Placed in reserve at [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] on 18 October 1898, the monitor was decommissioned and placed in ordinary on 25 February 1899.

===Later career===
Taken to [[Annapolis, Maryland]], late in 1901, ''Terror'' was recommissioned for service at the [[United States Naval Academy|Naval Academy]] and subsequently served as a practice ship for [[midshipmen]]. She conducted a summer midshipman cruise in 1905. Later taken up to Philadelphia, ''Terror'' was placed in reserve on 11 September 1905 and was decommissioned and laid up at [[League Island]] on 8 May 1906. Struck from the Navy list on 31 December 1915, ''Terror'' lay at [[Indian Head, Maryland]] as a test hulk at the [[Indian Head Naval Surface Weapons Center|Naval Proving Grounds]], before being placed on the sale list in June 1920. Although sold for scrap iron on 10 March 1921, ''Terror'' sank off [[Shooters Island]], New York, sometime in the 1920s. Records indicate that the hulk was raised by the Sorenson Wrecking Company in early 1930, while operating under contract with the Navy. This hulk was presumably scrapped soon thereafter.

==References==
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/terror-ii.html}}
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{{Amphitrite class monitor}}

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[[Category:Amphitrite-class monitors]]
[[Category:Ships built by William Cramp & Sons]]
[[Category:1883 ships]]
[[Category:Spanish–American War monitors of the United States]]