The USS “Florida” (BB-30), a dreadnought battleship, was commissioned into the United States Navy on this date in 1911. She was armed with a main battery of ten 12-inch guns, sixteen 5-inch guns, and two torpedo tubes. The USS Florida served during World War I with the 6th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet and was also involved in the 1914 taking of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution. The ship continued operations in the Atlantic until 1931 when she was decommissioned and scrapped. The ship’s bell is on permanent display at the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee.
~Florida Historical Society
