The keel of the USS “Florida” (BB-30) was laid during a ceremony at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on this date in 1909. It was a Florida-class dreadnought battleship which was commissioned in May of 1910. The ship had a displacement of 21,825 tons, was 521 feet long, and traveled at a maximum speed of 21 knots per hour. The Florida was one of the first ships utilized during the American occupation of Veracruz, Mexico, and also served with the 6th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet which patrolled the North Sea during World War I. The ship remained in service until 1930 and, in accordance with the London Navy Treaty of 1930, was decommissioned and scrapped in 1932.
~Florida Historical Society
