[4] The Cincinnati-class cruisers were authorized by an Act of Congress approved on 7 September 1888, in the same bill with New York, Olympia and the Montgomery class.

[2][5] As the U.S. Navy began to rebuild its fleet with steel-hulled vessels to keep pace with the advance of naval technology in the 1880s, it explored a wide range of design concepts.

[3] The as-built propulsion plant proved to have a high coal consumption and could not maintain 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) for long; the boilers and engines were replaced in refits circa 1901.

[8] Eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers were installed, along with lower powered but more fuel-efficient triple-expansion engines totaling 8,500 ihp (6,300 kW) for a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

[7] Raleigh also engaged in the early part of the Philippine–American War, while Cincinnati protected American citizens and interests during political unrest in the Caribbean.

After the US entered World War I in 1917, Raleigh operated from Brazil, and in mid-1918 joined Cincinnati in the Gulf of Mexico.