After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, she was used first to train gunners for the expanding wartime fleet, and later to escort convoys to Europe.
Design work on the Virginia class began in 1899, after the United States' victory in the Spanish–American War, which had demonstrated the need for sea-going battleships suitable for operations abroad, finally resolving the debate between proponents of that type and those who favored low-freeboard types useful for coastal defense.
As was standard for capital ships of the period, Virginia carried four 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged in her hull on the broadside.
Sea trials followed off Rockland, Maine,[3] in which the ship recorded an official speed of 19.734 knots (36.547 km/h; 22.709 mph).,[4] before proceeding to Oyster Bay, Long Island, where she was reviewed by President Theodore Roosevelt from 2 to 4 September.
In the meantime, a revolution had begun in Cuba against President T. Estrada Palma, who requested United States intervention to protect his government.
The ship returned to the Norfolk Navy Yard for repairs that lasted from 3 November 1906 to 18 February 1907,[3] following a collision with the steamship Monroe in the Norfolk-Cape Henry Channel.
[3] An international fleet that included British, French, German, Japanese, and Austro-Hungarian warships joined the US Navy at the event.
Virginia and the rest of her division then cruised the east coast, stopping in Newport, New York City, and Provincetown, followed by night battle training in Cape Cod Bay.
Over the following ten days, the ship's crew made preparations for a circumnavigation of the globe by the Great White Fleet.
The press in both countries began to call for war, and Roosevelt hoped to use the demonstration of naval might to deter Japanese aggression.
[11] After leaving Australia, the fleet turned north for the Philippines, stopping in Manila, before continuing on to Japan where a welcoming ceremony was held in Yokohama.
The ships then crossed the Atlantic to return to Hampton Roads on 22 February 1909, having traveled 46,729 nautical miles (86,542 km; 53,775 mi).
The following fifteen months were spent conducting the normal peacetime training routine, with various maneuvers off the Virginia Capes and Newport.
She and her sister ship Georgia left on 11 April, bound for the Boston Navy Yard, arriving on the 13th for another round of periodic maintenance.
Virginia operated there out of Tampico and Veracruz from 15 February 1913 to 15 March before returning to the east coast of the United States for more training.
[3] Upon the United States' entry into the war, the US Navy seized all German merchant ships that had been interned earlier in the conflict.
Virginia's crew went aboard several German vessels in Boston, including Amerika, Cincinnati, Wittekind, Köln, and Ockenfels.
Repair work to Virginia was finally completed by 27 August, allowing the ship to steam to Port Jefferson, New York, where she joined the 3rd Division, Battleship Force of the Atlantic Fleet.
He reported that 87 percent of the enlisted men from Virginia had never served aboard a warship, and most of the officers were themselves insufficiently trained.
With the war over, Virginia was equipped to transport American soldiers back from France; the modifications included extra bunks and mess facilities.
"[15] Her last voyage ended on 4 July 1919 in Boston, and in the course of the five trips, she carried 6,037 soldiers back to the United States.
[3] Virginia christened the Commonwealth dry dock at Boston in January 1920 by gliding through a string of flowers draped across its entrance and "cutting the ribbon" for the important new facility,[16] and then remained there for a year, being reclassified as BB-13 on 17 July 1920 and decommissioned on 13 August.
[3][17] On 5 September, Virginia and New Jersey were anchored off the Diamond Shoals lightship, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina for the tests, which were conducted by the Martin NBS-1 bombers of the 2nd Bombardment Group.