Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Four ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Illinois in honor of the 21st state. The first USS Illinois (sloop), a screw sloop-of war, was laid down but never completed. The second USS Illinois (BB-7), lead ship of her class of battleship, served for over half a century and was eventually renamed Prairie State. The third USS Illinois was a diesel-powered trawler acquired by the Navy, renamed USS Albatross (AM-71), and employed as a minesweeper. The fourth USS Illinois (BB-65), would have been a Iowa-class battleship, if her construction had not been cancelled before she was launched. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.