Indiana class battleship

The three "Indiana"-class battleships were the first modern battleships to be built by the United States Navy. All launched in 1893, they were designed for coastal defense, being too low in the water to deal well with the waves of the open ocean. However, despite their low freeboard, they gave good service in the Spanish-American War and for over a decade afterward, until dreadnought battleships began to come into the fleet in numbers.

Design and development

The first ship "Indiana" carried four 13-inch guns in two round double turrets. Lacking a counterweight to offset the gun barrels, this caused the ship to list in the direction the guns were trained.

The 8-inch guns were in turret mounted pairs. The smaller 6-inch guns had individual unprotected mounts. mounted on a gundeck at the main deck level and fired through ports in the bulkheads.

The three "Indiana"s cost three million dollars apiece.

Ships in class

USS "Indiana" (BB-1)

* Designation: BB-1 ("later redesignated Coastal Battleship No. 1")
* Laid down: 7 May 1891
* Launched: 28 February 1893
* Commissioned: 20 November 1895
* Operations: Bombardment of San Juan, Battle of Santiago de Cuba, World War I training missions
* Victories: Spanish destroyers "Furor" and "Pluton"
* Fate: Decommissioned 31 May 1919 for use as a gunnery target

USS "Massachusetts" (BB-2)

* Designation: BB-2 ("later redesignated Coastal Battleship No. 2")
* Laid down: 25 June 1891
* Launched: 10 June 1893
* Commissioned: 10 June 1896
* Operations: Bombardment of San Juan, Battle of Santiago de Cuba, World War I training missions
* Victories: Spanish cruiser "Reina Mercedes"
* Fate: Decommissioned 31 March 1919 for use as a gunnery target

USS "Oregon" (BB-3)

* Designation: BB-3
* Laid down: 19 November 1891
* Launched: 26 October 1893
* Commissioned: 16 July 1896
* Operations: 14,000 cruise during the Spanish-American War,
Philippine-American War, Asiatic Fleet
* Victories: Spanish cruiser "Reina Mercedes"
* Fate: Decommissioned 17 July 1920, initially for preservation but sold for scrap 15 March 1956

See also

*Royal Sovereign class battleship - contemparanoeus British ships
* List of battleships of the United States Navy
* List of battleships
* List of ship launches in 1893
* List of ship commissionings in 1895
* List of ship commissionings in 1896
* List of ship decommissionings in 1919
* List of ship decommissionings in 1920
* Battleship Illinois (replica)

External links

* http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/battleships/massachusetts/bb2-mass.html - U.S. Navy photos of BB-2
* http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/02.htm - Navsource.org photos of BB-2
* http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/flshipwrecks/mas.htm - U.S. National Park Service photos of BB-2 wreckage off Fort Pickens, Florida