Indiana-class battleship

USS Indiana – the lead ship of the class
Class overview
Builders:	William Cramp & Sons (Indiana and Massachusetts) Union Iron Works (Oregon)
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	USS Maine and USS Texas
Succeeded by:	USS Iowa
Cost:	$6,000,000 Indiana (BB-1) and Massachusetts (BB-2) $6,500,000 Oregon (BB-3)
In commission:	20 November 1895 – 4 October 1919
Planned:	3
Completed:	3
Retired:	3
Preserved:	0
General characteristics
Type:	Pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	10,288 long tons (10,453 t; 11,523 short tons) (standard)
Length:	350 ft 11 in (106.96 m) (overall) 358 ft (109 m) (waterline)
Beam:	69 ft 3 in (21.11 m) (wl)
Draft:	27 ft (8.2 m)
Installed power:	4 × double ended Scotch boilers later replaced by 8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 9,000 ihp (6.7 MW) (design) 9,700–11,000 ihp (7.2–8.2 MW) (trial)
Propulsion:	2 sets vertical inverted triple expansion reciprocating steam engines 2 × screws
Speed:	15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) (design) 15.6–16.8 kn (28.9–31.1 km/h; 18.0–19.3 mph) (trial)
Range:	4,900 nmi (9,100 km; 5,600 mi) (BB-1 & 2) 5,600 nmi (10,400 km; 6,400 mi) (BB-3)
Complement:	32 officers 441 men
Armament:	4 × 13 in (330 mm)/35 caliber guns (2x2) 8 × 8 in (203 mm)/35 cal guns (4x2) 4 × 6 in (152 mm)/40 cal guns 20 × 6-pounder 57 mm (2.2 in) guns 6 × 1-pounder 37 mm (1.5 in) guns 6 × 18 in (457 mm) Whitehead torpedo tubes
Armor:	Harvey and NS Belt: 4–18 in (102–457 mm) Turrets (main): 15 in (381 mm) Barbettes (main): 17 in (432 mm) Turrets (secondary): 5–8 in (127–203 mm) Barbettes (secondary): 8-in Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm)

The three Indiana-class battleships were the first battleships to be built by the United States Navy that were comparable to contemporary European ships, such as the British HMS Hood. Authorized in 1890 and commissioned between November 1895 and April 1896, they were relatively small battleships with heavy armor and ordnance that pioneered the use of an intermediate battery. Specifically intended for coastal defense, their freeboard was insufficient to deal well with the waves of the open ocean. Their turrets lacked counterweights, and the main belt armor was placed too low to be effective under most conditions.

The ships were named Indiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon and were designated Battleship Number 1 through 3. All three served in the Spanish–American War, although Oregon—which was stationed on the West Coast—had to cruise 14,000 nautical miles (26,000 km; 16,000 mi) around South America to the East Coast first. After the war, Oregon returned to the Pacific and participated in the Philippine–American War and Boxer Rebellion, while her sister ships were restricted to training missions in the Atlantic Ocean. After 1903, the obsolete battleships were de- and recommissioned several times, the last time during World War I when Indiana and Massachusetts served as training ships, while Oregon was a transport escort for the Siberian Intervention.