SS Indiana (1873)

SS Indiana, probably in the early 1890s
History
Name:	SS Indiana
Namesake:	Indiana, USA
Owner:	American Line
Operator:	American Steamship Company
Port of registry:	United States
Builder:	William Cramp & Sons
Cost:	$520,000
Launched:	March 25, 1873
Maiden voyage:	October 27, 1873
Refit:	1891
Fate:	Wrecked off Cape Tosco, Mexico, April 4, 1909
General characteristics
Class and type:	Pennsylvania class passenger-cargo ship
Tonnage:	3,104 gross
Length:	343 ft
Beam:	43 ft
Depth of hold:	32 ft 2 in
Propulsion:	Compound (later triple expansion) steam engine, single screw, auxiliary sails
Speed:	11.5 knots
Capacity:	46 x 1st-, 132 2nd class and 789 steerage passengers

SS Indiana was an iron passenger-cargo steamship built by William Cramp & Sons in 1873. The third of a series of four Pennsylvania-class vessels, Indiana and her three sister ships – Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois – were the largest iron ships ever built in the United States at the time of their construction, and among the first to be fitted with compound steam engines. They were also the first ships to challenge British dominance of the trade since the American Civil War.

Though soon outclassed by newer vessels, Indiana was to enjoy a substantial 36-year career, a highlight of which was her transportation of United States President Ulysses S. Grant on the first leg of his celebrated 1877–78 world tour. After 24 years of transatlantic crossings, Indiana was sold for Pacific service, before being requisitioned as a troopship for service during the Spanish–American War. She was wrecked off Isla Santa Margarita, Mexico, in 1909.

The four Pennsylvania class liners were constructed at a cost of $520,000 each by William Cramp & Sons on behalf of the American Steamship Company (ASC), a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The Railroad intended to utilize the vessels to bring European immigrants direct to Philadelphia, thus ensuring the company a steady stream of customers. In recognition of this purpose, the four ships—Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio—were named after the four states serviced by the Railroad. Design of the ships was entrusted to Charles H. Cramp of the Cramp & Sons shipyard, and Barnabas H. Bartol, a director of the ASC.

At a planned 3,000 gross tons apiece, the ships would be 1,000 tons larger than any iron ship previously constructed in the United States, and Cramp & Sons was forced to undertake a substantial upgrade of its facilities to complete them. The company established an entirely new shipyard for construction of the vessels, serviced by its own blacksmith, engine, boiler and carpentry shops, as well as providing it with a 700-foot outfitting wharf. Cost of the real estate alone was in excess of $265,000, and Cramp & Sons was obliged to incorporate as the William Cramp & Sons Engine and Ship Building Company in order to limit the financial risk involved. Fortuitously, Cramp & Sons had only recently built its first compound marine steam engine, and consequently the shipyard was able to install the vessels with the latest in engine technology.