USS Indiana (BB-1) - Design and Construction

Design and Construction

Indiana was constructed based on a modified version of a design drawn up by a US navy policy board in 1889 for a short-range battleship. The original design was part of an ambitious naval construction plan to build 33 battleships and 167 smaller ships. The United States Congress saw the plan as an attempt to end the U.S. policy of isolationism and did not approve it, but a year later the United States House of Representatives approved funding for three coast defense battleships, which would become Indiana and her sister ships Massachusetts and Oregon. The "coast defense" designation was reflected in Indiana's moderate endurance, relatively small displacement and low freeboard, or distance from the deck to the water, which limited sea-going capability. She was however heavily armed and armored; Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships describes her design as "attempting too much on a very limited displacement."

Construction of the ships was authorized on 30 June 1890 and the contract for Indiana—not including guns and armor—was awarded to William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who offered to build it for $3,020,000. The total cost of the ship was almost twice as high, approximately $6,000,000. The contract specified the ship had to be built in three years, but slow delivery of armor plates caused a two-year delay. Indiana's keel was laid down on 7 May 1891 and she was launched on 28 February 1893, attended by around 10,000 people, including President Benjamin Harrison, several members of his cabinet and the two senators from Indiana. During her fitting-out in early March 1894, the ship undertook a preliminary sea trial to test her speed and machinery. At this point her side armor, guns, turrets and conning tower had not yet been fitted, and her official trials would not take place until October 1895 due to the delays in armor deliveries.