USS Iowa (BB-4)

USS Iowa (BB-4)

USS Iowa (Battleship No. 4) was the first ship commissioned in honor of the 29th state and is notable for being America's first seagoing battleship. Iowa saw substantial action in the Spanish–American War. While she was an improvement over the Indiana class because of a superior design, the warship became obsolete quickly in the first quarter of the 20th century, and was used as target practice and sunk 23 March 1923 in Panama Bay by a salvo of 14-inch shells.