USS Indiana BB-1

USS Indiana (BB-1) was the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time. Authorized in 1890 and commissioned five years later, she was a small battleship, though with heavy armor and ordnance. The ship also pioneered the use of an intermediate battery. She was designed for coastal defense and as a result, her decks were not safe from high waves on the open ocean.

In 1910, Indiana was used to test the practicality of Lacoste Ship Brakes. These were found to decrease the ship’s overall speed and were too difficult to maintain.

She was decommissioned for the third and final time in January 1919 and was shortly after reclassified Coast Battleship Number 1 so that the name Indiana could be reused (on the never completed USS Indiana BB-50). She was sunk in shallow water as a target in aerial bombing tests in 1920 and her hull was sold for scrap in 1924.

General characteristics
Class and type:	Indiana-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	10,288 long tons (10,453 t) (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 (design)
Propulsion:	2 sets vertical inverted triple expansion reciprocating steam engines 2 × screws
Speed:	15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) (design)
Range:	4,900 nmi (9,100 km; 5,600 mi)
Complement:	32 officers 441 men
Armament:	2 × twin 13 in (330 mm)/35 caliber guns 4 × twin 8 in (203 mm)/35 cal guns 4 × 6 in (152 mm)/40 cal guns removed 190812 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns added 191020 × 6-pounder 57 mm (2.2 in) guns6 × 1-pounder 37 mm (1.5 in) guns4 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Harveyized steel Belt: 18–8.5 in (460–220 mm)Turrets (main): 15 in (380 mm)Hull: 5 in (130 mm)Conventional nickel-steel Conning tower: 10 in (250 mm)Turrets (secondary): 6 in (150 mm)Deck: 3 in (76 mm)
General characteristics (Later refits)
Installed power:	8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers (1905)9,000 ihp (6.7 MW)
Armament:	4 × 6 in/40 cal guns removed (1908)12 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns added (1910)

USS Indiana BB-1

USS Indiana seen in the 1910's. — USS Indiana seen in the 1910’s.

USS Indiana seen in early 1898 — USS Indiana seen in the 1910’s.

Lacoste Ship Brake Trials

The U.S. Navy experimented with “ship brakes” by installing the Lacoste system on USS Indiana in 1910. The brakes swung out from amidship like wings and were effective but the Navy determined they slowed the ship’s overall speed and were too difficult to maintain.