USS Massachusetts BB-2
USS Massachusetts BB-2 is an Indiana-class battleship and the second United States Navy ship comparable to foreign battleships of its time.
Authorized in 1890, and commissioned six years later, she was a small battleship, though with heavy armor and ordnance. The ship class 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.
She was decommissioned in March 1919, under the name Coast Battleship Number 2 in anticipation that her name could be reused for USS Massachusetts (BB-54). In 1921, she was scuttled in shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico, off Pensacola, Florida, and used as a target for experimental artillery. The wreck was never scrapped, and in 1956, it was declared the property of the State of Florida. Since 1993, the wreck has been a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve and it is included in the National Register of Historic Places. It serves as an artificial reef and diving spot.
| Class and type | Indiana-class pre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement | 10,288 long tons (10,453 t) standard |
| Length | 350 ft 11 in (107.0 m) |
| Beam | 69 ft 3 in (21.1 m) |
| Draft | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
| Installed power | 9,000 ihp (6,700 kW) (design) 4 × double ended Scotch boilers later replaced by 8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers |
| Propulsion | 2 × vertical inverted triple expansion reciprocating steam engines 2 × shafts |
| Speed | 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) (design) |
| Range | 4,900 nmi (9,100 km; 5,600 mi) |
| Complement | 473 officers and men |
| Armament | 2 × twin 13 in (330 mm)/35 caliber guns 4 × twin 8 in (203 mm)/35 caliber guns 4 × single 6 in (152 mm)/40 caliber guns removed 1908 12 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber guns added 1910 20 × single 6-pounder (57 mm (2.24 in)) guns 6 × single 1-pounder (37 mm (1.46 in)) guns 4 × 18-inch 450 mm torpedo tubes |
| Armor | Belt: 18–8.5 in (460–220 mm) 13″ turrets: 15 in (380 mm) Hull: 5 in (130 mm) 8″ turrets: 6 in (150 mm) Conning Tower: 10 in (250 mm) Deck: 3 in (76 mm) |
