U.S.S. Indiana (1893)

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U.S.S. Indiana (1893)
Builder: William Cramp & Sons[1]
Ordered: 3 June, 1890[2]
Laid down: 7 May, 1891[3]
Launched: 28 Feb, 1893[4]
Commissioned: 20 Nov, 1895[5]
Expended: 1 Nov, 1920
Fate: as target
USS Indiana underway during speed trials, 1895

U.S.S. Indiana was one of three Indiana class pre-dreadnoughts completed for the United States Navy in the mid-1890s.

Construction

The contract for the United States Coastline Battleship Indiana was signed on 19 November, 1890 for the price of $3,063,333 with a completion time of three years.

The Indiana was laid down 7 May, 1891 by William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company of Philadelphia, PA and was built to design specifications furnished by the Navy Department.[6]

Launch

Battleship No. 1 was launched 28 February, 1893. Indiana was sponsored by Miss Jessie Miller, daughter of the Attorney General of the United States and commissioned 20 November, 1895, Captain Robley D. Evans in command.[7]

Armament

The main battery consisted of four 13-in, 35 calibre Mark 1 breech loading rifles mounted in pairs in two Mark 2 turrets. These turrets were trained by steam power and the guns elevated hydraulically. These turrets were mounted on the centerline with one forward and one aft of the superstructure on the main deck.

Eight 8-in, 35 calibre breech loading rifles were mounted in pairs in four Mark 7 turrets. The turrets were trained by steam power and the guns elevated by hand. Two of the turrets were mounted to port and two to starboard.

Four 6-in, 40 calibre breech loading rifles were mounted on Mark 5 central pivots and were completely operated by hand.

The secondary battery consisted of twenty 6-pdr Hotchkiss rapid fire guns, six 1-pdr Hotchkiss rapid fire guns, and four light machine guns in the military tops.

While the original design called for six 18-in torpedo tubes, Indiana was only outfitted with four. The torpedo tubes fired Whitehead torpedoes and were mounted on the berth deck.[8]

Armour

Belt

Indiana's armour belt was made of nickel steel utilizing the Harvey process extending through the machinery and boiler spaces and to the bases of the 13-in gun turrets. The armour extended 3 feet above and 4 feet 6 inches below the load water line amidships. The armour diminished to 4 feet 2 1/2 inches below the load water line at the ends.

The outside surfaced conformed to the shape of the hull with a thickness of 18 inches from the top of the armour down to 12 inches below the load water line. At this point, the armour tapered down to 8 inches at the bottom.

At each end of the belt, there was an athwartship belt 14 inches thick. These atwartship belts along with the port and starboard water line belts formed the vertical bulkheads of the armoured citadel. The citadel was covered with a 2 3/4 inch nickel steel armoured deck.[9]

Casemate

A 5 inch armoured casemate consisting of two plates 1/2 inch thick and one 4 inch plate extended from the top of the armour belt to the main deck.[10]

Turrets and Guns

The turrets for the 13-in guns were protected by 17 inch thick nickel steel with the bases of the turrets protected by barbettes of the same thickness.

The 8-in gun turrets were 6 inches thick with 2 inch thick top plating. The sighting towers were 5 inches and 3 inches thick. The barbettes of the 8-in gun turrets were 8 inches thick on the outboard side and 6 inches thick on the inboard side.

The 6-in guns were protected by 5 inches of armour with a combination of two inner 1/2 inch thick and one outer 4 inch thick armour sections.

The armoured protection for the 6-pdr guns on the main deck was 2 inches thick.

The armoured protection for the 1-pdr guns at the ends of the ship consisted an increased thickness of 2 inches as the gun ports were folded when in use to act as a shield.[11]

Conning Tower

The conning tower, located above the superstructure deck, was forged hollow from steel 10 inches thick with an inside diameter of 6 feet 11 inches.

An armoured tube 7 inches thick with an inside diameter of 12 inches extended from the conning tower to the armoured deck and provided protection for electric wires, voice tubes, engine room telegraph connections, engine tell-tales, and the steering gear.[12]

Performance

Practical Operation

The Indiana's hull and armour was designed for a draught of 24 feet with a load of 400 tons of coal, but in practice the Indiana would go to sea with a full load of more than 1,400 tons. This increased the draught to more than 27 feet which left the armour belt completely submerged rendering it practically ineffective. This full load condition also reduced the already low freeboard resulting in the secondary battery of 6-in guns being extremely wet and virtually unusable in all but the calmest of seas.

The twin 8-in gun turrets were also cramped and with the guns located close together inside of the turret, the resultant blast interference negatively effected the accuracy of these guns.[13]

Service

Pre war

Following fitting out at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Indiana trained off the coast of New England. This duty continued until the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, when Indiana formed part of Admiral William Sampson's squadron. The 10 ships sailed south to intercept Almirante Cervera's Spanish squadron, known to be en route to the Caribbean. Indiana took part in bombardment of San Juan 12 May, 1898, and returned to Key West with the squadron to guard Havana 18 May. After it was discovered that Almirante Cervera's was at Santiago, Admiral William Sampson joined Schley there 1 June and took up the blockade.

In late June, Army units arrived and were landed for an assault on Santiago. Almirante Cervera's saw that his situation was desperate and began his gallant dash out of Santiago 3 July, 1898, hoping to outrun the American blockaders.[14]

At 0937 on 3 July, 1898, Indiana noted shots fired and flags hoisted from the USS Iowa indicating that the enemy ships were escaping. The lead ship of the escaping squadron, the Infanta Maria Teresa was flying the flag of Almirante Cervera and was followed by the Vizcaya, Cristobol Colon, Oquendo, and the destroyers Furor and Pluton. As the vessels headed west, the US vessels headed in the same direction keeping abreast of the fleeing ships.

Indiana fired on all of the ships as the came out of the harbor and continued the action later firing principally at the Infanta Maria Teresa, Oquendo, Furor, and Pluton. Indiana's 8-in and 6-in guns were directed primarily on the Furor and Pluton which were destroyed with the assistance of gunfire from the USS Gloucester, sinking the Pluton and forcing the Furor aground.

One of the 13-in rounds from the Indiana was observed to have struck the Infanta Maria Teresa under the quarterdeck where a fire was observed afterwards.

The combined efforts of the US ships sank or forced aground all of the vessels of the Spanish squadron and by noon, the last of the Spanish ships had hauled down their colors.[15]

Indiana returned to her previous pattern of training exercises and fleet maneuvers after the war and made practice cruises for midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy before decommissioning on 29 December, 1903.

The battleship recommissioned at New York Navy Yard 9 January, 1906. During this phase of her career, Indiana served with the Naval Academy Practice Squadron, sailing to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. At Queenstown, Ireland, she fired a 21-gun salute on 22 June, 1911 in honor of the coronation of King George V. This important work in training the Navy's future leaders ended in 1914 and she decommissioned at Philadelphia on 23 May, 1914.[16]

War service

Indiana recommissioned a second time 24 May, 1917, and served through the First World War as a training ship for gun crews off Tomkinsville, N.Y., and in the York River, Va.[16]

Post war

She decommissioned at Philadelphia 31 January, 1919. The name Indiana was cancelled 29 March, 1919 and she was reclassified as Coast Battleship Number 1 so that the name could be assigned to a newly authorized battleship.[16]

Ex-USS Indiana after bombing tests - 1 November, 1920

In response to General Billy Mitchell's claims that air power could defeat powerful capital ships at sea, the head of the Navy's General Board, Admiral Charles J. Badger, tasked Captain Chester Nimitz to plan their own tests of air power versus naval vessels to occur off Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay.

The test utilized the retired Indiana, which was subjected to a series of explosions to simulate actual wartime conditions. The controlled explosions consisted of an underwater explosion and one 900 pound bomb placed on the deck. The attacking airplanes dropped sand bags to simulate live ordnance.

The underwater explosives broke the seams of the battleship which caused the ship to begin sinking while the 900 pound bomb completely wrecked the ship's superstructure. The sinking vessel was towed to shallow water where her hull then came to rest on the bottom.

After the test, a photograph of the Indiana with her hull torn open and her superstructure wrecked was leaked to the public and was published in an edition of the London Times causing Royal Navy Admiral Sir Percy Scott to ask "What is the use of the battleship?"

With the publication of the photographs and the failure of the Navy Department to respond to or acknowledge the results, a hearing of the Military Affairs Committee listened to General Mitchell's professional opinion and determined that more tests were to be conducted under congressional supervision.[17]

Indiana's hulk was sold for scrap 19 March, 1924.[18]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 140.
  2. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 140.
  3. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 140.
  4. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 140.
  5. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 140.
  6. ↑ Hall, Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Vol. VII No. 4, November 1895, p. 637.
  7. ↑ Indiana-I, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command
  8. ↑ Hall, Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Vol. VII No. 4, November 1895, p. 642.
  9. ↑ Hall, Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Vol. VII No. 4, November 1895, p. 641.
  10. ↑ Ibid
  11. ↑ Hall, Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Vol. VII No. 4, November 1895, p. 641-642.
  12. ↑ Hall, Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Vol. VII No. 4, November 1895, p. 642.
  13. ↑ Friedman,U. S. Battleships, p. 27.
  14. ↑ Indiana-I, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command
  15. ↑ Captain H. C. Taylor, USN,The Annual Report of the Commanding Officer of the Indiana, Giving the Official Story of One Year in Peace and War, 10 September, 1898
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Indiana-I, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command
  17. ↑ H. Paul Jeffers, Billy Mitchell: The Life, Times, and Battles of America's Prophet of Air Power, pp. 171-176.
  18. ↑ Indiana-I, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command
  19. ↑ Register of Officers, 1896. p. 6.
  20. ↑ List and Station, July 1898. p. 5.
  21. ↑ List and Station, July 1900. p. 5.
  22. ↑ Register of Officers, 1903. p. 8.
  23. ↑ Register of Officers, 1907. p. 10.
  24. ↑ Register of Officers, 1908. p. 10.
  25. ↑ Register of Officers, 1908. p. 24.
  26. ↑ Register of Officers, 1909. p. 8.
  27. ↑ Register of Officers, 1911. p. 12.
  28. ↑ Register of Officers, 1911. p. 12.
  29. ↑ Register of Officers, 1912. p. 24.
  30. ↑ Register of Officers, 1912. p. 24.
  31. ↑ Register of Officers, 1911. p. 12.
  32. ↑ Register of Officers, 1914. p. 16.
  33. ↑ Register of Officers, 1912. p. 24.
  34. ↑ Register of Officers, 1914. p. 16.

Bibliography


Indiana Class Pre-dreadnought
  Indiana Massachusetts Oregon  
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