U.S.S. Indiana. Warship photograph collection

USS Indiana (BB-1) was the 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. Indiana served in the Spanish–American War (1898) and took part in both the blockade and battle of Santiago de Cuba. After the war she quickly became obsolete and used mostly as a training ship. She was first decommissioned in January 1919 and was shortly after reclassified Coast Battleship Number 1 so that the name Indiana could be reused. She was sunk in shallow water as a target in aerial bombing tests in 1920.