Authorized in 1890 and commissioned between November 1895 and April 1896, these were relatively small battleships with heavy armor and ordnance that pioneered the use of an intermediate battery.

All three served in the Spanish–American War, although Oregon—which was stationed on the West Coast—had to cruise 14,000 nautical miles (26,000 km; 16,000 mi) around South America to the East Coast first.

A policy board convened by the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy came up with an ambitious 15-year naval construction program on 16 July 1889, three years after the Maine and the Texas were authorized.

Twenty-five short-range second-rate battleships would provide home defense in both the Atlantic and Pacific and support the faster and larger long-range vessels.

With a range of roughly 2,700 nmi (5,000 km; 3,100 mi) at 10 knots and a draft of 23.5 ft (7.2 m), they would roam from the St. Lawrence River in the north to the Windward Islands and Panama in the south and would be able to enter all the ports in the southern United States.

In addition, 167 smaller ships, including rams, cruisers and torpedo boats, would be built, coming to a total cost of $281.55 million,[8][9] approximately equal to the sum of the entire US Navy budget during the previous 15 years (adjusted for inflation, $6.6 billion in 2009 dollars).

Even some supporters of naval expansion were wary; Senator Eugene Hale feared that because the proposal was so large, the entire bill would be shot down and no money appropriated for any ships.

The Indiana class, as actually built, exceeded the design in displacement by 25 percent, but most other aspects were relatively similar to the original plan.

The larger weapons were much slower firing and much heavier, but without the bigger guns, the ships would not be able to penetrate the armor of foreign battleships.

[14] This design view was reflected in their moderate coal endurance, relatively small displacement and low freeboard, which limited seagoing capability.

[12] However, they were heavily armed and armored, so much in fact that Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships describes them as "attempting too much on a very limited displacement.

"[4] They resembled the British battleship HMS Hood, but were 60 ft (18 m) shorter and featured an intermediate battery consisting of eight 8-inch guns not found in European ships,[12] giving them a very respectable amount of firepower for their time.

This meant a reduction in stability and caused a serious problem for Indiana, when both main turrets broke loose from their clamps in heavy seas a year after being commissioned.

When the ship encountered more bad weather four months later, she promptly steamed back to port for fear the clamps would break again.

[19] The ships' low freeboard greatly hindered the use of the main battery in rough weather conditions, because the deck would become awash.

This reduced the maximum arc of elevation (and thus range) to about five degrees, brought the main armor belt under water on that side, and exposed the unarmored bottom on the other.

Located too close to the waterline to allow use while moving and vulnerable to gunfire when opened, they were considered useless and were quickly reduced in number, and removed entirely before 1908.

[5] During sea trials, which were conducted with limited amounts of coal, ammunition and supplies on board, it was found that the indicated horsepower and top speed exceeded design values and a significant variation between the three ships existed.

Three weeks later news arrived that Commodore Schley's Flying Squadron had found Cervera and was now blockading him in the port of Santiago de Cuba.

Together with the battleship Iowa and armed yacht Gloucester she opened fire, destroying the lightly armored enemy ships.

The battleship was part of the blockade fleet until 3 July, but missed the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, because she had steamed to Guantánamo Bay the night before to resupply coal.

She was decommissioned for the final time on 31 March 1919, after being redesignated Coast Battleship Number 2 two days earlier so her name could be reused for Massachusetts (BB-54).

[31] Oregon served for a short time with the Pacific Station before being ordered on a voyage around South America to the East Coast in March 1898 in preparation for war with Spain.

On the other it swept away all opposition for the construction of the Panama Canal, for it was then made clear that the country could not afford to take two months to send warships from one coast to the other each time an emergency arose.

"[33] After completing her journey, Oregon was ordered to join the blockade at Santiago as part of the North Atlantic Squadron under Rear Admiral Sampson.

[34] Around this time, she received the nickname "Bulldog of the Navy", most likely because of her high bow wave—known as "having a bone in her teeth" in nautical slang—and perseverance during the cruise around South America and the battle of Santiago.

A year later, she was back to reserve status, only to be returned to full commission in April 1917 when the United States joined World War I. Oregon acted as one of the escorts for transport ships during the Siberian Intervention.

In June 1919, she was decommissioned, but a month later she was temporarily recommissioned as the reviewing ship for President Woodrow Wilson during the arrival of the Pacific Fleet at Seattle.