Jan/Feb 2026 (Volume 18, Issue 1)

 

By Mike Vogt

 

When 268 U.S. sailors perished aboard the USS Maine as it accidentally exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba, on Feb. 15, 1898, while protecting U.S. interests during the Cuban War of Independence (initial reports claimed a Spanish naval mine detonated the battleship), it served as a catalyst to the start of the Spanish-American War from April 21 to Aug. 13, 1898. When the war was over, the U.S. would acquire sovereignty over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, and a battleship named after the Hawkeye State would secure its legacy in U.S. military history by assisting in the destruction of three Spanish cruisers.

 

On May 19, 1898, 25 days after the United States declared war against Spain, the Spanish fleet under the command of Adm. Pascual Cervera arrived in Santiago Harbor, Cuba. The entrance of the harbor was blockaded nine days later by the United States Navy’s Atlantic Squadron permitting the landings of U.S. Army troops. Among the ships of the Atlantic Squadron poised outside the harbor entrance was the USS Iowa, the U.S. Navy’s first seagoing battleship.

 

The USS Iowa was the result of a naval development program during the early 1880s to upgrade its Indiana-class battleships to improve seaworthiness and armament. Between 1883 and 1898 Congress authorized the construction of more than a dozen “steam and steel” vessels while implementing an overhaul of the nation’s coastal defense system. On July 19, 1892, Congress authorized the construction of “one sea-going coast-line battleship, designed to carry the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance.” It would be designated Battleship Number 4 (BB-4), USS Iowa.

 

Built by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia, Pa., and launched on March 28, 1896, the Navy’s new sea-going battleship was 362 feet long, with a beam of 72 feet, and a top deck covered with teak wood. Protected with 14 inches of Harvey armor—a steel that was stronger than traditional compound armor—the 11,410-ton ship (12,647 long tons when fully loaded) was powered by two vertical inverted triple-expansion steam engines turning two screws delivering 11,000 horsepower at a top speed of 17 knots. 

 

The USS Iowa’s impressive armament consisted of four 12-inch (305 mm) 35 caliber guns mounted in two twin-gun turrets that fired 850-pound shells that could penetrate up to 24 inches of mild steel. A second battery included eight eight-inch (203 mm) 35 caliber guns, six four-inch (100 mm) 40 caliber quick-firing guns, 22 six-pounder rapid fire guns, four one-pounder guns, four colt automatic guns and eight 14-inch torpedo tubes.

 

With a full crew the USS Iowa carried 471 officers, sailors and marines. It was commissioned for service on June 16, 1897, at a cost of $3.1 million.

 

The USS Iowa served with the Atlantic Squadron from the time that it was commissioned. Capt. Robley D. Evans assumed command on April 1, 1898. The blockade of western Cuba, declared on April 22 by President William McKinley, included the USS Iowa until May 1 before it returned to Key West, Fla., to refuel. 

 

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