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USS ''Iowa'' (Battleship No. 4) was a United States Navy battleship. It was the first ship commissioned in honor of Iowa and was America's first seagoing battleship. ''Iowa'' saw substantial action in the Spanish–American War. While she was an improvement over the because of a superior design, the warship became obsolete quickly in the first quarter of the 20th century, and was used for target practice and sunk on 23 March 1923 in Panama Bay by a salvo of 14-inch shells. ==Design== On 19 July 1892, the Congress of the United States authorized a warship; specifically, it was for a "seagoing coastline battleship" to fulfill the Navy's desire for a ship that could operate effectively in open waters. The preceding , authorized by Congress as "coast-defense battleships", had many problems with endurance and speed. ''Iowa'' had a unique design and did not belong to a specific ship class., but she represented an upgrade from the ''Indiana'' class.. ''Iowa''s keel was built by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia on 5 August 1893, who also built the coal-burning, vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines.〔 She carried of coal. ''Iowa'' was based on the earlier ''Indiana''-class and carried a similar armament layout; she was armed with four 12-inch (305 mm) guns in twin turrets fore and aft, supplemented by eight 8-inch (203 mm) in four twin turrets〔 and two above-board 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes.〔 There was extensive testing of new armor plating; at one point, ''Iowa'' was fired on in testing to assess the strength of the steel shell. Like ''Indiana'', ''Iowa'' was made using "Harveyized steel". ''Iowa''s main armor belt was long and wide, with transverse bulkheads thick 〔Ford, Roger (2001) ''The Encyclopedia of Ships'', pg. 259. Amber Books, London. ISBN 9781905704439〕 and reinforced by coal bunkers thick.〔 Above the main belt-running up to the main deck-was a short armored strake thick.〔 The main battery consisted of 4 12 inch (300 mm) hydraulically powered guns–as opposed to the 13-inch (330 mm) guns of the ''Indiana''s.〔 The vessel had a larger margin of freeboard and a longer hull and forecastle, which resulted in greater stability.〔 The increased deck height-〔-made the guns less exposed to seawater, reducing the risk of malfunctions due to wet weather.〔 By utilizing the Harvey process, ''Iowa''s armor was thinner but stronger than the nickel-steel used in the ''Indiana''s. Compared to British warships, ''Iowa'' had excellent speed–-but was lighter.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Iowa (BB-4)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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