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^LOOKING good on the outside; Dirty work down below! Triple expansion STEAM ENGINE; sistership USS OREGON BB-3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana-class_battleship Seriously over-gunned and under-designed-The USS Oregon served in the Spanish American War, Philippine-American War, Boxer Rebellion, Siberian Intervention, and both World Wars (as ammo barge-hull IX-22 at Battle of Guam then scrapped-a pity as she had been a nice museum ship since 1925 in Portland, Oregon) Aptly named the "Bulldog of the Navy'. At the Battle of Santiago USS was very actively involved. OREGON was the only vessel in the American Squadron that was able to obtain and exceed her rated speed, as a result of a combination of factors, reflecting her captain's preparedness. The vessel had kept all of her engines engaged rather than disconnecting some as some vessel commanders had ordered to save coal. In addition, her captain had preserved his best coal for use in an engagement. It was the guns of the OREGON, which bracketed the CRISTOBAL COLON, the swiftest vessel on either side, that caused the COLON's commander to decide to beach the vessel, ending the battle. USS Oregon's arrival at the battle was noteworthy: The 14,700 mile cruise, under the command of Capt. Charles Clark, was done with the utmost speed, but still took sixty-seven days. The ship did not even put into port when a coal bunker was discovered to be on fire adjacent to a magazine. (similar to what had destroyed the USS Maine-causing the war to begin with??!!) The race of the USS OREGON around South America and through the stormy Strait of Magellan to join the Atlantic Fleet was closely followed by the American public. The voyage was of the factors that drove home the need for a canal linking the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. In short: the tactical gunboat diplomacy of rounding the 'Horn' opened the way for the strategic gunboat diplomacy of separating Panama politically(1903) from Columbia in order to build the Canal...