 USS Massachusetts ( BB @-@ 2 ) was an Indiana @-@ class battleship and the second United States Navy ship comparable to foreign battleships of the time . Authorized in 1890 and commissioned six years later , she was a small battleship , though with heavy armor and ordnance . The ship class 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 . 
