At the time of its completion in 1916, The New York Times remarked that the new warship was "the greatest [battleship] afloat" because it was so much larger than other contemporary American battleships: its tonnage was nearly three times that of the obsolete 1890 pre-dreadnought USS Oregon BB-3 2 , almost twice that of the 1904 battleship USS Connecticut BB-18 2 , and almost 8000 long tons greater than that of one of the first American dreadnoughts, USS Delaware BB-28 2 —built just seven years prior to Nevada.