 The keel for "Idaho" was laid down on 12 May 1904 at the William Cramp & Sons shipyard in Philadelphia.Her completed hull was launched on 9 December 1905 and she was commissioned into the fleet on 1 April 1908.She got underway on 15 April for sea trials, steaming down to Hampton Roads, Virginia where she stopped from 17 to 20 April before continuing on to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for training exercises into early May.