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USS Arizona
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USS
Arizona, launched in 1915, was the 39th United States
battleship and the second of two
Pennsylvania class ‘super dreadnought’
battleships to be built for the United
States Navy; her sister ship was USS
Pennsylvania. USS Arizona was commissioned
during WW1 but didn’t see any action as she
stayed in the United States. USS Arizona was
moved to the Pacific Fleet where she was
modernized and took part in various naval
exercises including the ‘Fleet Problem’
exercises. She was transferred from Long
Beach, California, to Pearl Harbor with the
rest of the Pacific Fleet in 1940. USS
Arizona was sunk after being bombed during
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941. 1177 of her crew were lost.
What
was USS Arizona?
USS Arizona was one of two Pennsylvania
class ‘super dreadnought’ battleships. USS
Arizona was the last of this class, her
sister ship being USS Pennsylvania. This
class of battleship was built to strengthen
the United States Navy and provide ships at
least equivalent to those being built by
other nations such as Britain and Japan.
Where was USS Arizona Built?
USS Arizona, initially known as
battleship 39, had her keel laid in the
presence of
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the then
Assistant Secretary of the Navy, at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, on March 16,
1914 and, after her launch, was fitted at
the same yard. She was named USS Arizona in
honor of Arizona’s recent admission as the
Union’s 48th State.
USS Arizona Launch
After 15 months of construction
USS Arizona was launched on June 19,
1915, in the presence of many
military and civilian dignitaries
including the Mayor of New York City,
John P. Mitchel, and the Governor of
Arizona, George W. P. Hunt. USS
Arizona was christened by the
daughter of an Arizona pioneer
family, Esther Ross. In an unusual
move, two
bottles were used for the
christening of USS Arizona. In order
to acknowledge a state legislature
ban on alcohol, it was decided that
a bottle of wine from Ohio and a
bottle of water from the Roosevelt
Dam would be used for this launch.
How Big was USS Arizona?
USS Arizona was 608 feet long
with a beam of 97 feet and a draft
of 29 feet 3 inches. USS Arizona
displaced 31,400 tons of water and
her 12 Babcock & Wilcox water tube
boilers, along with her 4 Parsons
steam turbines, could take her to a
speed of 21 knots.
What Armament was USS Arizona
fitted with?
USS Arizona had twelve 14 inch
guns housed in four triple gun
turrets as it’s main guns. Turrets I
and II, were at the front of the
ship with III and IV at the rear.
Twenty two 5 inch guns were
individually mounted along the sides
of USS Arizona with four 3 inch anti
aircraft guns mounted higher up. Two
21 inch torpedo tubes completed the
weaponry.
What Ammunition was carried on
USS Arizona for her Guns?
USS Arizona carried 100 shells
for each of the 14 inch guns, 230
rounds of ammunition for each of the
5 inch guns and the anti aircraft
guns, and 24 torpedoes for the
torpedo tubes.
USS Arizona Commissioning and
Shakedown Cruise
On October 17, 1916, Arizona was
commissioned with John D. McDonald
as her captain. A little over three
weeks later, on November 10, USS
Arizona left New York and headed
south on her shakedown cruise.
During these trials one her turbines
stripped, near Guantanamo Bay, so USS
Arizona headed back to New York to
be repaired.
Repairs to USS Arizona
It took nearly four months to
carry out the repairs to the
stripped turbine on USS Arizona, as
the work could not be carried out
within the ship. In order to remove and
replace the turbine casing, holes
had to be cut in the upper deck. USS
Arizona finally left the yard on
April 3, 1917.
USS Arizona and WW1
The United States declared war
on Germany on April 6, 1917, however
USS Arizona was one of the early oil
powered ships, and it was easier to
get coal than oil in Europe, so she
wasn’t sent to Europe to fight with in
WW1. Instead USS Arizona had eight
of her 5 inch guns removed for use
on merchant ships, and spent the WW1
years patrolling the east coast of
the United States and working as a
gunnery training ship.
USS Arizona Wins the Battenburg
Cup
In July, 1918, a team of rowers
from USS Arizona beat a team from
USS Nevada in a race over a three
mile course. The race, which was
held annually by the United States
Navy Atlantic Fleet, was for the
Battenburg Cup. USS Arizona repeated
this win the following year. This
race is no longer run, and the
Battenburg cup is now awarded to the
winner of the Battle Effectiveness
Award.
USS Arizona Escorts the American
President
Shortly after WW1, USS Arizona
was one of the ships that escorted
the ocean liner SS George
Washington, carrying President
Woodrow Wilson, to Brest, France.
President Woodrow Wilson was on his
way to the Paris Peace Conference
where the Treaty of Versailles was
signed, officially ending WW1.
USS Arizona Returns to New York
One day after arriving in Brest
USS Arizona, along with several
other ships, returned to New York
where they arrived on December 26,
1918. USS Arizona was opened to the
public and remained anchored off New
York City for several weeks.
USS Arizona in the Caribbean
After leaving New York in
January, 1919, USS Arizona headed to
Guantanamo Bay via Hampton Roads.
USS Arizona spent her time there
carrying out fleet manoeuvres and
battle training.
USS Arizona in the Mediterranean
USS Arizona was sent back to
France to escort President Woodrow
Wilson back from Brest, however,
while she waited for the President,
USS Arizona was redeployed to
Smyrna (currently Izmir) in Turkey
due to tensions between Italy and
Greece. Unrest within the city
resulted in many United States
citizens seeking shelter aboard USS
Arizona. When things calmed down,
USS Arizona headed to Constantinople
(currently Istanbul) before
returning to New York, where she
arrived in June 1919.
USS Arizona 1919 Overhaul
On June 30, 1919, USS Arizona
entered the New York Navy Yard to
undergo an overhaul that lasted for
six months. During this overhaul the
fire control system was updated and
six of her 5 inch guns were removed.
USS Arizona returned to the
Caribbean where she was fitted with
a flying-off platform.
USS Arizona Moves to California
After meeting with the Pacific
Fleet for practice maneuvers in
1921, USS Arizona was relocated to
San Pedro, California. Following
this move, much of her time was
spent
in simulated attacks, battle practice and
Fleet Problems with the rest of the
fleet.
The Modernization of USS Arizona
In the early summer of 1929, USS
Arizona entered Norfolk Navy Yard
for modernization. This
comprehensive modernization included
the replacement of her masts, a
revised gun arrangement with several
guns being replaced, an increase in
deck armor, a secondary bulkhead
for the boiler rooms and replacement
of her engines.
USS Arizona Hosts the President
Following her modernization, but
before her sea trials, USS Arizona
hosted President
Herbert Hoover while
he took a vacation in the Caribbean
visiting the Virgin Islands and
Puerto Rico. Before returning to the
Pacific, USS Arizona underwent sea
trials in Maine and was fitted with
an additional catapult.
USS Arizona and the Long Beach
Earthquake
An earthquake hit Long Beach,
California, on March 10, 1933. Some
crew from USS Amazon, which was
anchored in nearby San Pedro, took
part in the relief effort by
treating the injured and providing
both food and security.
USS Arizona in the Movies
The Warner Brothers Movie ‘Here
Comes the Navy’, starring James
Cagney, featured the USS Arizona and
her crew. Film shot both on board
and on the exterior of USS Arizona
was extensively used in the movie.
USS Arizona Collides with a
Fishing Trawler
USS Arizona collided with the
fishing trawler ‘Umatilla’ while she
was under tow off Cape Flattery. Two
fisherman were killed in the
incident which resulted in the court
martial of USS Arizona’s Captain
MacGillivray Milne.
USS Arizona as a Flagship
On September 4, 1934, Rear
Admiral Samuel W. Bryant took USS
Arizona as his flagship when he
assumed command of Battleship
Division 2. USS Arizona remained the
flagship when Bryant was relieved by
Rear Admiral George Pettengill in
March 1935.
USS Arizona Fuel Saving
For two years between 1936 and
1938, USS Arizona spent 522 days in
port in an effort to save fuel. This
cost cutting measure was brought in
because of the navy’s tight budget.
Transfer of USS Arizona to
Hawaiian Waters
Following the last Fleet Problem
between April and May 1940, USS
Arizona and the Pacific Fleet was
retained in Hawaiian waters. This
decision was made to deter the
Japanese who had been building up
the strength of their forces.
USS Arizona 1940 Overhaul
Between October 1940 and January
1941, USS Arizona underwent her
final overhaul at the Puget Sound
Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington.
Included in this refit was an
increase in her 5 inch guns to
twelve and an upgrade of her anti
aircraft directors.
USS Arizona Final Mooring
On December 5, 1941, following a
night firing exercise, USS Arizona
moored at a quay along Ford Island with Nevada
and Oklahoma. The following day they
were joined by USS Vestal, A United
States Navy repair ship.
USS Arizona in the Pearl Harbor
Attack
The Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor began just before 08.00 on
December 7, 1941. USS Arizona was
attacked by 10 Nakajima B5N torpedo
bombers which had been carrying
1757lb bombs converted from 16 inch
armor piercing shells. USS Arizona
was hit by four of these bombs.
The USS Arizona Explosion
The last of these bombs
penetrated the deck by Turret II, in
the front of the ship, entering an
area near the ship’s magazines. A
few seconds later the magazines
exploded and devastated USS Arizona.
Her forward turrets and conning
tower collapsed into the space left
by the utter destruction of the
interior of the forward part of the
ship. USS Arizona was practically
torn in half by this explosion.
The Burning Wreck and Casualties
of USS Arizona
The fires caused by this
explosion burned on USS Arizona for
two days. 1,177 of the 1,512 crew
aboard USS Arizona were killed by a
combination of the bombs, the
explosion and the fires. It was the
greatest single ship loss of life in
the history of the United States
Navy. To this day, 900 crewmen
remain entombed inside USS Arizona.
USS Arizona Removed from the
Naval Vessel Register
USS Arizona was initially
declared to be temporarily out of
service on November 29, 1941, however she
was discovered to be too badly
damaged to be salvaged, and was
removed from the Royal Naval Vessel
Register on December 1, 1942.
Salvage of USS Arizona Main
Armament
The surviving superstructure of
USS Arizona was scrapped in 1942 and,
over the course of the following 18
months, her main armament was
salvaged. The two rear turrets were
removed and installed as United
States Army Coast Artillery Corps
Batteries Arizona and Pennsylvania.
The former at Kahe Point Oahu, and
the latter on the Mokapu Peninsula.
In the fall of 1944 the guns that
had been salvaged from Turret II
were fitted to the Battleship USS
Nevada. These same guns were fired
against the Japanese Islands of Iwo
Jima and Okinawa.
Wreck of the USS Arizona
In order to commemorate the crew
lost on USS Arizona, her wreck
remains at Pearl Harbor and was
designated a national shrine in
1962. On May 5, 1989, USS Arizona
was also designated a National
Historic Landmark. Oil is still
leaking from the hull at a rate of 2
- 4 quarts per day.
USS Arizona Memorial
The USS Arizona Memorial was
established on May 30, 1962, and
extends across the hull of the
wreck. The memorial commemorates the
events of the day of the attack on
Pearl Harbor as well as marking the
resting place of the marines and
sailors killed on USS Arizona. The
memorial, which can only be reached
by boat, receives more than two
million visitors every year.
USS Arizona Specifications
Class and Type: Pennsylvania
Class Battleship
Complement: 2,300
Displacement: 31,400 tons -
Length: 608ft -
Beam: 97ft -
Draft: 29ft 3ins
Power: 29,366 shp, 12 x
Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers
-
Propulsion: 4 x sets of Parsons
steam turbines, 4 x shafts -
Speed: 21 knots -
Range: 8,000 nautical miles
Armament: 12 (4 x 3) 14in guns
-
22 x 5in guns -
4 x 5in anti aircraft guns -
2 x 21in torpedo tubes
Armor:
Barnettes: 13ins -
Belt: 8 to 13½ins -
Bulkheads: 8 to 13ins -
Conning Tower: 14 to 16ins -
Decks: 5ins -
Turrets: 18ins
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