USS Arizona (BB-39)

History of the USS Arizona (BB-39)

The USS Arizona (BB-39) was one of two Pennsylvania-class superdreadnoughts completed for service with the United States Navy (USN) prior to World War I (1914-1918). USS Arizona is the sister ship to the duo-class lead ship USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) and succeeds the Nevada-class in the U.S. Navy's inventory. Super dreadnoughts are classified as more powerful versions of the same type of warships that began with the introduction of the revolutionary HMS dreadnoughts in the Royal Navy.

The revised shape increases displacement and a larger caliber, concentrating the main gun armament. Arizona was ordered on March 4, 1913, and placed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on March 16, 1914. She was launched on June 19, 1915, and officially commissioned on October 17, 1916.

When the Pennsylvania-class was launched in 1915, she was one of the most powerful warships in the U.S. fleet. The armament consists of a 4 x 14"/45 caliber main gun with a triple turret supported by a 22 x 5"/51 caliber main gun. Anti-aircraft (AA) defense is provided by 4 x 3 in/50 caliber guns. In keeping with the battleships of the day, she carried torpedo weapons with 2 x 21 in (533 mm) tubes. Armor protection includes belts up to 343mm, 457mm turret and 406mm conning tower.

She has a length of 608 feet, a beam of 97 feet, and a draft of 29.2 feet. Power comes from 12 Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers, including 4 Parsons steam turbines driving 4 shafts producing 29,366 hp.

Under ideal conditions, the speed reaches 21 knots and the range is up to 8,000 nautical miles. Her typical crew consists of 915 officers and seamen. Displacement under standard load is 29,630 tons.

Arizona first set sail in April 1917, and within days the U.S. government entered the war in Europe. Her eight 5-inch guns were assigned to traders for self-defense at dangerous Atlantic crossings.

Arizona was assigned to the 8th Battleship Division as a gunnery instructor due to the persistent threat in the Atlantic from German U-boats, mainly living off the coast of the United States. This became all the action Arizona would see during World War I, which ended on November 11, 1918.

Arizona traveled to Brest, France as President Woodrow Wilson's Paris Peace entourage, returning to New York in December 1918.

Over the next decade, Arizona made numerous stops on the U.S. East Coast, Caribbean waters, and Europe. In the latter, she took on a humanitarian relief role for Americans catching up with escalating tensions between Italy and Greece over the occupation of Smyrna. Before heading to New York, she made a stopover in Istanbul, where she had a much-needed overhaul. She lost six 5" guns but gained an updated Fire Control System (FCS).

In August 1920, she served as flagship of the 7th Battleship Division.

Arizona formed a U.S. Navy fleet to enter Pacific waters through the Panama Canal. It then stopped in Peru for joint exercises. Another overhaul awaits the ship in New York waters, before docking again in Peru before establishing a new home port in San Pedro, California.

In August 1923, Arizona was officially assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Arizona was modernized at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1929, updating her various systems and partially changing her image. Her 5" gun is now numbered 12, and her 3" gun has been replaced by a 5" AA gun.

Torpedo and deck protection were improved, and a geared steam turbine replaced the original high-pressure system. Despite the extra armor and equipment, Arizona's new machinery allowed her to maintain a respectable sea speed.

Various non-combat operations shaped her activities in the 1930s, with sea trials in Rockland, Maine, before she joined her sister ships for service on the West Coast of the United States. In 1932, as a precursor to the attack on Pear Harbor, Hawaii, the USS Arizona participated in a scenario simulating a successful naval raid on the port.

She then volunteered for relief efforts in Long Beach, California after the earthquake.

In mid-1940, the ship was stationed in Hawaiian waters along with other ships of the Pacific Fleet to demonstrate force against possible Japanese aggression. From October 1940 to January, another overhaul welcomed the warship at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. In the process, she received more anti-aircraft guns.

After some shelling work in early December 1941, she and others docked at Ford Island at Pearl Harbor.

On December 7, 1941, Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) aircraft slammed into port to silence USN Pacific carrier (not in port during attack). Arizona received several bombings from IJN fighter jets in the early stages, when the battle station was ringing and trying to stop the attack. Four bombs hit directly, and three landed nearby.

The final bomb hit is believed to have resulted in a fatal explosion in her newsstand near the bow. Of the 1,512 crew members on board the warship during the attack, 1,177 were killed in this massive explosion alone.

When she sank where she docked, Arizona's fighting years were clearly over - taking many more lives with her. The attack on the port proved a tactical victory for the Japanese, but missed the destruction of the U.S. carrier fleet in the region.

It also led to the US government's official declaration of war on Japan, which would change the course of the war forever.

It cannot be raised for possible salvage, but is kept as a memorial. She was removed from the Naval Register on December 1, 1942, and her superstructure was demolished for scrap. Her rear guns were salvaged and used as shore guns on the Mokapo Peninsula over Oahu and Kaneohe Bay. The No. 2 turret gun was installed on the USS Nevada in 1944 for use against the Japanese in Okinawa and Iwo Jima.

Arizona's former tower was allowed to stay on the wreck.

Although decades have passed since the Pearl Harbor attack, the monument to the battleship USS Arizona remains a somber and welcome target for many - oil still seeps through her severed, dilapidated hull out. In a touching tribute, survivors of the USS Arizona attack were allowed to be buried in the hull through a ceremony, and specially trained divers allowed former crew members to make the final voyage with their comrades.

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