Warships of the US Navy: Battleships, Pennsylvania-class: USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), and USS Arizona (BB-39)

Pennsylvania-class battleships USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), and  USS Arizona (BB-39)

The Pennsylvania-class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy just before the First World War. Named Pennsylvania and Arizona, after the American states of the same names, the two battleships were the United States' second battleship design to adhere to the "all or nothing" armour scheme. They were the newest American capital ships when the United States entered the First World War.

The Nevada-class battleships represented a marked increase in the United States' dreadnought technology, and the Pennsylvania class was intended to continue this with slight increases in the ships' capabilities, including two additional 14-inch (356 mm)/45 caliber guns and improved underwater protection. The class was the second standard type battleship class to join the US Navy, along with the preceding Nevada and the succeeding New Mexico, Tennessee and Colorado classes.

In service, the Pennsylvania class saw limited use in the First World War, as a shortage of fuel oil in the United Kingdom meant that only the coal-burning ships of Battleship Division Nine were sent. Both were sent across the Atlantic to France after the war for the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and were then transferred to the Pacific Fleet before being significantly modernized from 1929 to 1931. For the remainder of the inter-war period, the ships were used in exercises and fleet problems. Both Pennsylvania and Arizona were present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into the Second World War. Arizona was sunk by a massive magazine explosion and was turned into a memorial after the war, while Pennsylvania, in dry dock at the time, received only minor damage. After a refit from October 1942 to February 1943, Pennsylvania went on to serve as a shore bombardment ship for most of the remainder of the war. Pennsylvania was present at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the last battle ever between battleships, but did not engage. Pennsylvania was severely damaged by a torpedo on 12 August 1945, two days before the cessation of hostilities. With minimal repairs, she was used in Operation Crossroads, part of the nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll, before being expended as a targetship in 1948. (Wikipedia)

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USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), probably during 1925 visit to Australia.

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USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), 1927 naval review.

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U.S. Navy battleship USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) drydocked in an Advanced Base Sectional Dock (ABSD) at the Pacific, circa 1944. Note the extensive anti-torpedo "blister" built into her hull side and paravane streaming chains running from her forefoot to her foredeck. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 21.

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USS Arizona (BB39) port bow, before being modernized at Norfolk Naval Shipyard between May 1929 and January 1930.

USS Arizona was a standard-type battleshipbuilt for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48thstate, she was the second and last ship in the Pennsylvania class. After beingcommissioned in 1916, Arizona remained stateside during the First World War butescorted President Woodrow Wilson to the subsequent Paris Peace Conference. Theship was deployed abroad again in 1919 to represent American interests duringthe Greco-Turkish War. Two years later, she was transferred to the PacificFleet, under which the ship would remain for the rest of her career.

The 1920s and 1930s saw Arizona regularly deployed for training exercises,including the annual Fleet Problems, excluding a comprehensive modernizationbetween 1929 and 1931. The ship supported relief efforts in the wake of a 1933earthquake near Long Beach, California, and was later filmed for a role in the1934 James Cagney film Here Comes the Navy before budget cuts led tosignificant periods in port from 1936 to 1938. In April 1940, the Pacific Fleet'shome port was moved from California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a deterrent toJapanese imperialism.

On 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and Arizona was hit byseveral air-dropped armor-piercing bombs. One detonated an explosive-filledmagazine, sinking the battleship and killing 1,177 of its officers and crewmen.Unlike many of the other ships attacked that day, Arizona was so irreparablydamaged that it was not repaired for service in the Second World War. Theshipwreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor beneath the USS ArizonaMemorial. Dedicated to all those who died during the attack, the memorial isbuilt across the ship's remains. (Wikipedia)

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USS Arizona (BB-39), 1930.

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USS Arizona (BB-39) In the East River, New York City, at the time of her trials, circa mid-1916. She is accompanied by many tugs, and has small pine trees mounted in her mast tops. Tug Hudson is in the lower center.

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USS Arizona (BB-39), 1931.

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USS Arizona (BB-39), underway with President Herbert Hoover on board, March 1931. The Presidential Flag is flying from her mainmast peak.

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