American Dreadnoughts at War

Firing a Broadside Over a Century Ago, the USS Texas Is  Today the World's
Only Surviving WWI Dreadnought Battleship

The legendary Great White Fleet, which sailed around the world from December 1907 to February 1909, had many achievements but came up short on one of President Theodore Roosevelt's list of objectives. In the matter of impressing foreign powers with America' naval power and readiness, all 16 battleships sent on the 43,000-mile voyage were already obsolete. For almost a year, the Royal Navy's revolutionary all-big-gun battleship HMS Dreadnought had been at sea. Other nations, including the United States, were attempting to play catch-up with dreadnoughts under construction, but they were a long way from active service. Consequently, to knowledgeable naval observers, the American fleet seemed less than "top-of-the-line." Reportedly, even Kaiser Wilhelm took to pointing out some of the ships' design flaws.

The Great White Fleet Enters the Golden Gate, 6 May 1908

The first U.S. Navy dreadnoughts, USS South Carolina (BB-26) and USS Michigan (BB-27) would not be commissioned until 1910. The Great White Fleet, had however, succeeded in building public and political support for an accelerated naval building program. Eight more modern battleships were built and launched before August 1914. In April 1917, when the United States officially entered World War I, the U.S. Navy had 14 dreadnought-type battleships active in its battle force. This was still behind Great Britain's 29 dreadnoughts (both battleships and battlecruisers) but close to catching up to Germany's total of 17.

Stern View of a Wyoming-Class Dreadnought

Valuable assets to the balance of naval power, most of the nation's dreadnoughts found service of some type during America's 19 months of war, but they never fought a surface battle.  Ironically, the old ships of the Great White Fleet that were activated for service found a wide range of uses similar to the newer dreadnoughts, like training, convoy escort, and carrying troops. 

Most of the new dreadnoughts would have to wait a quarter-century for major action, some of it tragic. Five would be deemed obsolete before the Second World War came. I thought it appropriate, in any case, that Roads to the Great War recognize their service in the First World War. These all-big-gun capital ships belonged to seven distinct classes commissioned between 1910 and 1916.

South Carolina Class (two ships):

Officers and Crew of USS Michigan, 1918

USS South Carolina (BB-26)

Prewar performed neutrality patrols on the American side of the Atlantic.  In September 1918 became first U.S. dreadnought to escort a convoy part way across the Atlantic. On return trip, lost its port propeller on 8 October. Post-Armistice transported U.S. troops home from Europe. She was sold for scrap on 24 April 1924 and subsequently dismantled.

USS Michigan  (BB-27) 

Michigan had similar duties to South Carolina and also lost a propeller (starboard) when returning home. Also repatriated American troops after hostilities. Michigan was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 10 November 1923 and broken up for scrap the following year.

Delaware Class (two ships):

Japanese Vice-Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, Victor of Tsushima, after
Visiting USS North Dakota, 1911

USS Delaware  (BB-28) 

When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, Delaware was initially tasked with readiness training off the East Coast. Late in the year, she was deployed to Europe as part of the U.S. Navy's Battleship Division Nine, under the command of Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman. The force arrived on 7 December and was assigned to the 6th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. In July 1918, Delaware was withdrawn from overseas service and returned to the United States, where she received an enthusiastic welcome. Delaware was transferred to the Boston Navy Yard, decommissioned on 10 November, and disarmed. She was then sold on 5 February 1924 and subsequently broken up for scrap.

USS North Dakota (BB-29) 

Admiral Rodman specially requested North Dakota not be deployed to Europe. He felt her turbine engines were too unreliable for the ship to be deployed to a war zone.  From 1917, she was employed as a training ship for gunners and engineers. Postwar, North Dakota made a second trip to Europe, primarily to ports in the Mediterranean Sea. During the visit, the ship was tasked with the return of the remains of the Italian ambassador, Vincenzo Macchi di Cellere, who had died 20 October 1919 in Washington, DC. In 1925 North Dakota was converted into a radio-controlled gunnery target ship and eventually sold for scrap in 1931.

Florida Class (two ships):

USS Florida While Serving with Grand Fleet, 1918

USS Florida (BB-30) 

Florida and her sister ship Utah took part in U.S. operations at Vera Cruz in 1914. The two ships landed a total of about 1,000 sailors and marines, who suffered nearly 10 percent casualties. In December 1917 she  joined Battleship Division Nine, which was deployed with the British Grand Fleet. Following training exercises with the British fleet, 6th Battle Squadron was tasked with convoy protection duty on the route to Scandinavia. Following the end of the war, in December 1918, the ship escorted President Woodrow Wilson on his trip to Europe to participate in the peace negotiations. Florida was decommissioned in 1931 and scrapped the next year in Philadelphia.

USS Utah (BB-31) 

After America's entry into the war, Utah trained engineers and gunners in Chesapeake Bay.  On 30 August 1918,  she departed for Bantry Bay, Ireland, with Vice Admiral Henry T. Mayo, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet aboard. After arriving in Ireland, Utah was assigned as the flagship of Battleship Division 6, commanded by Rear Admiral Thomas S. Rodgers. Division 6 was tasked with covering convoys in the Western Approaches against possible attacks from German surface raiders. Utah served in the division along with Nevada and Oklahoma. Utah also escorted President Wilson on his voyage to France, later returning to New York and regular peacetime duties. The ship performed a variety of duties for the Navy following the First World War and in 1931 was converted to a  radio-controlled target ship, to replace the older North Dakota. Utah also took on the role of  a training ship for anti-aircraft gunners. She was sunk at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Attempts to salvage Utah were not successful. Today, her rusting hulk remains in Pearl Harbor, partially above water, a war grave for the 58 crew members who perished in the attack. The site is now part of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.

Wyoming Class (two ships):

USS Arkansas (l) & USS Texas (r) Transiting the Panama Canal, February 1919

USS Wyoming (BB-32) 

Early wartime duties for Wyoming focused on training engine-room personnel for the expanding American fleet around Chesapeake Bay. Later assigned to Battleship Division 9 at Scapa Flow, Wyoming and the other U.S. battleships trained with the Grand Fleet for three months. Wyoming  helped escort a convoy to Norway and subsequently patrolled the North Sea, watching for a sortie by Germany's High Seas Fleet, and covered the North Sea minelaying operation. On 14 October, Wyoming replaced the damaged New York as Admiral Rodman's flagship. Postwar, Wyoming served as an escort ship for the High Seas Fleet on its journey to internment at Scapa Flow. After joining the escort detail for President Wilson's arrival, Wyoming sailed for New York, arriving on Christmas Day. Wyoming remained on active duty throughout the interwar period and trained thousands of gunners during WWII.  She was decommissioned in 1947 and sold for scrap.

USS Arkansas (BB-33) 

In 1914 Arkansas participated in the U.S. intervention in Mexico. Relieving USS Delaware, she served as part of Battleship Division Nine, which was attached to the British Grand Fleet. She was transferred to the Pacific post-WWII. Arkansas served in the European Theater at Normandy and the invasion of southern France and then in the Pacific theater. Arkansas was subsequently expended as a target in Operation Crossroads,  the nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946.

New York Class (two ships):

USS Texas en route to Its Final Anchorage at Galveston

USS New York  (BB-34) 

The New York Class was the first U.S. battleship  was designed to carry the 14-inch/45-caliber gun. Arriving off Mexico on 4 May 1914, New York served as the flagship for the Special Service Squadron, the force occupying and blockading Veracruz. Deployed to the European Theater as flagship of Battleship Squadron Nine, later re-designated Sixth Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. During her service with the Grand Fleet, New York was frequently visited by royal and other high-ranking representatives of the Allies. The Duke and Duchess of Atholl visited the ship in May 1918. They were followed by King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium on 9 July; His Majesty King George V on 20 July; and Crown Prince (later Emperor) Hirohito of Japan and his staff on 3 November 1918. 

New York, on 14 October 1918, struck a submerged object while entering Pentland Firth en route to Scapa Flow. She docked at Rosyth, on 15 October 1918, and the squadron flag was temporarily shifted to Wyoming. With those repairs completed, Rear Adm. Rodman returned to New York on 21 October.  New York, with Vice Adm. William S. Sims in command, took up her position in column with the entirety of the Grand Fleet in the Firth of Forth on 21 November 1918 to accept the surrender of the High Seas Fleet. After serving with distinction throughout WWII, New York was designated as a target ship, surviving two atomic detonations and was sunk by gunfire on 7 July 1948.

USS Texas (BB-35) 

When the battleship Texas was commissioned, the United States was entangled in the Mexican Revolution, and the ship was deployed to Veracruz to support the occupation there.  In 1917,  Texas shipped out for the First World War under the command of Captain Victor Blue, Texas’ longest serving commanding officer. Unfortunately, she ran aground on Block Island shortly after leaving Long Island Sound. As the crew lightened her load over several days and worked to get her free, sailors on passing ships would shout “Come on, Texas!” which stuck as the ship’s motto through the rest of her career. Texas later made it across the Atlantic to join the Grand Fleet in January 1918. In 1919, Texas was used in an early naval aviation experiment. On 10 March, a Sopwith Camel was successfully flown off a ramp constructed on top of Turret #2, making her the first American battleship to launch an aircraft. From 1925 to 1927, Texas was heavily modernized.  

When the Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939, Battleship Texas was assigned to neutrality patrol, escorting merchant ships across the Atlantic. Texas continued her patrols until late 1942, when she took part in Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. On 6 June 1944, D-Day, Texas was assigned to support the landings of the Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc and the landings at Omaha Beach. Texas was straddled by dozens of near misses from artillery and was eventually hit at 13:16. A 240 mm German shell struck the top of the conning tower, wrecking much of the navigation bridge above. Texas later supported Operation Dragoon (the invasion of southern France) and the assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the war, the Texas transported troops home from the Pacific Theater during Operation Magic Carpet. After the war, she would be donated to the State of Texas and for many years would be anchored at the San Jacinto Battleground. The ship is now undergoing a massive restoration program in Galveston, Texas, in anticipation of a 2027 reopening.

Nevada Class (two ships):

USS Oklahoma from the Air, Post WWI

USS Nevada  (BB-36) 

Nevada was a leap forward in dreadnought technology; four of her new features would be included on almost every subsequent US battleship: triple gun turrets,[c] oil in place of coal for fuel, geared steam turbines for greater range, and the "all or nothing" armor principle. These features made Nevada, alongside her sister ship Oklahoma, the first US Navy "standard-type" battleships.  She joined the Atlantic Fleet in Newport, Rhode Island on 26 May 1916.  During the last few months of World War I, Nevada was based in Bantry Bay, Ireland, to protect supply convoys that were sailing to and from Great Britain.  Her interwar service was much like the other American dreadnoughts including undergoing a modernization program in the 1930s.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Nevada was the only battleship to get underway during the attack, making the ship "the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal and depressing morning" for the United States. Still, the ship was hit by one torpedo and at least six bombs while steaming away from Battleship Row, forcing the crew to beach the stricken ship on a coral ledge. The ship continued to flood and eventually slid off the ledge and sank to the harbor floor.  Nevada was subsequently salvaged and modernized at Puget Sound Navy Yard, allowing her to serve as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and as a fire-support ship in five amphibious assaults (the invasions of Attu, Normandy, Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa).

At the end of World War II, the Navy decided that, due to age, Nevada would not be retained as part of the active fleet and she was instead assigned as a target ship for the atomic experiments at Bikini Atoll in July 1946 (Operation Crossroads). The ship was hit by the blast from atomic bomb Able, and was left heavily damaged and radioactive. Unfit for further service, Nevada was decommissioned on 29 August 1946, and sunk for naval gunfire practice on 31 July 1948.

USS Oklahoma (BB-37) 

After suffering a serious fire during her construction, Oklahoma was commissioned at Philadelphia, on 2 May 1916. In 1917 she experienced another refit which delayed her deployment to the war zone.  On 13 August 1918, Oklahoma was assigned to Battleship Division Six  and departed for Europe alongside Nevada. Division Six division remained at anchor, tasked to protect American convoys coming into the area, but was only called out of the harbor once in 80 days. Oklahoma departed 14 December, for New York City, and then spent early 1919 conducting winter battle drills off the coast of Cuba. On 15 June 1919, she returned to Brest, escorting Wilson on a second trip, and returned to New York, on 8 July.

On 7 December 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, several torpedoes from torpedo bombers hit the Oklahoma's hull and the ship capsized. A total of 429 crew died; survivors jumped off the ship 50 feet (15 m) into burning oil on water or crawled across mooring lines that connected Oklahoma and Maryland. Some sailors inside escaped when rescuers drilled holes and opened hatches to rescue them. The ship was salvaged in 1943. Unlike most of the other battleships that were recovered following Pearl Harbor, Oklahoma was too damaged to return to duty. Her wreck was eventually stripped of her remaining armament and superstructure before being sold for scrap in 1946. The hulk sank in a storm while being towed from Oahu, Hawaii, to a breakers yard in San Francisco Bay in 1947.

Pennsylvania Class (two ships):

View from Bow of USS Pennsylvania, Post WWI

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) 

The Pennsylvania class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy just before the First World War. 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 battleships were sent initially with  Battleship Division Nine. USS Pennsylvania was  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 interwar period, the ships were used in exercises and fleet problems.

Present at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, 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. She 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 target ship in 1948.

USS Arizona (BB-39) 

After being commissioned in 1916, Arizona remained stateside during World War I but escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the subsequent Paris Peace Conference. The ship was deployed abroad again in 1919 to represent American interests during the Greco-Turkish War. Two years later, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, under which the ship would remain for the rest of her career. In 1934, Arizona became a movie star. The ship was featured prominently in the 1934 James Cagney film Here Comes the Navy.

On 7 December 1941, the USS Arizona was bombed by Japanese aircraft at Pearl Harbor. A 1,760-pound armor-piercing bomb ignited the ship's forward ammunition magazines. The catastrophic explosion sank the battleship in just nine minutes, killing 1,177 crewmen and accounting for over half of the American lives lost that day. Because the damage was too severe to repair, the Navy salvaged parts of the superstructure and armaments but left the main hull resting on the harbor floor. The tragic event became a key rallying cry for the United States' entry into World War II. In 1958 President Eisenhower signed the bill authorizing the construction of the USS Arizona Memorial at the site of the sinking. There was a bit of a fundraising crisis at one point, but Elvis Presley contributed a concert that reignited contributions. The memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day 1962.

USS Arizona Memorial

 

Sources: WikiCommons, U.S. Navy Heritage Command, Wikipedia; Pearlhabor.org