USS Arkansas (BB-33)

USS Arkansas (BB-33) was a Wyoming-class battleship of the United States Navy and the third vessel named for the 25th state. Commissioned in 1912, she served through both World War I and World War II, becoming one of the longest-serving dreadnoughts in U.S. naval history. Her career spanned from the Mexican Revolution to the Atomic Age, concluding as a target ship during Operation Crossroads in the Pacific Ocean.

Design and description

The Wyoming-class battleship design marked a significant increase in firepower over the preceding Florida-class battleship. The primary armament consisted of twelve 14-inch/45-caliber guns mounted in six twin gun turrets, arranged in a hexagonal configuration for broadside weight. Secondary battery comprised twenty-one 5-inch/51-caliber guns for defense against torpedo boats. Propulsion was provided by twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers powering four Parsons steam turbine sets driving four shafts. Her belt armor thickness was up to 11 inches, with similar protection for the main barbettes and the armored conning tower.

Construction and career

Her keel was laid down at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation yard in Camden, New Jersey in January 1910. She was launched in January 1911 and commissioned in September 1912, with Captain Roy C. Smith in command. Following sea trials, she joined the Atlantic Fleet and conducted routine training exercises. Her early service included a deployment to Veracruz during the American intervention in the Mexican Revolution.

World War I and interwar period

During World War I, Arkansas served with Battleship Division 9 of the Grand Fleet, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. She operated alongside the Royal Navy, conducting patrols in the North Sea to contain the German High Seas Fleet. Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, she escorted part of the German Imperial Navy to Scapa Flow for internment. In the interwar period, she was modernized, receiving anti-aircraft guns and new fire-control systems, and conducted extensive training cruises for United States Naval Academy midshipmen throughout the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

World War II

At the outbreak of World War II, the aging battleship was assigned to Atlantic Fleet duties, including neutrality patrols and convoy escort. She supported Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, providing naval gunfire support off Safi and Casablanca. Transferred to the Pacific Theater of Operations, she provided formidable shore bombardment during critical amphibious assaults, including the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa. Her guns also engaged enemy aircraft during the fierce kamikaze attacks off Okinawa.

Fate

After the Surrender of Japan, Arkansas was deemed obsolete. She was selected as a target vessel for Operation Crossroads, the postwar nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll. She survived the initial air burst test, Test Able, but was sunk by the underwater detonation, Test Baker, in July 1946. Her hulk rests on the lagoon floor, a war grave for the skeleton crew's test animals and a historic relic of the Atomic Age.

Category:Wyoming-class battleships Category:Ships sunk by nuclear weapons Category:World War I battleships of the United States Category:World War II battleships of the United States