USS Nevada (BB-36)

USS Nevada (BB-36) was the lead ship of her class of two dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1910s. A revolutionary design, she introduced the "all or nothing" armor scheme and was the first American battleship to be equipped with oil-fired boilers and steam turbine propulsion. Her long and storied career spanned both World War I and World War II, where she survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, earning seven battle stars before being expended as a target ship in 1948.

Design and description

The design of USS Nevada represented a fundamental shift in American battleship philosophy, moving away from incremental casemate protection to an innovative "all or nothing" armor scheme conceived by naval architect John H. Gibbons. This approach concentrated heavy armor over vital areas like the citadel, magazines, and propulsion machinery, while leaving non-essential sections lightly protected to save weight. She was armed with a main battery of ten 14-inch/45-caliber guns mounted in two twin and two triple gun turrets, a configuration that provided superior firepower. As the first U.S. capital ship designed from the keel up with oil-fired boilers, she offered greater range and efficiency, and her steam turbine propulsion plants were also a first for an American battleship. Her design influenced all subsequent American battleships, including the ''Pennsylvania'', ''New Mexico'', and ''Tennessee'' classes.

Construction and career

USS Nevada was ordered on 4 March 1911 and her keel was laid down on 4 November 1912 at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 11 July 1914, sponsored by Eleanor Anne Siebert, the daughter of Nevada Governor Tasker Oddie. The battleship was commissioned into the United States Navy on 11 March 1916 under the command of Captain William S. Sims. Following her sea trials and shakedown cruise, she was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet based in Norfolk, Virginia.

World War I and interwar period

During World War I, Nevada was based in Bantry Bay, Ireland, as part of Battleship Division Nine under the command of Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman, serving with the British Grand Fleet. Her primary duty was to protect Allied convoys from potential sorties by the German High Seas Fleet, though she saw no direct combat. In the interwar period, she underwent several modernizations, including upgrades to her anti-aircraft battery and the addition of aircraft catapults for scout planes. She participated in extensive fleet exercises and training cruises, including voyages to South America and Australia, and was transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1930, making her homeport at Pearl Harbor.

World War II

On 7 December 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Nevada was the only battleship to get underway. She sustained one torpedo hit and several bomb strikes from Japanese aircraft but managed to beach herself at Hospital Point to avoid blocking the harbor channel. After extensive repairs and a major reconstruction at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, which included the removal of her older secondary guns and a significant enhancement of her anti-aircraft armament, she returned to service. She provided vital naval gunfire support during the Aleutian Islands Campaign, the Normandy landings (notably at Utah Beach and Cherbourg), the invasion of Southern France, and the Battle of Iwo Jima and Battle of Okinawa.

Post-war

Following the surrender of Japan, Nevada was used to transport American servicemen home during Operation Magic Carpet. Deemed obsolete after the war, she was assigned as a target ship for the Operation Crossroads nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946. Surviving both the Able and Baker detonations, she was heavily contaminated with radioactive fallout. Decommissioned on 29 August 1946, she was finally sunk as a live-fire target on 31 July 1948 by a combined bombardment from the battleship USS ''Iowa'' and cruisers USS ''Astoria'' and USS ''Pasadena'' near Hawaii.

Category:Nevada-class battleships Category:Ships built in Massachusetts Category:World War I battleships of the United States Category:World War II battleships of the United States