USS Oklahoma

USS Oklahoma was a Nevada-class battleship built for the United States Navy in the 1910s. Commissioned in 1916, she served in World War I and was modernized in the interwar period before being stationed at Pearl Harbor. The ship was catastrophically damaged during the Attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, capsizing after multiple torpedo hits with significant loss of life. Although salvaged in a monumental effort, she was never repaired and was eventually sold for scrap after the war, leaving a profound legacy of sacrifice.

Construction and commissioning

The contract for the vessel was awarded to the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, with her keel laid on 26 October 1912. She was launched on 23 March 1914, sponsored by Lorena J. Cruce, daughter of Oklahoma Governor Lee Cruce. Following fitting-out, the battleship was commissioned into the United States Atlantic Fleet on 2 May 1916 under the command of Captain Roger Welles. Her design featured the revolutionary "all or nothing" armor scheme and was armed with a main battery of ten 14-inch/45-caliber guns mounted in twin turrets.

Service history

After commissioning, she conducted shakedown and training exercises along the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea. Following the American entry into World War I in April 1917, she was based in Bantry Bay, Ireland, as part of Battleship Division Six, tasked with protecting Allied convoys from potential threats by the Imperial German Navy. In 1919, she escorted President Woodrow Wilson aboard the SS *George Washington* to the Paris Peace Conference. During the interwar years, she operated with both the Atlantic Fleet and Pacific Fleet, undergoing a major modernization from 1927 to 1929 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard that included the addition of anti-torpedo bulges and new oil-fired boilers.

Pearl Harbor and sinking

On 7 December 1941, she was moored outboard of USS *Maryland* at Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor when Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft launched their surprise attack. Within the first minutes, she was struck by up to nine torpedoes launched from Kate torpedo bombers, causing massive flooding. The ship rapidly listed to port and, within approximately twelve minutes, capsized, her mast touching the harbor bottom. Despite heroic rescue efforts by crewmen and sailors from nearby vessels like USS *Maryland* and USS *Vestal*, 429 officers and enlisted men were trapped and killed, representing the second greatest loss of life on any ship at Pearl Harbor after USS *Arizona*.

Salvage and disposal

In March 1943, the United States Navy awarded a contract to the Pacific Bridge Company for her righting and salvage, a complex engineering feat under the supervision of Captain Wallace B. Phillips. Using an elaborate system of winches, pontoons, and pulling cables anchored to Ford Island, the hull was gradually righted by November 1943. After being patched and refloated, she was formally decommissioned on 1 September 1944. The hulk was sold on 5 December 1946 to Moore Drydock Company of Oakland, California, for scrapping. While under tow to San Francisco Bay in May 1947, she foundered and sank approximately 540 miles from Pearl Harbor.

Legacy and memorials

The sacrifice of her crew is commemorated at the USS Oklahoma Memorial, dedicated on Ford Island in 2007. In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) began a project to disinter and identify the unknown crew members buried as "Unknowns" at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl Crater). This effort has led to the successful identification of hundreds of sailors and Marines through DNA analysis. The ship's bell is preserved and displayed at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, and her story is a central part of the historical narrative presented at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and the USS Arizona Memorial.

Category:Nevada-class battleships Category:Ships sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor Category:World War I battleships of the United States Category:1916 ships