USS Arkansas (hull number BB-33) was a dreadnought battleship, the second member of the , built by the United States Navy. She was the third ship of the US Navy named in honor of the 25th state, and was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was laid down in January 1910, launched in January 1911, and commissioned into the Navy in September 1912. Arkansas was armed with a main battery of twelve guns and capable of a top speed of .
Arkansas served in both World Wars. During World War I, she was part of Battleship Division Nine, which was attached to the British Grand Fleet, but she saw no action during the war. During the interwar years, Arkansas performed a variety of duties, including training cruises for midshipmen and goodwill visits overseas.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Arkansas conducted Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic prior to America's entry into the war. Thereafter, she escorted convoys to Europe through 1944; in June, she supported the invasion of Normandy, and in August she provided gunfire support to the invasion of southern France. In 1945, she transferred to the Pacific, and bombarded Japanese positions during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the end of the war, she ferried troops back to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Arkansas was expended as a target in Operation Crossroads, a pair of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946.
Design
Arkansas was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced as designed and up to at full load. The ship was powered by four-shaft Parsons steam turbines and twelve coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers rated at , generating a top speed of . The ship had a cruising range of at a speed of .
The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 12-inch/50 caliber Mark 7 guns guns in six twin Mark 9 gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward. The other four turrets were placed aft of the superstructure in two superfiring pairs. The secondary battery consisted of twenty-one /51 caliber guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull. The main armored belt was thick, while the gun turrets had thick faces. The conning tower had thick sides.
Modifications In 1925, Arkansas was modernized in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Her displacement increased significantly, to standard and full load. Her beam was widened to , primarily from the installation of anti-torpedo bulges, and draft increased to . Her twelve coal-fired boilers were replaced with four White-Forster oil-fired boilers that had been intended for the ships cancelled under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty; performance remained the same as the older boilers. The ship's deck armor was strengthened by the addition of of armor to the second deck between the end barbettes, plus of armor on the third deck on the bow and stern. The deck armor over the engines and boilers was increased by and , respectively. Five of the 5-inch guns were removed and eight /50 caliber anti-aircraft guns were installed. The mainmast was removed to provide space for an aircraft catapult mounted on the Number 3 turret amidships.
Service history Pre-World War I Arkansas was laid down on 25 January 1910, at New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey. She was launched on 14 January 1911, after which fitting-out work was effected. The ship was completed by September 1912, and was commissioned into the US Navy on 17 September, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, under the command of Captain Roy C. Smith. Following her commissioning, Arkansas participated in a fleet review on 14 October 1912, for President William Howard Taft. The ship took Taft aboard that day for a trip to Panama to inspect the Panama Canal, which was still under construction. Arkansas began her shakedown cruise after delivering Taft and his entourage to the Canal Zone. During this cruise, the Navy's first long-distance, continuous-wave, wireless telegraphy system was successfully tested, with regular transmissions received by Arkansas from a prototype Poulsen-arc transmission facility located in Arlington, Virginia. On 26 December, she returned to the Canal Zone to take Taft to Key West, Florida. After completing the voyage, Arkansas was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and participated in fleet maneuvers off the east coast of the United States. Arkansass first overseas cruise, to the Mediterranean Sea, began in late October 1913. While there, she stopped in several ports, including Naples, Italy on 11 November, where the ship celebrated the birthday of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
In early 1914, an international incident with Mexico culminated in the American occupation of Veracruz. Arkansas participated in the occupation, contributing four companies of naval infantry, which amounted to 17 officers and 313 enlisted men. The American forces fought their way through the city until they secured it. Two of Arkansass crewmen were killed in the fighting, and another two, John Grady and Jonas H. Ingram, received the Medal of Honor for actions during the occupation. The ship's detachment returned on 30 April; Arkansas remained in Mexican waters until she departed on 30 September, to return to the United States. While stationed in Veracruz, the ship was visited by Captain Franz von Papen, the German military attaché to the United States and Mexico, and Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock, the commander of the British 4th Cruiser Squadron, on 10 May and 30 May 1914, respectively.
Arkansas arrived in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 7 October, after which she took part in exercises for a week. She then sailed to the New York Navy Yard for periodic maintenance. After repairs were completed, the ship steamed down to the Virginia Capes area for training maneuvers. She returned to the New York Navy Yard on 12 December, for additional maintenance. The repairs were completed within a month, and on 16 January 1915, Arkansas departed for the Virginia Capes for exercises on 19–21 January. The ship then steamed down to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba for exercises with the fleet. Arkansas returned for training off Hampton Roads on 7 April, followed by another maintenance period at the New York Navy Yard, starting on 23 April.
On 25 June, the repairs were complete, and Arkansas departed for Newport, Rhode Island, for torpedo practice and tactical maneuvers in Narragansett Bay, which lasted through late August. On 27 August, the ship was back in Hampton Roads. There, she participated in exercises off Norfolk through 4 October. She then returned to Newport, where she took part in strategic maneuvers on 5–14 October. She went to the New York Navy Yard on 15 October, where she was drydocked for extensive maintenance. The work was completed by 8 November, when Arkansas returned to Hampton Roads. The ship was in Brooklyn for repairs on 19 November, which lasted until 5 January 1916, when she steamed south to the Caribbean Sea, via Hampton Roads, for winter exercises. She steamed to Mobile Bay on 12 March, for torpedo practice, before returning to Guantánamo Bay. She returned to the New York Navy Yard on 15 April, for an overhaul.
World War I
The United States declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, joining the Allied Powers in World War I. Arkansas was at the time assigned to Battleship Division 7 stationed in Virginia. The ship patrolled the east coast and trained gun crews for the next fourteen months. The ship was sent to Britain in July 1918 to relieve the battleship , which had been assigned to operate with the Grand Fleet in the 6th Battle Squadron since December 1917. Arkansas departed the United States on 14 July; while approaching the Royal Navy base in Rosyth, the battleship fired on what was thought to be a periscope from a German U-boat. The destroyers escorting Arkansas dropped depth charges but did not hit the alleged submarine. Arkansas arrived in Rosyth on 28 July, and joined the rest of Battleship Division 9 stationed there. For the remainder of the conflict, Battleship Division 9 operated as the 6th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet.
On 11 November, the Armistice with Germany that ended World War I went into effect. The terms of the Armistice required Germany to intern the bulk of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow, under the supervision of the Grand Fleet. Arkansas and the other American warships participated in the internment; a combined fleet of 370 British, American, and French warships met the High Seas Fleet in the North Sea on 21 November, and escorted it into Scapa Flow. On 1 December, Battleship Division 9 was detached from the Grand Fleet, after which Arkansas departed the Firth of Forth for the Isle of Portland. She then went to sea to meet the ocean liner , which was carrying President Wilson to Europe. Arkansas and the other American naval forces in Europe escorted the ship into Brest, France, on 13 December. After completing the escort, Arkansas sailed for New York City, arriving on 26 December, where the fleet participated in a Naval Review for Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.
Inter-war period 1919–1927
The peacetime training regimen for Arkansas consisted of individual training, an annual fleet maneuver, and periodic maintenance in drydock. She also participated in gunnery and engineering competitions. After returning to the United States, Arkansas went into drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard for an extensive overhaul. She then rejoined the fleet to conduct training exercises off Cuba, after which she crossed the Atlantic, bound for Europe. She reached Plymouth, on 12 May 1919, and then took weather observations on 19 May, and later served as a reference vessel to guide the Navy Curtiss NC flying boats flying from Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, to Europe. After completing that task, she steamed to Brest, on 10 June, and picked up Admiral William S. Benson, the Chief of Naval Operations, and his wife. Arkansas carried them back to New York, after Benson was finished at the Peace Conference in Paris, arriving on 20 June.
On 19 July, Arkansas departed Hampton Roads, to join her new assignment, the US Pacific Fleet, bound for San Francisco. She arrived 6 September, via the Panama Canal, and embarked Secretary and Mrs. Josephus Daniels. She took Daniels and his wife to Blakely Harbor, Washington, on 12 September, and the following day, participated in a naval review for President Wilson. On 19 September, Arkansas entered the Puget Sound Navy Yard for a general overhaul. She returned to the fleet in May 1920 for training operations off California. The Navy adopted a hull classification system, and on 17 July, assigned Arkansas the designation "BB-33". She steamed to Hawaii, in September, the first time she went to the islands. In early 1921, Arkansas visited Valparaíso, Chile, where she was received by President Arturo Alessandri Palma; the ship's crew manned the rail to honor the Chilean president.
In August 1921, Arkansas returned to the Atlantic Fleet, where she became the flagship of the Commander, Battleship Force, Atlantic Fleet. Throughout the 1920s, Arkansas carried midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy on summer cruises. She went on a tour of Europe in 1923; there, on 2 July, she stopped in Copenhagen, and was visited by King Christian X of Denmark. She also stopped in Lisbon and Gibraltar. Another midshipmen cruise to Europe followed in 1924; the cruise for the next year went to the west coast of the United States. On 30 June 1925, she stopped in Santa Barbara, California, to assist in the aftermath of the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake. Arkansas, the destroyer , and the patrol craft PE-34 sent detachments ashore to help the police in Santa Barbara. They also established a temporary radio station in the city.