The Ships of Brawling Battleships Steel: United States Battleship Arizona (BB39)

Laid down on March 16, 1914, launched on June 19, 1915 and commissioned on October 17, 1916, Arizona carried a main armament of twelve 14 inch main guns mounted three per turret; two centerline superfiring forward and two centerline superfiring aft. Arizona was half of the two-ship Pennsylvania class and both had oil-fired turbine engines. Under the "all or nothing" protection scheme, first introduced in the previous Nevada class battleships, this class had the thickest possible armor for the most vulnerable parts of the ship and well-designed internal compartmenting to limit flooding in less important places. These were fine vessels that had excellent protection, were comfortable sea boats that provided for steady gunnery and featured economic cruising. All United States dreadnought battleships were named after states and were assigned a hull number (officially starting in 1920) that was normally displayed on the hull. Arizona was authorized in 1913; just one year after the territory became a state. An earlier U. S. S. Arizona served from 1863–1865. Originally a commercial steamer named Arizona; she was seized by the Confederates and used as a blockade runner named Caroline and then captured and purchased into the United States Navy. She saw extensive action during the American Civil War until destroyed by an accidental fire on February 27, 1865. During World War One, the battleship Arizona crossed the Atlantic to serve with the Sixth Squadron as part of the British Grand Fleet during the final weeks of the war but saw no action and then helped bring home the doughboys from "over there" after World War I ended. Between the wars, she served for a few months in the Mediterranean in 1919 and then with both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, taking a time out for an overhaul and updating at Norfolk from 1929–1931. After this modernization, President Hoover traveled on the Arizona to the Caribbean after which she joined the Pacific Fleet for the rest of her career. During the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Arizona was hit by one torpedo and an estimated eight bombs, one of which detonated her magazine in a catastrophic explosion. The Arizona was blown in half and sunk with 1,177 (1,103 or 1,104 in some sources but the 1,177 figure seems to be accurate) killed. Although two of her turrets were salvaged and installed as coastal batteries in Hawaii, most of the wreckage remains in place and is now a National War Monument. Her sister ship Pennsylvania survived a torpedo hit off Okinawa during which she shipped 3,400 tons of seawater aft and was finally sunk after use as a target in the Bikini A-Bomb tests.

See other battleships: Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas