The Ships of Battlegroup: United States Pennsylvania (BB-38)

Displacement	31,400 tons	Belt Armor	14 inches
Overall Length	608 feet	Deck Armor	4 inches
Beam	97 feet	Main Turret Armor	18 inches
Speed	21 knots	Main Guns	12 × 14″

The original U. S. S. Pennsylvania was a three-decked, 130 gun ship of the line, the most powerful wooden sailing ship ever built by the United States Navy. An armored cruiser commissioned in 1905 later bore the name, although she was later renamed Pittsburg to free the name for the battleship. BB-38 was laid down on October 27, 1913, launched on March 16, 1915 and commissioned on June 12, 1916. The ship carried a main armament of twelve 14 inch main guns mounted three per turret; two centerline superfiring forward and two centerline superfiring aft. Pennsylvania was the name ship of a two-ship class that also included the Arizona 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 vulnerable 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.

During World War One, Pennsylvania remained on the United States east coast as flagship of the Atlantic Fleet. From 1922–1929, she served with the Pacific Fleet. Modernization from 1929–1931 added antitorpedo bulges, new boilers and new antiaircraft batteries. At Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, her sister ship Arizona blew up with the loss of 1117 men, while Pennsylvania, in dry dock there and then the flaghip of the Pacific Fleet, was only lightly damaged. After repairs, BB-38 participated in the typical escort and bombardment duties of all the older United States battleships. On October 25, 1944, at the Battle of Surigao Strait, in concert with PT boat and destroyer torpedo attacks plus the heavy shells from California, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia, Pennsylvania was present at the destruction of Japanese battleships Fuso and Yamashiro in addition to all but one of their escorts. Pennsylvania did not fire as she could not obtain a clear target. This particular segment of the Battle of Leyte Gulf was the last battle in history where battleship fired on battleship. On August 12, 1945, she was badly damaged by an aerial torpedo, shipping 3,400 tons of seawater aft, and, due to the end of the war, never fully repaired.

After decommissioning, Pennsylvania was selected as a target ship for the atom bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. She survived both bomb blasts (“Able” and “Baker”) with repairable damage. She was towed to Kwajalein and beached there for conventional target practice until finally destroyed in 1948.

For other United States battleships with 14 inch guns, see: Mississippi and Texas .

For a further discussion of what happened to the battleships of World War One, see the Introduction to these articles.