USS Oklahoma (BB-37)
USS Oklahoma (BB-37), a
Nevada-class battleship was the only ship of the
United States Navy to be named for
the 46th state. Her
keel was laid down on
26 October 1912 by the
New York Shipbuilding Corporation of
Camden, New Jersey. She was
launched on
23 March 1914 sponsored by Miss Lorena J. Cruce, and
commissioned at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on
2 May 1916 with
Captain Roger Welles in
command. She was the last ship of the U.S. Navy to be installed with
vertical triple expansion (VTE) reciprocating machinery instead of
steam turbines; she had a vibration problem throughout her lifetime as a result.
Presidential escort
Joining the
Atlantic Fleet with
Norfolk, Virginia her home
port,
Oklahoma trained on the
eastern seaboard until
sailing on
13 August 1918 with
sister ship Nevadato join in the task of protecting
Allied convoys in
European waters. In
December she was part of the escort as
President of the United States Woodrow Wilson arrived in
France, departing
December 14 for
New York City and winter fleet exercises in
Cuban waters. She returned to
Brest on
15 June 1919 to escort President Wilson in
George Washington home from his second visit to France, returning to New York on
8 July.
Overhauled and re-assigned
A part of the Atlantic Fleet for the next two years,
Oklahoma was overhauled, trained, and twice voyaged to
South America's west coast; early in
1921 for combined
exercises with the
Pacific Fleet, and later that year for the
Peruvian Centennial. She then joined the Pacific Fleet for six years highlighted by the cruise of the Battle Fleet to
Australia and
New Zealand in
1925. Joining the Scouting Fleet in early
1927,
Oklahoma continued intensive exercises during that
summer's Midshipmen Cruise, voyaging to the East Coast to embark midshipmen, carrying them through the
Panama Canal to
San Francisco, and returning by the way of
Cuba and
Haiti.
Rescuing Americans in Spain
Modernized at Philadelphia between September
1927 and July
1929,
Oklahoma rejoined the Scouting Fleet for exercises in the
Caribbean Sea, and returned to the west coast in June
1930 for fleet operations through spring
1936. That summer she carried midshipmen on a European training cruise, visiting northern ports. The cruise was interrupted with the outbreak of
civil war in Spain, as
Oklahoma sped to
Bilbao, arriving on
24 July 1936 to
rescue American
citizens and other
refugees whom she carried to
Gibraltar and
French ports. She returned to Norfolk on
11 September, and to the West Coast
24 October.
The Pacific Fleet operations of the
Oklahoma during the next four years included joint operations with the Army and the training of reservists.
|
USS Oklahoma burns in foreground; December 7, 1941 |
Attacked on December 7, 1941
She was based at
Pearl Harbor from
6 December 1940 for patrols and exercises, and was moored in
Battleship Row on
7 December 1941, when
the Japanese attacked. Outboard alongside
USS Maryland,
Oklahoma took three
torpedo hits almost immediately after the first
Japanese bombs fell. As she began to
capsize, two more torpedoes struck home, and her men were
strafed as they
abandoned ship. Within 20 minutes after the attack began, she had rolled over until halted by her
masts touching bottom, her starboard side above water, and a part of her keel clear.
First recorded death of a chaplain
Many of her
crew, however, remained in the fight, clambering aboard
Maryland to help serve her
antiaircraft batteries. Twenty
officers and 395
enlisted men were either
killed or
missing. One of those killed -
Father Aloysius Schmitt - was the first American
chaplain of any
faith to die in the
Second World War. Thirty-two others were wounded, and many were trapped within the capsized hull, to be saved by heroic rescue efforts. Such an effort was that of
Julio DeCastro, a civilian yard worker who organized the team which saved 32
Oklahoma sailors.
The difficult
salvage job began in
March 1943, and
Oklahoma entered
dry dock 28 December.
Decommissioned 1 September 1944,
Oklahoma was stripped of
guns and superstructure, and sold on
5 December 1946 to Moore Drydock Company of
Oakland, California.
Oklahoma parted her tow line and sank on
17 May 1947 540 miles out, bound from Pearl Harbor to
San Francisco.
Oklahoma received one
battle star for her
World War II service.
*
List of U.S. Navy losses in World War II*
Nevada class battleships
*
Attack on Pearl Harbor*
World War II*
Father Aloysius Schmitt*
Killed in action*
United States Navy*
Oklahoma*
US Navy Historical Center gallery*
USS Oklahoma - Death of a Battleship (1916-1941)
*
Maritimequest USS Oklahoma BB-37 Photo Gallery*
2003: Survivors dedicate Pearl Harbor USS Oklahoma Memorial highway
