USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)

History

The USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was the lead ship of the Pennsylvania-class superdreadnoughts built for the United States Navy in the 1910s. Part of the Standard series of battleships, the Pennsylvania class represented an incremental improvement over the previous Nevada class, carrying an additional pair of 14-inch (356 mm) guns for a total of 12 guns.

Named for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she was laid at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in October 1913, launched in March 1915, and commissioned in June 1916. Pennsylvania, which was equipped with an oil-fired propulsion system, was not sent to European waters during World War I because the necessary fuel oil was not as readily available as coal. Instead, she stayed in U.S. waters and took part in training.

In 1918, she escorted President Woodrow Wilson to France for peace talks.

Pennsylvania served as the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet in the 1920s and 1930s, and became the Combat Fleet after merging with the Pacific Fleet in 1921. Most of the time, the ship is based in California and San Pedro. Pennsylvania was busy in peacetime with training exercises (including annual naval troubles), port visits and foreign cruises, including a visit to Australia in 1925. The ship was modernized from 1929 to 1931. The ship was at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941; she was in dry dock with two destroyers when the Japanese made a surprise attack on the port.

She suffered relatively little damage in this attack and was dry dock protected from torpedoes. While undergoing repairs, the ship received a modern anti-aircraft battery, ready for her operations in the Pacific War.

Pennsylvania joined the fleet in a series of amphibious operations, primarily to provide artillery support. The first of these, the Battle of the Aleutian Islands, took place in mid-1943, followed by the attack on Makin later that year.

In 1944, she supported the Kwajalein and Enivitok landings in the Marshall Islands and the Mariana and Palau campaigns, including Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, and Angel Island. During the Philippine campaign, in addition to the typical coastal bombing missions, she also participated in the naval battle of the Surigao Strait, although her radar was insufficient to locate any targets and did not fire.

During the Battle of Okinawa, she was torpedoed by Japanese torpedo bombers and badly damaged, forcing her to be evacuated for repairs days before the end of the war.

USS Pennsylvania was assigned to the target fleet for the Crossroads nuclear test in 1946 and was only repaired enough to travel to the Bikini Atoll Proving Ground. She survived both explosions but was heavily contaminated with radioactive fallout from the second test and was dragged to Kwajalein, where she conducted research for a year and a half.

The ship eventually sank in deep water near the atoll in February 1948.

Specification

BASICS

Years in Service

1916

Origins

United States

supplement

1,200

staff

Class information

Class

Pennsylvania Class

Class Size

2

ships

Class

Pennsylvania (BB-38); USS Arizona (BB-39)

Carrier

United States

Characters

Sea Bombing

Maritime bombardment/attack of surface targets/areas primarily through ship-based ballistic weapons.

Land Assault

Littoral attacks against surface targets primarily through ship-based missiles/missile weapons.

Sea Patrol

Active patrolling of critical waterways and sea areas; also serves as a local deterrent against air and maritime threats.

Airspace Denial/Deterrence

Neutralization or deterrence of flying elements by airborne missile weapon ballistics.

Fleet Support

Provide support (fire or materiel) to major surface fleets in blue water environments.

Flagship/Capital Ship

Take on the role of fleet flagship or capital ship in old battleship design/terminology.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

608.0ft

185.32m

Ray

97. 0 feet

29.57m

Draft

29. 0 feet

8.84m

Shift

32,000 t

Power and Performance

Installed Power:

12 x Babcock boilers (later 1 x Bureau and 5 x White Forster boilers); 4 x steam turbines with 32,000 shaft horsepower on 4 x shafts.

Surface Velocity

21. 0 nodes

(24.2 km/h)

Area

9,298nm

(10,700 miles | 17,220 kilometers)

Weapons

in service: 12 x 14" (360 mm) /45 caliber guns, four guns on three turrets. 14 x 5" (127 mm) /51 caliber 4 x 3" (76 mm) / 23 caliber anti-aircraft guns 2 x 21" (530 mm) torpedo tubes WW2 in service: 12 x 14" (360 mm) /45 caliber guns, four guns on three turrets. 14 x 5" (127 mm) /51 caliber gun 12 x 5" (127 mm) /25 caliber anti-aircraft gun 4 x 3 pound (47mm) salute

Aircraft

2 x Seaplane