USS Arkansas (BB-33)

Figure 1:  USS Arkansas (BB-33) in the middle chambers of the Gatun Locks, Panama Canal, on 25 July 1919, while en route to the Pacific. USS Texas (BB-35) is at right. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.  

Figure 2:  USS Arkansas (BB-33) anchored in harbor during the early 1920s, location unknown. Donation of Franklin Moran, 1967. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 3:  USS Arkansas (BB-33) photographed during the late 1920s or early 1930s, following modernization. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.  

Figure 4: USS Arkansas (BB-33) anchored off Portland, Maine, in February 1942, shortly before the overhaul that replaced her "basket" foremast with a tripod. Photographed from USS Wasp (CV-7). Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 5:  USS Arkansas (BB-33) off the New York Navy Yard, New York, 23 September 1942. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.  

Figure 6:  USS Arkansas (BB-33) underway off the US east coast, 11 April 1944. Photographed from a blimp of squadron ZP-11. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 7:  Normandy Invasion, June 1944. USS Arkansas (BB-33) fires her 12-inch guns at German positions while supporting the Omaha Beach landings, 6 June 1944. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.   

Figure 8:  USS Arkansas (BB-33) off the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, 5 November 1944. She is painted in camouflage Measure 31a, Design 7B. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.   

Figure 9:  USS Arkansas (BB-33) off the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, 5 November 1944. She is painted in camouflage Measure 31a, Design 7B. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.   

Figure 10:  USS Arkansas (BB-33) anchored in San Pedro harbor, California, on 1 January 1945. A tanker and a Navy attack transport (APA) are in the background. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after the state of Arkansas, the 27,243-ton USS Arkansas (BB-33) was a Wyoming class battleship that was built by the New York Shipbuilding Company at Camden, New Jersey, and was commissioned on 17 September 1912. The ship was approximately 562 feet long and 93 feet wide, had a top speed of 21 knots, and had a crew of 1,036 officers and men. Arkansas was originally armed with twelve 12-inch guns, an astonishing 21 5-inch guns, and two 21-inch torpedo tubes, but this armament changed in later years.

After being commissioned, Arkansas spent seven years with the US Atlantic Fleet. In 1913, she cruised in the Mediterranean Ocean and in 1914 participated in the US intervention in Mexico. During America’s involvement in World War I, Arkansas served with the British Grand Fleet and remained there until the war ended. Arkansas returned to the United States in December 1918.

Transiting the Panama Canal in July 1919, Arkansas joined the US Pacific Fleet and remained there for two years before returning to the Atlantic. The battleship carried midshipmen from the US Naval Academy on cruises to Europe in 1923 and 1924, and went back to America’s west coast in 1925. After that, Arkansas underwent extensive modernization, receiving new oil-fired boilers, additional deck armor, and a changed appearance, with only one smokestack replacing the two older ones and a single “basket” mast in place of the previous two cage masts. During the next two decades, Arkansas primarily served in the Atlantic area, making annual midshipmen’s cruises to Europe from 1929 to 1931 and from 1934 to 1937. From 1932 to 1934, she patrolled along America’s west coast on training exercises, a mission that occupied most of her time during the 1930s.

After World War II broke out in Europe in September 1939, Arkansas continued her training duties, and, as relations with Germany disintegrated, she took part in “operations short of war.” During the summer of 1941, Arkansas escorted American occupation forces to Iceland. In August 1941, the battleship was present when Prime Minister Winston Churchill met President Franklin Roosevelt on board USS Augusta at the Atlantic Charter Conference off the coast of Newfoundland. Once the United States formally entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941, Arkansas escorted convoys across the Atlantic and was used as a training ship. Another major overhaul from March to June 1942 again changed the ship’s appearance, with a new tripod foremast replacing the previous “basket” type mast.

Arkansas’ combat experience began during the Allied invasion of Normandy, France. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Arkansas took up a position 4,000 yards off the coast of “Omaha” beach. At 0552 hours, all of the battleship’s 12-inch guns opened fire on the Normandy coastline. During the day, Arkansas was fired on by German shore batteries and was attacked by German aircraft. Fortunately, the Germans scored no hits on the battleship. Over the ensuing days, Arkansas continued providing gunfire support along the French coast. On 25 June, the battleship dueled with German shore batteries off the coast of Cherbourg, France, with the enemy repeatedly straddling the ship but never hitting her. Arkansas’ big guns helped support the Allied attack on Cherbourg, which led to the capture of that vital port the following day. After Cherbourg was secured, Arkansas went to Weymouth, England, for fuel, ammunition, and supplies.

Arkansas left England on 4 July 1944, bound for the Mediterranean. She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and anchored at Oran, Algeria, on 10 July. Eight days later, Arkansas got underway and reached Taranto, Italy, on 21 July. She remained there until 6 August, and then steamed to Palermo, Sicily, the next day.

On 14 August 1944, Operation “Anvil,” the invasion of the southern French coast between Toulon and Cannes, began. Arkansas provided gunfire support for the initial landings on 15 August and continued her bombardment until 17 August. After making stops at Palermo and Oran, Arkansas returned to the United States. On 14 September, the battleship reached Boston, Massachusetts, and underwent alterations and repairs until early November. After completing her overhaul on 7 November, Arkansas sailed south to the Panama Canal. After transiting the canal on 22 November, Arkansas headed for San Pedro, California, arriving there a few days later.

On 20 January 1945, Arkansas left San Pedro and headed for Pearl Harbor. One day after her arrival there, Arkansas left Pearl Harbor and headed for Ulithi Atoll, which was a major US Navy base and staging area in the Caroline Islands. She then went on to Tinian Island, arriving there on 12 February. After two days of training exercises, Arkansas moved on to Iwo Jima.

At 0600 hours on 16 February 1945, Arkansas opened fire on Japanese positions on Iwo Jima as she lay off the island’s west coast. Arkansas bombarded the island for three days and remained in the fire support area to provide cover during the evening hours. During her time off the coast of Iwo Jima, Arkansas shelled numerous Japanese positions in support of the US Marines who were struggling to advance on that wretched island. Arkansas completed her mission at Iwo Jima on 7 March and returned to Ulithi. After arriving at the atoll on 10 March, the battleship rearmed, obtained provisions, and took on more fuel in preparation for her next assignment, the invasion of Okinawa.

Arkansas left Ulithi on 21 March 1945 and began her preliminary shelling of Japanese positions on Okinawa on 25 March, several days ahead of the actual amphibious assault, which started on 1 April. The Japanese soon began their infamous kamikaze onslaught and Arkansas fought off several aerial attacks. For 46 days, Arkansas provided gunfire support for the invasion of Okinawa. On 14 May, Arkansas arrived at Apra Harbor, Guam, and waited for a new assignment.

After spending a month at Apra Harbor, part of which was spent in dry dock, Arkansas got underway on 12 June 1945 and headed for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. She dropped anchor there on 16 June and remained in the Philippines until the war ended in August. On 20 August, Arkansas left Leyte and returned to Okinawa, reaching that island three days later. After spending a month at Okinawa, Arkansas embarked approximately 800 troops for transport back to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet, which was designed to bring home American servicemen as soon as possible. Arkansas left Okinawa and, after making a brief stop at Pearl Harbor, arrived at Seattle, Washington, on 15 October. For the rest of the year, Arkansas made three more trips to Pearl Harbor to shuttle troops back to the United States.

By now thoroughly obsolete, Arkansas was assigned one final mission, to serve as a target ship for the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Although the tough old battleship survived the initial atomic blast which was detonated in the air, she was anchored in close proximity to the bomb used in the 25 July 1945 underwater atomic explosion. Arkansas was engulfed in a huge column of water driven up by the powerful blast and sank quickly. She remains at the bottom of Bikini Atoll to this day. USS Arkansas received four battle stars for her service during World War II.

USS John Paul Jones (DD-932 / DDG-32)

Figure 1:  USS John Paul Jones (DD-932) just prior to her commissioning, March 1956, at Bath, Maine. Photograph courtesy of David Buell. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 2:  USS John Paul Jones (DD-932), date and location unknown. Photograph courtesy of Robert Hurst. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 3:  USS John Paul Jones (DD-932) underway at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 10 November 1958. US Navy photograph No. 1040184. From the collection of CDR Thomas B. Ray (USS Essex , CV-9).  Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 4:  USS John Paul Jones (DD-932) underway May or June 1960 off Newport, Rhode Island. Photograph courtesy of Girard Kelly. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 5:  USS John Paul Jones (DDG-32), date and location unknown. This photograph was taken after the ship was modernized and re-classified as a guided missile destroyer on 15 March 1967. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 6:  USS John Paul Jones (DDG-32) at San Diego, California, in 1978. Photograph courtesy of   Ron Reeves. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 7:  USS John Paul Jones (DDG-32) off Singapore, February 1980. Photograph courtesy of Marc Piché. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 8:  USS John Paul Jones (DDG-32) at San Francisco, California, 3 April 1982. Photograph courtesy of Marc Piché. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 9:  Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington, 25 January 1990. Laid up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility are the guided missile destroyers USS John Paul Jones (DDG-32) and USS Decatur (DDG-31) and the destroyer USS Turner Joy (DD-951). Ironically, in the background at left is the attack aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31), namesake of the famous warship John Paul Jones once commanded.  Photograph courtesy of Fred Weiss. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after the famous American naval Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones (1747-1792), the 4,619-ton USS John Paul Jones (DD-932) was a Forrest Sherman class destroyer that was built by the Bath Iron Works at Bath, Maine, and was commissioned on 5 April 1956. The ship was approximately 418 feet long and 45 feet wide, had a top speed of 33 knots, and had a crew of 324 officers and men. John Paul Jones was initially armed three 5-inch guns, four 3-inch guns, four 21-inch torpedo tubes, and depth charges, but this armament changed dramatically in later years after the ship was converted into a guided missile destroyer.

After being commissioned, John Paul Jones completed a lengthy shakedown cruise off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The destroyer then proceeded to northern Europe and Great Britain, where she visited Kirkcudbright, Scotland, which was the birthplace of John Paul Jones. After that, the ship returned to the United States and arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, on 8 October 1956.

On 25 March 1957, John Paul Jones left the United States and sailed to the Mediterranean Ocean to join the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet. In May, the ship was part of the American naval task force that positioned itself off the coast of Jordan. A crisis developed after communists in that country tried to overthrow Jordan’s King Hussein. Evidently, the presence of the US warships did the trick in suppressing the communist uprising and a major crisis was averted. John Paul Jones returned to Newport on 6 June 1957. After that, the ship participated in NATO maneuvers in the north Atlantic in October. John Paul Jones completed another brief cruise in the Mediterranean before going back to the United States on 27 November. In January 1958, the destroyer took part in fleet exercises in the Caribbean.

In the spring of 1958, John Paul Jones joined Canadian warships in training maneuvers in the Atlantic. After completing additional training exercises off America’s east coast and in the Caribbean, the ship returned to the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean on 17 March 1959. Once this tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet ended, John Paul Jones came back to the United States and arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, on 24 July.

During the first few months of 1960, John Paul Jones was part of the Navy’s Second Fleet while based at Newport. In June 1960, the destroyer embarked midshipmen from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, for a training cruise. The ship left the United States on 22 August for a tour of South America. As part of Operation “UNITAS,” John Paul Jones circumnavigated the continent, visiting many of America’s southern allies and taking part in joint exercises with their navies. After transiting the Straits of Magellan and the Panama Canal, John Paul Jones returned to Newport on 13 December 1960.

From 1961 to 1962, the destroyer carried out antisubmarine exercises in the Caribbean. In April 1962, John Paul Jones participated in a fleet review and weapons demonstration for President John F. Kennedy and in July she conducted a brief training exercise for midshipmen. In October 1962, the ship was on station with the Atlantic Recovery Forces during the orbital rocket flight of Commander Walter Schirra. That same month, John Paul Jones took part in the famous naval quarantine of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world came perilously close to thermonuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1963, John Paul Jones completed another Mediterranean cruise which lasted from 6 February to 1 July. The remainder of the year was spent participating in antisubmarine exercises in the Atlantic Ocean. Operations along America’s east coast continued until John Paul Jones began another deployment with the Sixth Fleet on 20 June 1964. The destroyer patrolled the western Mediterranean on antisubmarine warfare assignments and returned to the United States on 3 September. Early in 1965, the ship conducted training exercises in the Caribbean. John Paul Jones returned to the Mediterranean on 18 June for NATO exercises with the French, Greek, and British navies. After completing those exercises, the ship came back to the United States and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 6 November. John Paul Jones then went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 2 December and entered the US Naval Shipyard there for conversion to a guided missile destroyer. She was decommissioned on 20 December 1965.

John Paul Jones was re-classified DDG-32 on 15 March 1967 and was re-commissioned in the fall of 1967 after her conversion to a guided missile destroyer was completed. The ship underwent some major changes in Philadelphia. Roughly 90% of her superstructure was replaced and the ship received the SM-1MR Standard surface-to-air missile system as well as ASROC anti-submarine missiles. In addition, the ship’s engineering equipment was completely overhauled and a large amount of new electronic equipment was installed.

After her major modernization and overhaul, John Paul Jones was transferred to the Pacific and based at Long Beach, California, in the fall of 1967. After completing extensive training on the new equipment over the next several months, the ship left California and sailed to the Far East. From 1968 to 1972, John Paul Jones completed three combat tours of duty off the coast of Vietnam. During her third Vietnam deployment, John Paul Jones was at sea nearly 80% of the time. In addition to carrying out search and rescue operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, the ship spent 40 days providing gunfire support for American troops on shore. On 15 occasions, John Paul Jones steamed so close to shore that she came under enemy artillery fire. Fortunately, no hits were ever scored on the ship.  

In 1973, John Paul Jones’ fourth Far East deployment consisted of anti-aircraft picket missions in the Gulf of Tonkin and mine sweeping duty in Haiphong Harbor as American involvement in Vietnam was ending. In August 1973, the ship participated in naval exercises with warships from Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain. John Paul Jones returned to Long Beach in November.

In 1974, John Paul Jones was sent on another deployment to the Far East and joined warships from the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force on anti-submarine warfare exercises off the coast of Japan. In 1975, the ship participated in Operations Eagle Pull and Frequent Wind, which were the evacuation of US citizens from Cambodia and South Vietnam. After completing another overhaul in 1976, John Paul Jones was sent back to the Far East. After returning to the United States for two years, another tour of duty in the Far East took place from April to October 1979. During that deployment, the ship participated in joint naval exercises with warships from Taiwan and the Philippines. After returning to the United States for an overhaul, John Paul Jones completed her final deployment to the Far East in 1980.

USS John Paul Jones was decommissioned for the last time on 15 December 1982 after more than 26 years of service. She was stricken from the Navy list on 30 April 1986 and was sunk as a target off the coast of southern California on 31 January 2001.