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.
