USS Oklahoma (BB-37), the only ship of the United States Navy to ever be named for the 46th state, was a World War I-era battleship and the second of two ships in her class. She and her sister, Nevada, were the first U.S. warships to use oil fuel instead ofcoal.[6][page needed]
The Oklahoma, commissioned in 1916, served in World War I as a member of BatDiv 6,[4]protecting Allied convoys on their way across the Atlantic. After the war, she served in both the United States Battle Fleet and Scouting Fleet. Oklahoma was modernized between 1927 and 1929. In 1936, she rescued American citizens and refugees from theSpanish Civil War. On returning to the West coast in August of the same year, Oklahomaspent the rest of her service in the Pacific. On 7 December 1941, Oklahoma was sunk by several bombs and torpedoes during theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A total of 429 crew died when she capsized inBattleship Row. In 1943 Oklahoma was righted and salvaged. However, unlike most of the other battleships that were recovered following Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma was too damaged to return to duty. She was eventually stripped of her remaining armaments and superstructure before being sold for scrap in 1946. She sank in a storm while being towed from Oahu in Hawaii to a breakers yard in San Francisco Bay in 1947. |
AuthorJohn Currin served 15 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy and has retained an interest in naval, marine, military and happenings around the world. Archives
January 2024
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