USS Arizona (BB-39) was
laid down on March 16, 1914, launched on June 19, 1915, and
commissioned on October 17, 1916. A Pennsylvania class battleship of
the United States Navy, she was the third vessel to be named in
honor of the 48th state. After shakedown off the east coast and in
the Caribbean, she operated out of Norfolk, Virginia until November
1918, when she made a brief cruise to France.
On December 13, 1918, Arizona served as part of the honor escort
convoying President Woodrow Wilson to Brest, France. In January
1920, she joined Battleship Division 7 for winter and spring
maneuvers in the Caribbean. She operated out of Guantanamo Bay
during this period, and also visited Bridgetown, Barbados, in the
British West Indies, and Colon, Panama in the Canal Zone, before she
sailed north for New York, arriving there on May 1.
Placed in reduced commission on July 15, 1929, Arizona remained in
yard hands for the next 20 months. Upgrades included new tripod
masts, new anti-aircraft guns, and additional armor. She also
received new boilers and new main and cruising steam turbines. She
was placed back in full commission on March 1, 1931. The ship and
her crew were featured in the 1935 film Here
Comes the Navy, which made extensive use of both exterior
footage as well as on-board location shots.
Arizona was moored in Pearl Harbor's “Battleship Row” on the morning
of December 7, 1941, when Japanese carrier aircraft attacked. She
was hit by several bombs, and the resulting explosion totally
wrecked the forward hull, collapsing her forward superstructure and
causing her to sink, with the loss of over 1100 of her crewmen. The
wreck of the battleship still remains at Pearl Harbor. In 1950, she
began to be used as a site for memorial ceremonies, and in the early
1960s a memorial structure was constructed across the ship's sunken
remains. Arizona was awarded one battle star for service in World
War II.
