USS Oklahoma
The
two ships of the Oklahoma class, USS Nevada and USS Oklahoma, were authorized
in 1911 and launched in 1912. The Oklahoma displaced 34,000 tons, with
an overall length of 583 feet, and a beam of 107 feet, 11 inches. Her
reciprocating engines produced 25,300 horsepower through twin screws driving
the ship at 20.5 knots. Her main armament consisted of ten 14-inch .45
caliber rifles and for her second battery; she carried twelve 5-inch .25
caliber anti-aircraft guns. The ship normally carried three scouting seaplanes
atop her turrets and quarterdeck catapult, and a crew of 1,301.
On
the morning of Dec.7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor, the USS Oklahoma was moored
outboard the USS Maryland in a state of complete unreadiness. Most of
her watertight manhole covers had been removed, and she was moored in
a very exposed position on the east side of Ford Island. She received
torpedo hits almost immediately after the attack began and started listing
over the starboard side. Ultimately, she was to absorb a total of nine
torpedoes. During the war the ship was salvaged in a singularly grand
effort, but spent the remainder of the war at quayside, awaiting the decision
of what was to be done with her. Probably due to her reciprocating engines,
the decision was made not to restore her. Her guns were used as replacements
for the battleship USS Pennsylvania and others. After the decision had
been made to sell her for scrap, after the 1946 tugs began towing towards
the US, towards scrapping, the once proud hulk, five hundred miles out
of Pearl Harbor, unaccountably began to list. During one dark, calm night,
the USS Oklahoma sank at the end of her towline, rejecting the final indignity
of being scrapped.
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