, a
''Nevada''-class Battleship was the only ship of the
United States Navy to be named for
The 46th State . Her keel was laid down on
26 October 1912 by the
New York Shipbuilding Corporation of
Camden, New Jersey . She was
Launched on
23 March 1914 sponsored by Miss Lorena J. Cruce, and
Commissioned at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , on
2 May 1916 with Captain Roger Welles in command. She was the last ship of the US Navy to be installed with vertical triple expansion (VTE) reciprocating machinery instead of steam turbines; she had a vibration problem throughout her lifetime as a result.
Joining the Atlantic Fleet with
Norfolk, Virginia her home port, ''Oklahoma'' trained on the eastern seaboard until sailing on
13 August 1918 with sister ship
''Nevada''
to join in the task of protecting Allied convoys in European waters. In December she was part of the escort as
President Of The United States Woodrow Wilson arrived in
France , departing
December 14 for
New York City and winter fleet exercises in
Cuba n waters. She returned to
Brest on
15 June 1919 to escort President Wilson in ''George Washington'' home from his second visit to France, returning to New York on
8 July .
A part of the Atlantic Fleet for the next two years, ''Oklahoma'' was overhauled, trained, and twice voyaged to
South America 's west coast; early in
1921 for combined exercises with the Pacific Fleet, and later that year for the
Peru vian Centennial. She then joined the Pacific Fleet for six years highlighted by the cruise of the Battle Fleet to
Australia and
New Zealand in
1925 . Joining the Scouting Fleet in early
1927 , ''Oklahoma'' continued intensive exercises during that summer's Midshipmen Cruise, voyaging to the East Coast to embark midshipmen, carrying them through the
Panama Canal to
San Francisco, California , and returning by the way of
Cuba and
Haiti .
Modernized at Philadelphia between September
1927 and July
1929 , ''Oklahoma'' rejoined the Scouting Fleet for exercises in the
Caribbean Sea , and returned to the west coast in June
1930 for fleet operations through spring
1936 . That summer she carried midshipmen on a European training cruise, visiting northern ports. The cruise was interrupted with the outbreak of
Civil War In Spain , as ''Oklahoma'' sped to
Bilbao , arriving on
24 July 1936 to rescue American citizens and other refugees whom she carried to
Gibraltar and French ports. She returned to Norfolk on
11 September , and to the West Coast
24 October .
The Pacific Fleet operations of the ''Oklahoma'' during the next four years included joint operations with the Army and the training of reservists.
She was based at Pearl Harbor from
6 December 1940 for patrols and exercises, and was moored in
Battleship Row on
7 December 1941 , when
The Japanese Attacked . Outboard alongside
USS ''Maryland'' , ''Oklahoma'' took three torpedo hits almost immediately after the first Japanese bombs fell. As she began to capsize, two more torpedoes struck home, and her men were
Strafe d as they abandoned ship. Within 20 minutes after the attack began, she had rolled over until halted by her masts touching bottom, her starboard side above water, and a part of her keel clear. Many of her crew, however, remained in the fight, clambering aboard ''Maryland'' to help serve her antiaircraft batteries. Twenty officers and 395 enlisted men were either killed or missing. One of those killed -
Father Aloysius Schmitt - was the first chaplain of any faith to die in the Second World War. Thirty-two others were wounded, and many were trapped within the capsized hull, to be saved by heroic rescue efforts. Such an effort was that of
Julio DeCastro , a civilian yard worker who organized the team which saved 32 ''Oklahoma'' sailors.
The difficult salvage job began in March
1943 , and ''Oklahoma'' entered dry dock
28 December . Decommissioned
1 September 1944 , ''Oklahoma'' was stripped of guns and superstructure, and sold on
5 December 1946 to Moore Drydock Company of
Oakland, California . ''Oklahoma'' parted her tow line and sank on
17 May 1947 540 miles out, bound from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco.
''Oklahoma'' received one battle star for her
World War II service.
