Big anniversary: USS Arizona hit the sea 100 years ago

PHOENIX — Friday is a special anniversary for the state of Arizona as it marks the 100th anniversary of the launching of the U.S.S. Arizona.

It was June 19, 1915 when Esther Ross of Prescott, Arizona, christened the Pennsylvania-class battleship with a bottle of champagne and a bottle of overflow water from the Roosevelt Dam, though the bottle of water failed to break.

“Battleship Arizona, at the time, the plans were for her to be biggest, most powerful warship on the seas,” said Charlie Knight, director of the Arizona Capital Museum.

The ship was commissioned by the U.S. Navy 16 months after being launched.
Knight said having the ship named after Arizona was an honor.

“All the battleships were named after states, of course at the time, Arizona was the newest state in the union, so that was a big honor right there to be recognized,” Knight said.

It never saw action during World War I, but Knight said the Arizona was used as one of the escort ships for President Woodrow Wilson, accompanying him to Europe at the war’s end.

After the war, Knight said the ship was mostly used for training.

“She served in both fleets, Atlantic and Pacific,” he said. “(U.S.S. Arizona) participate(d) in a lot of war games, strangely enough, one of the war games she participates in is an attack on the Hawaiian Islands.”

By the start of World War II, Knight said the Arizona had been stationed in Hawaii, where it was sunk on Dec. 7, 1941 in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Knight said 1,177 crewmen were killed in the attack.

Some salvageable parts of the ship were later taken and reused, most notably the guns from the ship’s second turret that were fixed and later placed on the U.S.S. Nevada.

The wreckage of the ship remains mostly submerged in Pearl Harbor with the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial above it.

Knight said there are many items from the Arizona, including the ship’s silver service, an anchor and one of the barrels from its turret, permanently on display at the Arizona Capital Museum.

Related

Houthis say they attacked 2 Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea as US carries out 12th night of strikesTropical Storm Bertha makes landfall in Louisiana and moves toward TexasDemocrats try to harness data center backlash that’s dividing rural Republicans in places like TexasMan who pleaded guilty to killing top Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband to be sentencedFDA reviews peptide injections favored by RFK Jr. and wellness influencersHawaii raises truck bed-riding age to 16 as roads get faster, testing a cherished island tradition