USS Nevada (BB-36)

USS "Nevada" (BB-36), the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was a World War I-era battleship and the lead ship of her class of two; her sister ship was USS|Oklahoma|BB-37|2. The ship was a giant leap in dreadnought technology, as she showcased four new features that would be included in almost every subsequent U.S. battleship: triple gun turrets,The only U.S. battleship class after "Nevada" that did not feature triple turrets was the "Colorado" class, which carried eight 16-inch guns in dual turrets to combat the new Japanese "Nagato" class.] anti-aircraft guns, oil in place of coal, and the "all or nothing" armor principle.

"Nevada" served in both World Wars: during World War I she was attached to the British Grand Fleet; in World War II, she was one of the battleships that was sunk when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She was the only battleship to get underway during the attack, described as "the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal and depressing morning".Bonner, 101.] Hit by at least six bombs while steaming away from Battleship Row, "Nevada" was beached at Hospital Point to prevent her from sinking and blocking the only channel out of Pearl Harbor. Subsequently salvaged and modernized, she became the oldest active battleship in service with the U.S. Navy. "Nevada" served as a fire-support ship for the rest of the war, providing support for the Normandy Landings and the invasions of Southern France, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The only battleship to have seen both the attack on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of Normandy, "Nevada" was described by Cornelius Ryan while she was steaming toward Omaha Beach as "steaming majestically [...] with all of [her] battle flags flying, [even though] the Japanese had sunk and written [her] off at Pearl Harbor".Ryan, 90.]

At the end of World War II, the Navy deemed "Nevada" too old for retention, and designated her a target ship to be used in the Bikini atomic experiments of July 1946. Two atomic bomb detonations later, she was still afloat but heavily damaged and radioactive. She was decommissioned on 29 August 1946 and sunk as a target ship on 31 July 1948.

Design

The "Nevada" class marked "another graduated step in the rapidly evolving American battleship". When "Nevada" was built, "The New York Times" remarked that the new warship was "the greatest [battleship] afloat" because her tonnage was nearly three times larger than the USS|Oregon|BB-3|6 and almost twice as large as the USS|Connecticut|BB-18|6. In addition, "Nevada" was 8,000 tons heavier than one of the original American dreadnoughts, the USS|Delaware|BB-28|6.

The new battleships of the "Nevada" class were the first two in the U.S. Navy to have triple gun turrets,cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/bb-36.htm |title=BB-36 "Nevada" class |accessyear=2008|accessdaymonth=1 September |last=Pike |first=John |year=2000–2008 |publisher=GlobalSecurity.org] The idea for turrets with more than two guns each came from the French, as they were planning to use quadruple turrets for their planned "Normandie"-s and "Lyon"-class battleships. Only one of these ships was completed, "Béarn", but she was converted to an aircraft carrier while she was being built. See: Cite news| date =October 16, 1915| title = Sea Fighter "Nevada" Ready For Her Test| work= The New York Times| page = 12| url =http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9800EEDB1239E333A25755C2A9669D946496D6CF&oref=slogin|format=PDF] single funnels,Cite news| date = September 19, 1915| title = Mightiest U.S. Ship Coming| work= The New York Times| page = 9| url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E01EFD61731E733A0575AC1A96F9C946496D6CF|format=PDF] anti-aircraft guns, and oil-fired power plants.cite news|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/usnshtp/bb/bb36cl.htm |title="Nevada" Class (BB-36 and BB-37), 1912 Building Program |accessyear=2008|accessdate=1 September |year=2000 |publisher=Naval Historical Center] In particular, using oil gave the new class an engineering advantage over the earlier coal-fired plants. Although previous battleships had armor of varying thickness—depending on the importance of the area it was protecting—the "Nevada"s had maximum armor over critical areas such as the magazines and engines, and none over less-important places; this become known as the "all or nothing" principle, which most major navies later adopted for their own battleships.Bonner, 102.] The "Nevada" class had 40% more armor by weight than the "New York" class.

A possible design flaw in the "Nevadas" was that they did not have a substantial amount of deck armor. This was due to the prevailing belief (at the time) that the submarine was the greatest threat to battleships. By World War II, however, the greatest threat had become airplanes—"the results of this [design flaw] were later [...] realized at Pearl Harbor, with "Nevada"'s experience proving that the watertight integrity of older warships was unlikely to be satisfactory."

The two "Nevadas" were virtually identical except in their propulsion. "Nevada" and her sister were fitted with different engines to compare the two, putting them 'head-to-head': "Oklahoma" received older vertical triple expansion engines, while "Nevada" received Curtis steam turbines. See this book for more information on Curtis turbines (Scroll down to the bottom of the page): cite book |title=The Steam-engine and Other Heat-engines |last=Ewing |first=James Alfred |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1910 |publisher=University Press (University of California) |location= |isbn= |pages=232 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8FdDAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=#PPA234,M1 ]

Construction and trials

"Nevada"'s construction was authorized by an Act of Congress on 4 March 1911. The contract went to Fore River Shipbuilding Company on 22 January 1912. The contract was for a total of $5,895,000$5,895,000.00 would be about $130,029,903.19 today. See [http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/# Measuring Worth] .] (not including the armor and armament), and the time of construction was originally to be 36 months. A secondary contract was signed on 31 July 1912 for $50,000$50,000 would be about $1,102,882.98 today. See [http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/# Measuring Worth] .] to cover the additional cost of a geared cruising unit on each propeller shaft; this also extended the planned construction time by five months. Her keel was laid down on 4 November 1912, and she was launched on 11 July 1914, sponsored by Miss Eleanor Anne Seibert, niece of Governor Tasker Oddie of Nevada and also a descendant of the first Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert. The launch was attended by several prominent members of the government, including Governor Oddie, Governor David I. Walsh of Massachusetts, Senator Key Pittman of Nevada, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would later become President. On 4 November 1915, "Nevada" conducted a twelve-hour endurance run "up and down the New England coast", reaching a top speed of convert|21.4|kn|mph. [Cite news| date = November 5, 1915| title = "Nevada" Test a Success| work= The New York Times| page = 14| url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E05E3D9133FE233A25756C0A9679D946496D6CF|format=PDF] Though her "acceptance trials" were interrupted on November 5 because of a gale and rough seas, they were continued on the 6th with a test of her fuel economy; this consisted of a twenty-four hour run where the "Nevada" steamed at convert|10|kn|mph. [Cite news| date = November 7, 1915| title = The "Nevada" Out Again| work= The New York Times| page = 6| url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A07E0DF113CE733A25754C0A9679D946496D6CF|format=PDF] The test results were positive: the oil consumption of the battlewagon was 6 pounds per knot lower than the contract had demanded. Another test was conducted for twelve hours at convert|15|kn|mph, with a result 10 pounds per knot lower than the contract specifications. [Cite news| date = November 10, 1915| title = "Nevada" saves fuel| work = The New York Times| page = 8| url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E03E1D91239E333A25753C1A9679D946496D6CF|format=PDF] After completing all of these tests and her running trials off Rockland, Maine, "Nevada" sailed to the Boston and New York Navy Yards for equipment, torpedo tubes and ammunition hoists. [Cite news| date = November 8, 1915| title = Nevada Meets Tests; New Superdreadnought easily fills contract requirements| work = The New York Times| page = 6| url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9803EEDE1E38E633A2575BC0A9679D946496D6CF|format=PDF] When all of the preliminaries were completed, "Nevada" was commissioned on 11 March 1916 at the Charlestown Navy Yard [Cite news| date = September 19, 1915| title = The "Nevada" in Commission| work= The New York Times| page = 12| url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9504E2DE1439E233A25751C1A9659C946796D6CF|format=PDF] with Capt. William S. Sims becoming the first captain of the new dreadnought.

World War I

"Nevada" joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in Newport, Rhode Island on 26 May 1916. She operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean until the entry of the United States into World War I in 1917. After training gunners, she sailed on 13 August 1918 to be attached to the British Grand Fleet. After a ten-day voyage, she arrived in Bantry Bay, Ireland on 23 August. She first made a patrol through the North Sea, and then escorted the transport "George Washington", with President Woodrow Wilson embarked, during the last day of her passage into Brest, France. She sailed for home on 14 December, having not engaged an enemy at any time during the war.

Interwar years

Between the two World Wars, "Nevada" served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. Though she had originally been equipped with twenty-one 5"/51 caliber guns to defend against enemy destroyers, this number was reduced to twelve in 1918, [Breyer, 210.] due to the overly wet bow and stern positions of the other nine.

Along with USS|Arizona|BB-39|6, "Nevada" represented the United States at the Peruvian Centennial Exposition in July 1921;Bonner, 102–103.] a year later, she returned to South America with USS|Maryland|BB-46|6, this time for the Centennial of Brazilian Independence, celebrated in September 1922. Three years later, from July to September 1925, "Nevada" took part in the U.S. Fleet's "goodwill cruise" to Australia and New Zealand. During this cruise, the ships had only limited replenishment opportunities, but still made it to Australia and back without undue difficulty.Bonner, 103.] This demonstrated to those allies, and to Japan, that the U.S. Navy had the ability to conduct transpacific operations and meet the Imperial Japanese Navy in home waters, where both Japanese and American war plans expected the "decisive battle" to be fought, if it should come.cite book|last=Miller|first=Edward S.|title=War Plan Orange: The U.S. Strategy to Defeat Japan, 1897–1945|publisher=Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press|date=1991|isbn=ISBN 0870217593]

After the cruise, "Nevada" was modernized at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard between August 1927 and January 1930, with the exchanges of her "basket" masts for tripod mastscite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-n/bb36.htm |title=USS Nevada (Battleship # 36, later BB-36), 1916-1948 |accessyear=2008|accessdaymonth=1 September|year=2000/2007 |publisher=Naval Historical Center] and her steam turbines for those from the recently stricken USS|North Dakota|BB-29|6. Additionally, eight 5"/25 caliber guns were added, [Breyer, 210.] a new superstructure was installed, and her five-inch secondary battery was relocated. "Nevada" served in the Pacific Fleet for the next eleven years.

World War II

Attack on Pearl Harbor

6: USS "Arizona" 7: USS "Nevada" 8: USS "Pennsylvania" 9: Ford Island NAS 10: Hickam field Ignored infrastructure targets: A: Oil storage tanks B:CINCPAC headquarters building C: Submarine base D: Navy Yard]

During the attack on Pearl Harbor, "Nevada" was not moored side-by-side with another battleship off Ford Island, and therefore was able to maneuver, an ability that was denied to the other seven battleships that were present.USS|Pennsylvania|BB-38|2 was in drydock at the time of the attack. Of the anchored ships on Battleship Row (in order, north to south), "Nevada" was moored singly; USS|Arizona|BB-39|2 had USS|Vestal|AR-4|2 moored outboard of her; USS|Tennessee|BB-43|2 and USS|West Virginia|BB-48|2 were moored together; and USS|Maryland|BB-46|2 and USS|Oklahoma|BB-37|2 were moored together. USS|California|BB-44|2 was moored singly at the bottom of the "row", similar to "Nevada", and should have had the ability to maneuver like "Nevada" did. However, "California", as "she was about to undergo a material inspection [and] watertight integrity was not at its maximum" ( [http://hazegray.org/danfs/battlesh/bb44.htm California's DANFS entry] ), started sinking as soon as she was hit by Japanese bombs and torpedoes. As a result, she sank just 17 minutes into the attack after being hit with just two bombs and two torpedoes. By comparison, "Nevada" took at least six bombs and one torpedo, and was still afloat when she was ordered to be beached by Hospital Point.] As her gunners opened fire and her engineers started to raise steam, a single 18 in (46 cm) Type 91 Mod 2 [Fitzsimons, 1982.] torpedo exploded against frame 41 about 14 feet above the keel at 0810.Wallin, 212] The torpedo bulkhead held, but leaking through joints caused flooding and a list of 4 to 5 degrees. "Nevada" corrected the list through counter-flooding and got underway at 0840, her gunners already having shot down four planes.

As she steamed past Ten-Ten DockNamed for its length, 1010 feet.] at about 0950, "Nevada" was struck by five bombs. One exploded over the crew's galley at frame 80. Another struck the port director platform and exploded at the base of the stack on the upper deck. Yet another hit near number 1 turret inboard from the port waterway and blew large holes in the upper and main decks. Two struck the forecastle near frame 15; one passed out through the side of the second deck before exploding, but the other exploded within the ship near the gasoline tank. Gasoline leakage and vapors caused intense fires, though those gasoline fires around turret 1 might have caused more critical damage if the main magazines had not been empty. For several days prior to the attack, all of the 14-inch gun battleships had been replacing their standard-weight, main-battery projectiles with a new heavier projectile that offered greater penetration and a larger explosive charge in exchange for a slight decrease in range. All of the older projectiles and powder charges had been removed from the "Nevada"'s magazines, and the crew took a break after loading the new projectiles in anticipation of loading the new powder charges Sunday.Sabin, L. A., Vice Admiral, USN. "Comment and Discussion", "United States Naval Institute Proceedings", September 1973, 97.]

As bomb damage became evident, "Nevada" was ordered to proceed to the west side of Ford Island to prevent her from being sunk in the channel which would "effectively cork the rest of the fleet in a bottle." [Bonner, 105.] Instead, she grounded off Hospital Point at 1030,Wallin, 212–213.] managing to force down three planes before she did so.cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/wwii/pearl/ph59.htm |title=USS "Nevada", Report of Pearl Harbor Attack |accessyear=2008|accessdaymonth=1 September |last=Scanland |first=F.W. |year=1941 |publisher=Naval Historical Center]

Over the course of the morning, "Nevada" suffered a total of 60 killed and 109 wounded. Two more men died aboard during salvage operations on 7 February 1942 when they were overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas from decomposing paper and meat.Wallin, 218.] The ship suffered a minimum of six bomb hits and one torpedo hit, but "it is possible that as many as ten bomb hits may have been received, [...] as certain damaged areas [were] of sufficient size to indicate that they were struck by more than one bomb."

The ordeal wasn't over quite yet for the the uninjured crewmen of "Nevada", however. While they ran "repel boarders" drills with "broomsticks, baseball bats and the few small arms that were available" to practice for the expected Japanese invasion of Hawaii, they were "virtually homeless", their records in the shambles left after the attack, and they were effectively reduced to begging for essentials such as food, shelter, and uniforms as a result.Bonner, 105.]

Attu and D-Day

"Nevada" was refloated on 12 February 1942 and underwent temporary repairs at Pearl Harbor so she could get to Puget Sound Navy Yard for a complete overhaul.Bonner, 106.] This overhaul lasted for the rest of 1942, and it changed the old battleship's appearance such that she resembled the .

"Nevada" then departed for the Norfolk Navy Yard in June for further modernization. After this was completed, "Nevada" went on Atlantic convoy duty ["The Battleship in the United States Navy", 51.] until she set sail for the United Kingdom to prepare for the Normandy Invasion, arriving in April 1944. She supported forces ashore from 6–17 June, and again on 25 June; during this time, she employed her guns to hit permanent shore defenses on the Cherbourg Peninsula, "seem [ing] to lean back as [she] hurled salvo after salvo at the shore batteries." [Ryan, 198.] Counterbattery fire straddled her 27 times. Shells from "Nevada"'s guns ranged as far as convert|17|mi|km|0 inland in attempts to break up German concentrations and counterattacks.

"Nevada" was the only battleship present at both Pearl Harbor and the Normandy landings. VCS-7, a U.S. Navy Spotter Squadron flying Supermarine Spitfire VBs and Seafire IIIs that was embarked in "Nevada" and other ships, was one of the units which provided targeting coordinates and fire control. [cite journal | last = Hill | first = Steven D. | title = Spitfires of the US Navy | journal = Naval Aviation News | date = May–June 1994 | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = Chief of Naval Operations | issn = 0028-1417 | oclc = 2577618 Copy available online at [http://spitfiresite.com/history/articles/2008/01/spitfires-in-us-navy.htm The Spitfire Site] . Retrieved on 4 September 2008.]

Southern France and Iwo Jima

"Nevada" supported Operation Dragoon between 15 August and 25 September 1944, "dueling" with shore batteries of convert|13.4|in|mm|0|sing=on guns (salvaged from French battleships scuttled early in the war) at Toulon. She then headed to New York to have her gun barrels relined and her 14" guns from Turret #1 replaced with the guns from turret #2 of USS|Arizona|BB-39|6.cite web | last = DiGiulian | first = Tony | title = 14"/45 (35.6 cm) Marks 8, 9, 10 and 12 | url = http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_14-45_mk10.htm | publisher = Navweaps.com | date = 2008-03-27 | accessdate = 2008-10-09 ] After that was completed, she sailed for the Pacific, arriving off Iwo Jima on 16 February 1945 to " [prepare] the island for invasion with heavy bombardment"; [cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/comms/1945-02.html |title=CINCPOA Communique No. 264, 19 February 1945 |accessyear=2008|accessdaymonth=3 September|last= |first= |year=1945 |publisher=ibiblio] which she did through 7 March.

Okinawa and Japan

On 24 March 1945, "Nevada" joined the "mightiest naval force ever seen in the Pacific" off Okinawa as pre-invasion bombardment began. She shelled Japanese airfields, shore defenses, supply dumps, and troop concentrations. Eleven men were killed and one of her main turrets was damaged by a "kamikaze" on 27 March. Another two men were lost to fire from a shore battery on 5 April. Until 30 June, she was stationed off Okinawa; she then departed to join the Third Fleet from 10 July to 7 August, allowing the "Nevada's" guns to hit the Japanese home islands during the closing days of the war.

Post-war

Returning to Pearl Harbor after a brief stint of occupation duty in Tokyo Bay, "Nevada" was surveyed and deemed too old to be kept in the post-war fleet, as she was one of the the oldest battleships in the U.S. Navy at 32.3 years old. [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/BB36.htm "Nevada"] . Naval Vessel Register. Department of Defense. Retrieved on 1 September 2008.] As a result, she was assigned to be a target ship for the Bikini atomic experiments ('Operation Crossroads') of July 1946. The experiment consisted of dropping two atomic bombs to test their effectiveness against ships. [cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/bikini/bikini1.htm |title=Operation Crossroads: Bikini Atoll |accessyear=2008|accessdaymonth=2 September|year=2001 |publisher=Naval Historical Center] She was designated to be "ground zero"Bonner, 107.] for the first test, which was codenamed 'Able'. For the test,"Nevada" was painted an "ugly" reddish-orange to help the bombardier's aim—but the bomb was still dropped about 1,700 yards off target, and exploded above the light carrier USS|Independence|CVL-22|2.Bonner, 108.] "Nevada" survived a second test—'Baker'—as well, but the bombs left her damaged and radioactive. As a result, she was returned to Pearl Harbor and decommissioned on 29 August 1946.

After she was thoroughly surveyed at Pearl Harbor, her final sortie came on 31 July 1948, when the battleship USS|Iowa|BB-61|2 and two other vessels"Nevada"'s NVR entry only states that "Iowa", a heavy cruiser and a destroyer used her as a gunnery target. No further details are available on the other two ships.] used her as a gunnery target. "Nevada" was then finished off by an aerial torpedo hit amidships. She sank 60–65 miles (97–105 km) off Pearl Harbor. Her wreck has never been discovered. [cite web |url=http://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/usn/BB-36.html |title=USS Nevada BB-36|accessyear=2008|accessdaymonth=13 May|publisher=Pacificwrecks.com] clear

See also

*List of Commanding Officers of the USS "Nevada" (BB-36)

Notes

References

Bibliography

*cite book|author=Bonner, Kermit| title=Final Voyages|publisher=Turner Publishing Company | isbn=1563-1-1289-2 | year=1996 ( [http://books.google.com/books?id=BxrEb42veVEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Vertical+Triple+Expansion%22+Oklahoma#PPA100,M1 Google books link.] )
*cite book |title=The Battleship in the United States Navy |publisher=Naval History Division |location=Washington D.C. |in=72-604171 |year=1970
*cite book|author=Breyer, Siegfried | title=Battleships and Battle Cruisers 1905–1970 |publisher=Doubleday and Company |year=1973 |id=ISBN 0385-0-7247-0
*Fitzsimons, Bernard, editor. "Nevada", in "Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare" (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 18, p.1982.
*cite book |title=The Longest Day; June 6, 1944 |last=Ryan |first=Cornelius |year=1959 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |id=671-20814-1
*cite book |title=Pearl Harbor: Why, How, Fleet Salvage and Final Appraisal |last=Wallin |first=Homer N., VADM USN |authorlink=Homer N. Wallin |year=1968 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office
*NVR

Further reading

*cite book| title= USS "Nevada" 1916-1946 |author=Lt. Cmdr. James H. Barry |editor=Lt. (j.g.) William S. Wyatt, USNR |publisher=The James H. Barry Company |location=San Francisco | year=1946
*cite book| title= Resurrection-Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor|author=Madsen, Daniel |publisher=U. S. Naval Institute Press| year=2003

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-n/bb36.htm Navy photos of "Nevada" (BB-36)]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/ph-nv.htm Navy photos of "Nevada" during the Pearl Harbor attack]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/uss_nevada_bb36.htm Maritimequest USS Nevada BB-36 Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/36a.htm NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive BB-36 USS NEVADA 1912 - 1926]