USS Arkansas (BB-33)

Arkansas circa 1918
History
United States
Name:	Arkansas
Namesake:	State of Arkansas
Ordered:	3 March 1909
Builder:	New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down:	25 January 1910
Launched:	14 January 1911
Sponsored by:	Mary Louise Macon
Commissioned:	17 September 1912
Decommissioned:	29 July 1946
Struck:	15 August 1946
Identification:	Hull symbol:BB-33
Nickname(s):	"Arky"
Honors and awards:	4 × battle stars
Fate:	Sunk on 25 July 1946, as part of Operation Crossroads
General characteristics
Class and type:	Wyoming-class battleship
Displacement:	26,000 long tons (26,000 t) (standard) 27,243 long tons (27,680 t) (full load)
Length:	562 ft (171 m) (overall) 554 ft (169 m) (waterline)
Beam:	93 ft 3 in (28.42 m)
Draft:	28 ft 6 in (8.69 m) (mean) 29 ft 7 in (9.02 m) (max)
Installed power:	12 × Babcock & Wilcox coal-fired water-tube boilers with oil spray 28,000 shp (20,880 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons direct-drive steam turbines 4 × screws
Speed:	20.5 kn (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) (design) 21.05 kn (38.98 km/h; 24.22 mph) (trials)
Range:	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	1,063 officers and enlisted
Armament:	12 × 12 in (305 mm)/50 caliber Mark 7 guns 21 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns 4 × 3-pounder 47 mm (1.85 in)/40 cal saluting guns 2 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (submerged)
Armor:	Belt: 5–11 in (127–279 mm) Turret face: 12 in (305 mm) Barbettes: 11 in Conning tower: 11.5 in (292 mm) Decks: 1.5–2.5 in (38–64 mm)
General characteristics 1925-27 refit
Displacement:	26,100 long tons (26,500 t) (standard) (torpedo bulges added) 31,000 long tons (31,000 t) (full load) (torpedo bulges added)
Draft:	32 ft (9.8 m) (max)
Installed power:	4 × White-Forster oil-fired boilers
Armament:	12 × 12 in/50 cal Mark 7 guns 16 × 5 in/51 cal guns (reduced in 1919) 8 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber AA guns (added in 1919) 4 × 3-pounder saluting guns Torpedo tubes removed
Aircraft carried:	3 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities:	1 × catapult (fitted on Turret 3)
General characteristics 1942 refit
Armament:	12 × 12 in/50 cal Mark 7 guns 6 × 5 in/51 cal guns 10 × 3 in/50 cal AA guns 4 × 3-pounder saluting guns 9 × quad 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns 26 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns

USS Arkansas (BB-33) was a dreadnought battleship, the second member of the Wyoming class, built by the United States Navy. She was the third ship of the US Navy named in honor of the 25th state, and was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was laid down in January 1910, launched in January 1911, and commissioned into the Navy in September 1912. Arkansas was armed with a main battery of twelve 12-inch (305 mm) guns and capable of a top speed of 20.5 kn (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph).

Arkansas served in both World Wars. During the First World War, she was part of Battleship Division Nine, which was attached to the British Grand Fleet, but she saw no action during the war. During the interwar years, Arkansas performed a variety of duties, including training cruises for midshipmen and goodwill visits overseas.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Arkansas conducted Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic prior to America's entry into the war. Thereafter, she escorted convoys to Europe through 1944; in June, she supported the invasion of Normandy, and in August she provided gunfire support to the invasion of southern France. In 1945, she transferred to the Pacific, and bombarded Japanese positions during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the end of the war, she ferried troops back to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Arkansas was expended as a target in Operation Crossroads, a pair of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946.

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