USS Nevada (BB-36)

Nevada underway off the Atlantic coast of the United States on 17 September 1944
History
United States
Name:	USS Nevada
Namesake:	State of Nevada
Ordered:	4 March 1911
Awarded:	22 January 1912
Builder:	Fore River Shipbuilding Company
Cost:	$5,895,000
Laid down:	4 November 1912
Launched:	11 July 1914
Sponsored by:	Eleanor Anne Seibert
Commissioned:	11 March 1916
Decommissioned:	29 August 1946
Struck:	12 August 1948
Nickname(s):	"Cheer Up Ship"
Honors and awards:	7 battle stars, World War II
Fate:	Sunk as a target 31 July 1948
General characteristics
Class and type:	Nevada-class battleship
Displacement:	(in 1916) 27,500 t (after WWII overhaul) 30,500 t
Length:	583 ft (178 m)
Beam:	95 ft 2.5–3 in (26 m)
Draft:	28 ft 6 in (8.7 m)
Propulsion:	As built: 12 Yarrow oil-fired boilers, replaced with 6 Bureau Express oil-fired boilers in 1927–30 refit Geared Curtis turbines generating 24,800 shp (18,500 kW) 2 × shafts
Speed:	designed: 20.5 kn (24 mph; 38 km/h)
Endurance:	designed: 8,000 nmi (9,206 mi; 14,816 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) in service: 5,120 nmi (5,892 mi; 9,482 km) at 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h) or 1,931 nmi (2,222 mi; 3,576 km) at 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Capacity:	2,000 short tons (1,800 t) of fuel oil
Complement:	as built: 864 officers and men 1929: 1,398 1945: 2,220
Armament:	as built: 10 × 14 in (356 mm)/45 cal guns (2 × 3, 2 × 2 superfiring) 21 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns in single casemate mountings (21 × 1; 10 each beam, one in the stern) (reduced to 12 guns in 1918) 2 × 3 inch/50 caliber AA guns (76 mm) (2x1) (increased to 8 guns in 1925) 2 or 4 ×  21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (beam, submerged) (true number is unknown; see ) after 1927–30 refit: 10 × 14 inch/45 caliber guns (356 mm) (2×3, 2×2) 12 × 5 inch/51 caliber guns (127 mm) (12x1) 8 × 5 inch/25 caliber guns (127 mm) (8x1) all 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes removed 8 × 1.1 inch (28 mm) AA guns (2x4) added 1935 after 1942 refit: all 5 inch/25 caliber and 5 inch/51 caliber guns removed and replaced by 16 × 5 inch/38 caliber guns (127 mm) (8×2) 32 × 40 mm Bofors AA gun (8×4) 40 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannons (40×1)
Armor:	Belt: 13.5-to-8 in (343-to-203 mm) Bulkheads: 13-to-8 in (330-to-203 mm) Barbettes: 13 in (330 mm) Turrets: 18 in (457 mm) Decks: 5 in (127 mm)
Aircraft carried:	as built: 3 × floatplanes 2 × catapults 1942: 2 × floatplanes 1 × catapult

USS Nevada (BB-36), the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleship. Launched in 1914, Nevada was a leap forward in dreadnought technology; four of her new features would be included on almost every subsequent US battleship: triple gun turrets, oil in place of coal for fuel, geared steam turbines for greater range, and the "all or nothing" armor principle. These features made Nevada, alongside its sister ship Oklahoma, the first US Navy "super-dreadnoughts".

Nevada served in both World Wars. During the last few months of World War I, Nevada was based in Bantry Bay, Ireland, to protect supply convoys that were sailing to and from Great Britain. In World War II, it was one of the battleships trapped when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Nevada was the only battleship to get underway during the attack, making the ship "the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal and depressing morning" for the United States. Still, it was hit by one torpedo and at least six bombs while steaming away from Battleship Row, forcing the crew to beach the stricken ship. Nevada was subsequently salvaged and modernized at Puget Sound Navy Yard, allowing it to serve as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and as a fire-support ship in four amphibious assaults (the invasions of Normandy, Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa).