11 MAR--This Day in US Military History

2015-03-11T10:47:19-04:00

1916 – USS Nevada (BB-36) is commissioned as the first US Navy “super-dreadnought”.

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 battleships; her sister ship was Oklahoma. Launched in 1914, the 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 the first US Navy “super-dreadnought”.
Nevada served in both World Wars: during the last few months of World War I, Nevada was based in Bantry Bay, Ireland, to protect the supply convoys that were sailing to and from Great Britain. In World War II, she was one of the battleships trapped when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She 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, she was hit by one torpedo and at least six bombs while steaming away from Battleship Row, forcing her to be beached. Subsequently salvaged and modernized at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Nevada served as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and as a fire-support ship in four amphibious assaults: the Normandy Landings and the invasions of Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
At the end of World War II, the Navy decided that Nevada was too old to be retained, so they assigned her to be a target ship in the atomic experiments that were going to be conducted at Bikini Atoll in July 1946 (Operation Crossroads). After being hit by the blast from the first atomic bomb, Able, she was still afloat but heavily damaged and radioactive. She was decommissioned on 29 August 1946 and sunk during naval gunfire practice on 31 July 1948.

https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/march-11/

March 11

11 March 1731 - Robert Treat Paine, Declaration of Independence signer, was born. Robert Treat Paine (March 11, 1731 – May 11, 1814) was a Massachusetts lawyer and politician, and a representative ...

Response by MAJ Terry LaFrance made Mar 11 at 2015 11:58 AM

2015-03-11T11:58:01-04:00

Glad to see my state's namesake ship mentioned, the sistership Oklahoma, BB37. The Oklahoma has the dubious distinction of being the only ship of the three battleships not to return to service (the others being the Utah and Arizona) to be the only one refloated. Before she could be rebuilt it was determined there wasn't enough need to spend the resources on a ship so heavily damaged and sold for scrap. She was on her way under tow to the west coast for scrapping when the old girl parted the tow line and sank. She wasn't going to go down to the scrapper's torch.

I love naval history and especially battleships. I can talk about them all day.