Construction
Launch on 23 March 1914
Authorized along with her sister ship in 1911 under the Naval Appropriation Act,[6][page needed] Oklahoma was the last ship of the U.S. Navy to be installed with vertical triple expansion reciprocating machinery instead of steam turbines; she had a vibration problem throughout her lifetime as a result.[6][page needed]
Her keel was laid down on 26 October 1911 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, who bid $5,926,000 to construct the ship.[7] By 12 December 1912, she was 11.2 percent complete,[8] and by 13 July 1913 she was at 33 percent.[9] She was launched on 23 March 1914, being sponsored by Miss Lorena J. Cruce, daughter of Governor of Oklahoma Lee Cruce. The launch was preceded by an invocation given by Elijah Embree Hoss—the first for an American warship in half a century—and was attended by various dignitaries from Oklahoma and the federal government. The battleship was subsequently moved to a dock near the new Argentine battleship Moreno and Chinese cruiser Fei Hung (soon to be the Greek Elli) for fitting-out.[10] On the night of 19 July 1915, large fires were discovered underneath the fore main battery turret, the third to flare-up on an American battleship in less than a month.[a][11][12] However, by the 22nd, the Navy believed that the Oklahoma fire had been caused by "defective insulation" or a mistake made by a dockyard worker.[13] The fire delayed the completion of the battleship such that Nevada was able to conduct her sea trials and be commissioned before Oklahoma.[14]
On 23 October 1915, she was 98.1 percent complete.[15] She was commissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 2 May 1916 with Captain Roger Welles in command
Career (US)
Name:
USS Oklahoma BB-37
Namesake:
Oklahoma
Builder:
New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down:
26 October 1912
Launched:
23 March 1914
Commissioned:
2 May 1916
Decommissioned:
1 September 1944
Honors and
awards:
One battle star for World War II service.[1]
Fate:
Sunk in Attack on Pearl Harbor, raised and sold for scrap but sunk again during transport
General characteristics
Class & type:
Nevada-class battleship
Displacement:
27,500 long tons (27,900 metric tons)
Length:
583 ft (178 m)
Beam:
95.3 ft (29.0 m)
Draft:
28.5 ft (8.7 m)
Speed:
20.5 kn (23.6 mph; 38.0 km/h)
Capacity:
2,042 short tons (1,852 metric tons) of fuel oil
Complement:
as built:
864 officers and men[3]
from 1929:
1,398[4]
from 1945:
2,220
Armament:
as built:
10 × 14 in (360 mm)/45 cal guns (2x3, 2x2)
21 × 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns (soon reduced to 12)
in the late 1920s:
8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal guns
2 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes were added.
Armor:
Belt: 13.5 to 8 in (340 to 200 mm)
Bulkheads: 13 to 8 in (330 to 200 mm)
Barbettes: 13 in (330 mm)
Turrets: 18 in (460 mm)
Decks: 5 in (130 mm)
Conning tower: 16 in (406 mm), 8 in (203 mm) top
