USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)

USS Pennsylvania under way off New York City, 31 May 1934
History
United States
Name:	Pennsylvania
Namesake:	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Ordered:	22 August 1912
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Laid down:	27 October 1913
Launched:	16 March 1915
Sponsored by:	Elizabeth Kolb
Commissioned:	12 June 1916
Decommissioned:	29 August 1946
Struck:	19 February 1948
Nickname(s):	Pennsy
Honors and awards:	8 battle stars and 1 Navy Unit Commendation
Fate:	Sunk off Kwajalein Atoll after atomic bomb testing on 10 February 1948
General characteristics
Class and type:	Pennsylvania-class battleship
Displacement:	31,400 long tons (31,900 t)
Length:	608 ft (185 m)
Beam:	97.1 ft (29.6 m)
Draft:	28.9 ft (8.8 m)
Installed power:	32,000 shp (24,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × Curtiss ungeared/Westinghouse geared turbines As Built: 12 × Babcock boilers By World War II: 1 × Bureau Express and 5 × White-Forster boilers 4 × shafts
Speed:	21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h)
Range:	9,288 nmi (10,688 mi; 17,201 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Capacity:	Fuel oil: 2,322 tons (694,830 US gal (2,630,200 L)) normal
Complement:	As built: 56 officers 72 Marines 1,031 Bluejackets By World War II: 1,358 officers and enlisted
Sensors and processing systems:	CXAM-1 RADAR from 1940
Armament:	As built: 12 × 14 in (360 mm)/45 cal guns (4×3) 14 × 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns 4 × 3 in (76 mm)/23 cal AA guns 2 × submerged 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes By World War II: 12 × 14 in (360 mm)/45 cal guns (4×3) 14 × 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns 12 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal AA guns 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) saluting guns (4×1)
Armor:	As built: Belt: 14 in (360 mm) (amidships); 8 in (200 mm) (aft) Deck: 3 in (76 mm) (ends) Turrets: 9 to 15 in (230 to 380 mm) Conning Tower: 16 in (410 mm) Funnel Base: 9 to 15 in (230 to 380 mm) By World War II: As above, but deck: 6 in (150 mm) amidships (4 in (100 mm) upper, 2 in (51 mm) lower)
Aircraft carried:	2 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities:	2 × catapults
Notes:	Fuel consumption: 90 tons per day at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was the lead ship of the Pennsylvania class of United States Navy super-dreadnoughtbattleships. She was the third Navy ship named for the state of Pennsylvania.

She was laid down on 27 October 1913, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 16 March 1915, sponsored by Elizabeth Kolb of Philadelphia, and commissioned on 12 June 1916, with Captain Henry B. Wilson in command.

Upon commissioning, Pennsylvania was attached to the Atlantic Fleet. On 12 October 1916, she became flagship of Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, when Admiral Henry T. Mayo shifted his flag from Wyoming to Pennsylvania. In January 1917, Pennsylvania steamed for Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea. She returned to her base at Yorktown, Virginia, on 6 April, the day of the American declaration of war against Germany. She did not sail to join the British Grand Fleet since she burned fuel oil rather than coal, and tankers could not be spared to carry additional fuel to the British Isles. In the light of this circumstance, only coal-burning battleships were selected for this mission. Based at Yorktown, she kept in battle trim with Fleet maneuvers, tactics, and training in the areas of the Chesapeake Bay, intervened by overhaul at Norfolk and New York City, with brief maneuvers in Long Island Sound.