USS Tennessee (BB-43)
USS Tennessee, the lead ship of her class of battleship, was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 16th US state. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she was damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 but was repaired and modernized. She participated in bombardments at the Aleutian Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Marianas. She was involved in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the final battleship vs. battleship conflict ever, after the end of World War II, Tennessee was placed on reserve in the mothball fleet for nearly 15 years before finally being scrapped in 1959. Tennessees keel was laid down on 14 May 1917 at the New York Naval Shipyard. She was launched on 30 April 1919, sponsored by Miss Helen Lenore Roberts, daughter of Tennessee governor Albert H. Roberts and her sister ship, were the first American battleships built to a post-Jutland hull design. The Tennessee class, and the three ships of the Colorado class that followed, were identified by two heavy cage masts supporting large optical fire-control systems and this feature was to distinguish the Big Five from the rest of the battleship force until World War II.
Because the battleships were beginning to carry airplanes to spot long-range gunfire, after fitting out, Tennessee conducted trials in Long Island Sound from 15 to 23 October 1920. While Tennessee was at New York City, one of her 300 kilowatt electric generators exploded on 30 October, completely destroying the turbine end of the machine and she next steamed north for the Virginia Capes and arrived at Hampton Roads on 19 March. Tennessee carried out gunnery calibration firing at Dahlgren and was drydocked at Boston before full-power trials off Rockland, two of her original 14 5-inch /51 caliber guns were removed. After touching base at New York Harbor, she steamed south, transited the Panama Canal, she joined the Battleship Force, Pacific Fleet and served there until World War II. Peacetime service with the divisions involved an annual cycle of training, maintenance. Beginning with Fleet Problem I in 1923 and continuing through Fleet Problem XXI in April 1940, her individual proficiency was not neglected.
During the competitive years 1922 and 1923, she made the highest aggregate score in the list of record practices fired by her guns of various caliber and won the E for excellence in gunnery. In 1923 and 1924, she won the gunnery E as well as the prized Battle Efficiency Pennant for the highest combined total score in gunnery. In 1925, she took part in joint U. S. Army-Navy maneuvers to test the defenses of Hawaii before visiting Australia, subsequent fleet problems and tactical exercises took Tennessee from Hawaii to the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and from Alaskan waters to Panama. Her original 3-inch /50 antiaircraft battery was replaced by eight 5-inch /25 caliber guns during 1929–1930, Fleet Problem XXI was conducted in Hawaiian waters during the spring of 1940. Following an overhaul at the Puget Sound Navy Yard after the conclusion of Fleet Problem XXI, due to the increasing hostility in world affairs, Fleet Problem XXII, scheduled for the spring of 1941, was canceled
USS West Virginia (BB-48)
USS West Virginia, a Colorado-class battleship, was the second United States Navy ship named in honor of the countrys 35th state. She was laid down on 12 April 1920 at Newport News, launched on 19 November 1921 and her first captain was Thomas J. Senn. After her shakedown and crew training were finished, she was overhauled at Hampton Roads, after her repairs she participated in exercises and engineering and gunnery courses, winning four medals in the latter. She participated in fleet tactical development operations until 1939. In 1940 she was transferred to Pearl Harbor to guard against potential Japanese attack, on 17 May 1942, she was salvaged from the seabed by draining the water from her hull. After repairs in Pearl Harbor, she sailed to the Puget Sound Navy Yard, there she received an extensive refit, including the replacement of her 5-inch /25 caliber anti-aircraft guns and single-purpose 5-inch /51 caliber guns with 5-inch /38 caliber anti-aircraft guns. She left Puget Sound in July 1944 for Leyte Gulf, at the end of the Pacific War she entered Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender and became part of Operation Magic Carpet, making three runs to Hawaii to transport veterans home.
She was deactivated on 9 January 1947 and laid up at Bremerton, West Virginia was 624 feet long overall, had a beam of 97.3 ft and a draft of 30.5 ft. She displaced 32,100 long tons as designed, and up to 33,060 long tons at full load. The ship was powered by a four-shaft turbo-electric drive rated at 28,900 shaft horsepower and eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers and she had a range of 8,000 nautical miles at 10 knots and a crew of 1,407 officers and enlisted men when commissioned. She was armed with a battery of eight 16-inch /45 caliber Mark 1 guns in four twin gun turrets on the centerline. The secondary battery consisted of sixteen 5-inch /51 caliber guns, the anti-aircraft defense consisted of four 3-inch /23 caliber guns, which were soon replaced with four 5-inch/25 caliber guns. The secondary battery of 5-inch/51 caliber guns and the battery of 5-inch/25 caliber guns were replaced with 5-inch/38 caliber guns. Standard for capital ships of the period, she carried two 21-inch torpedo tubes in deck-mounted torpedo launchers which were removed in a overhaul, a CXAM-1 Radar was installed in 1940.
West Virginias main armored belt was 13.5 inches thick over the magazines and the machinery spaces, the main-battery gun turrets had 18-inch-thick faces, and the supporting barbettes had 13 inches of armor plating on their exposed sides. Armor 3.5 inches thick protected the decks, and the tower had 11. 5-inch-thick sides. West Virginias keel was laid down at Newport News, Virginia on 12 April 1920 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and she was launched on 19 November 1921 and commissioned on 1 December 1923. Her first captain was Thomas J. Senn, while her construction was sponsored by Alice Wright Mann, daughter of Isaac T. Mann, as she was one of the newest American super-dreadnoughts, she incorporated the latest features in naval design
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims.
In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands.
The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794.
It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska and the Philippines, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
USS Nevada (BB-36)
USS Nevada, the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleship. 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 supply convoys that were sailing to. 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 an escort in the Atlantic. At the end of World War II, the Navy decided that Nevada was too old to be retained, the ship was hit by the blast from the first atomic bomb and was left heavily damaged and radioactive.
Unfit for further service, Nevada was decommissioned on 29 August 1946, as the first second-generation battleship in the US Navy, Nevada has been described as revolutionary and as radical as Dreadnought was in her day by present-day historians. Nevada was the first battleship in the US Navy to have triple gun turrets, a funnel. In particular, the use of the more-efficient oil gave the ship an advantage over earlier coal-fired plants, Nevada was the first US battleship with geared turbines, which helped increase fuel economy and thus range compared to earlier direct drive turbines. The ability to great distances without refueling was a major concern of the General Board at that time. In 1903, the Board felt all American battleships should have a minimum steaming radius of 6,000 nmi so that the US could enforce the Monroe Doctrine. One of the purposes of the Great White Fleet, which sailed around the world in 1907–1908, was to prove to Japan that the US Navy could carry any naval conflict into Japanese home waters. S.
This radical change became known as the all or nothing principle, with this new armor scheme, the armor on the battleship was increased to 41. 1% of the displacement. As a result of all of these design modifications from previous battleships, the Navy was to create a fleet of modern battleships similar in long-range gunnery, turning radius, and protection. Nevada was followed by 11 other battleships of this type, although significant improvements were made in subsequent designs as naval technology rapidly progressed, an additional seven standard type battleships, the USS Washington and the South Dakota class were never completed due to the Washington Naval Treaty. The two battleships of the Nevada-class were virtually identical except in their propulsion, Nevadas construction was authorized by an Act of Congress on 4 March 1911. The contract went to Fore River Shipbuilding Company on 22 January 1912 for a total of $5,895,000, and her keel was laid down on 4 November 1912, and by 12 August 1914, the ship was 72. 4% complete
World War II
World War II, known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Finland and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific.
The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery.
Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is not universally agreed upon.
It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
United States Marine Corps
The U. S. Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the U. S. Department of Defense and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military officer in the U. S. Armed Forces, is a Marine Corps general, the Marine Corps has been a component of the U. S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834, working closely with naval forces for training and logistics. The USMC operates posts on land and aboard sea-going amphibious warfare ships around the world, two battalions of Continental Marines were formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting for independence both at sea and on shore. The role of the Corps has since grown and evolved, expanding to aerial warfare and earning popular titles such as, Americas third air force, second land army. By the mid-20th century, the U. S. Marine Corps had become a major theorist of and its ability to rapidly respond on short notice to expeditionary crises gives it a strong role in the implementation and execution of American foreign policy.
As of 2016, the USMC has around 182,000 active duty members and it is the smallest of the U. S. The USMC serves as an expeditionary force-in-readiness and this last clause, while seemingly redundant given the Presidents position as Commander-in-chief, is a codification of the expeditionary responsibilities of the Marine Corps. It derives from similar language in the Congressional acts For the Better Organization of the Marine Corps of 1834, in 1951, the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee called the clause one of the most important statutory – and traditional – functions of the Marine Corps. In addition to its duties, the Marine Corps conducts Visit, Board and Seizure operations, as well as missions in direct support of the White House. The Marine Band, dubbed the Presidents Own by Thomas Jefferson, Marines from Ceremonial Companies A & B, quartered in Marine Barracks, Washington, D. C. The Executive Flight Detachment provides transport to Cabinet members. The relationship between the Department of State and the U. S.
Marine Corps is nearly as old as the corps itself, for over 200 years, Marines have served at the request of various Secretaries of State. After World War II, an alert, disciplined force was needed to protect American embassies, consulates, in 1947, a proposal was made that the Department of War furnish Marine Corps personnel for Foreign Service guard duty under the provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. A formal Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Department of State and the Secretary of the Navy on December 15,1948, during the first year of the MSG program,36 detachments were deployed worldwide. Continental Marines manned raiding parties, both at sea and ashore, the Advanced Base Doctrine of the early 20th century codified their combat duties ashore, outlining the use of Marines in the seizure of bases and other duties on land to support naval campaigns. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, Marine detachments served aboard Navy cruisers, Marine detachments served in their traditional duties as a ships landing force, manning the ships weapons and providing shipboard security.
Marines would develop tactics and techniques of amphibious assault on defended coastlines in time for use in World War II, during World War II, Marines continued to serve on capital ships
Chester W. Nimitz
Chester William Nimitz was a fleet admiral of the United States Navy. Nimitz was the leading U. S. Navy authority on submarines. S, the chief of the Navys Bureau of Navigation in 1939, Nimitz served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1945 until 1947. He was the United States last surviving officer who served in the rank of fleet admiral and his frail, rheumatic father had died six months earlier, on August 14,1884. The best way to get along with either is to all you can, do your best. His grandfather became a Texas Ranger in the Texas Mounted Volunteers in 1851 and he served as captain of the Gillespie Rifles Company in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Originally, Nimitz applied to West Point in hopes of becoming an Army officer and his congressman, James L. Slayden, told him that he had one appointment available for the United States Naval Academy and that he would award it to the best qualified candidate. Nimitz felt that this was his opportunity for further education. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from Texass 12th congressional district in 1901, Nimitz joined the battleship Ohio at San Francisco, and cruised on her to the Far East.
In September 1906, he was transferred to the cruiser Baltimore, on January 31,1907, remaining on Asiatic Station in 1907, he successively served on the gunboat Panay, destroyer Decatur, and cruiser Denver. The destroyer Decatur ran aground on a bar in the Philippines on July 7,1908 while under the command of Ensign Nimitz. The ship was pulled free the next day, and Nimitz was court-martialed, found guilty of neglect of duty, and issued a letter of reprimand. Nimitz returned to the United States on board USS Ranger when that vessel was converted to a school ship, in May of that year, he was given command of the flotilla, with additional duty in command of USS Plunger, renamed A-1. He commanded USS Snapper when that submarine was commissioned on February 2,1910, in the latter command, he had additional duty from October 10,1911 as Commander 3rd Submarine Division Atlantic Torpedo Fleet. On the monitor Tonopah on March 20,1912, he rescued Fireman Second Class W. J. Walsh from drowning, receiving a Silver Lifesaving Medal for his action.
In the summer of 1913, Nimitz studied engines at the diesel engine plants in Nuremberg, returning to the New York Navy Yard, he became executive and engineer officer of Maumee at her commissioning on October 23,1916. Under his supervision, Maumee conducted the first-ever underway refuelings, on August 10,1917, Nimitz became aide to Rear Admiral Samuel S. Robison, Submarine Force, U. S. On February 6,1918, Nimitz was appointed chief of staff and was awarded a Letter of Commendation for meritorious service as COMSUBLANTs chief of staff. On September 16, he reported to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, from May 1919 to June 1920, he served as executive officer of the battleship South Carolina
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)
USS Pennsylvania was the lead ship of the Pennsylvania class of United States Navy super-dreadnought battleships. She was the third Navy ship named for the state of Pennsylvania and 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, upon commissioning, Pennsylvania was attached to the Atlantic Fleet. On 12 October 1916, she became flagship of Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, in January 1917, Pennsylvania steamed for Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea. She returned to her base at Yorktown, Virginia, on 6 April and 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, while at Yorktown, on 11 August 1917, Pennsylvania manned the rail and rendered honors as Mayflower, with President Woodrow Wilson aboard, stood in and anchored.
At 12,15, President Wilson returned the call of Commander, Battle Force, on 2 December 1918, Pennsylvania steamed to anchor off Tompkinsville, New York. On 4 December, she got underway for Brest, France, at 11,00, the transport George Washington, flying the flag of the President of the United States, stood out with an escort of 10 destroyers. Pennsylvania manned the rail and fired a 21-gun salute and she took position ahead of George Washington as guide for the Presidents escort. Arriving in Brest on 13 December, the crew manned the rail, on 14 December, Pennsylvania departed for New York, arriving on 25 December. In February 1919, Pennsylvania steamed for Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea, while at New York on 30 June, Admiral Mayo was relieved as Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, by Vice Admiral Henry B. Wilson, the first captain of the ship, at Tompkinsville on 8 July, Pennsylvania embarked Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, Cabinet Secretaries Daniels, Wilson, Baker and Senator Champ Clark, and put to sea.
At 10,00, Oklahoma was sighted with George Washington flying the Presidents flag, Pennsylvania fired a presidential salute, took position ahead of Oklahoma and steamed to New York, stopping en route to disembark her distinguished guests before proceeding to her berth. On 7 January 1920, she departed New York for Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea and she resumed a schedule of local training operations until 17 January 1921, when she departed New York for the Panama Canal. On 21 January, the Fleet sailed from Balboa, en route to Callao, departing on 2 February, Pennsylvania returned to Balboa on 14 February, and conducted brief exercises while based at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Upon her return to Hampton Roads on 28 April, she rendered a 21-gun salute as she passed Mayflower, the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy came aboard for a reception for the President of the United States. At 11,40, President Warren Harding came aboard and his flag was broken at the main mast, on 22 August 1922, Pennsylvania departed Lynnhaven Roads to join the Pacific Fleet.
After a visit to Wellington, New Zealand, she returned to San Pedro on 26 September and she remained in the yard for nearly two years
USS Colorado (BB-45)
The USS Colorado was a battleship of the United States Navy that was in service from 1923 to 1947. She was the ship of the Colorado class of battleships. Her keel was laid down on 29 May 1919 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and she was launched on 22 March 1921 and commissioned on 30 August 1923. She was armed with eight 16-inch guns and fourteen 5-inch deck guns, Colorado took her maiden voyage in 1923 to Europe. She operated with the Battle Fleet and sailed through the Pacific during the interwar years and she underwent a further refit, during which her four 3-inch anti-aircraft guns were replaced with an equal number of 5 in /25 cal guns. During the early part of World War II, Colorado undertook a patrol near the Golden Gate Bridge in May 1942 to stop a possible Japanese invasion. She sailed to Fiji to stop any further Japanese advance into the Pacific, she supported the landings on Tarawa, the Marshall Islands, Saipan and Tinian. On 24 July 1944, during the shelling of Tinian, Colorado received 22 shell hits from shore batteries and she arrived in Leyte Gulf on 20 November 1944 to support American troops fighting ashore.
On 27 November, she was hit by two Kamikazes which caused moderate damage, after that, Colorado sailed to Luzon on 1 January 1945, where she participated in the preinvasion bombardments in Lingayen Gulf. She returned to Okinawa on 6 August and sailed there to Japan for the occupation of the country. Departing Tokyo Bay on 20 September, she arrived at San Francisco on 15 October and she was placed out of commission in reserve in Pearl Harbor on 7 January 1947, and sold for scrapping on 23 July 1959. She won seven battle stars during her service, many of Colorados anti-aircraft guns are in museums across the state of Colorado or mounted on the museum ship Olympia. Colorado was 624 feet 3 inches long overall, had a beam of 97.5 ft and she displaced 32,100 long tons as designed and up to 33,060 long tons at full load. The ship was powered by a four-shaft turbo-electric drive, rated at 28,900 shaft horsepower and eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers and she had a range of 8,000 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots.
She had a crew of 1,080 officers and enlisted men and she was armed with a main battery of eight 16-inch /45 caliber Mark 1 guns in four twin gun turrets on the centerline, two forward and aft. The secondary battery consisted of fourteen 5-inch /51 caliber guns, two of which were removed in an overhaul, the anti-aircraft defense consisted of four 3-inch /23 caliber guns, which were soon replaced, first by 5-inch /25 caliber guns, and by 5-inch /38 caliber guns. As was standard for ships of the period, Colorado carried two 21 in torpedo tubes in deck-mounted launchers. Colorados main armored belt was 13.5 in thick over the magazines, the main battery gun turrets had 18-inch thick faces, and the supporting barbettes had 13 in of armor plating on their exposed sides
Naval Station Pearl Harbor
Naval Station Pearl Harbor is a U. S. naval base adjacent to Honolulu, in the U. S. state of Hawaii. In 2010, along with the United States Air Forces Hickam Air Force Base, Pearl Harbor is the headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on Sunday,7 December 1941 brought the United States into World War II, Naval Station Pearl Harbor provides berthing and shore side support to surface ships and submarines, as well as maintenance and training. Pearl Harbor can accommodate the largest ships in the fleet, to dry dock services. Housing and family support are provided and are an integral part of the shore side activities. Because Pearl Harbor is the only intermediate maintenance facility for submarines in the Middle Pacific, the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station, Wahiawa, Hawaii is the worlds largest communication station. The headquarters site of this command is located in the central section of the island of Oahu. Following the annexation of Hawaii, Pearl Harbor was refitted to allow for more navy ships, in May 1899, Commander John F.
Merry was made naval representative with authority to business for the Navy Department. He immediately assumed control of the Coal Depot and its equipment, to supplement his facilities, he was assigned the Navy tug Iroquois and two coal barges. Inquiries that commenced in June culminated in the establishment of the Naval Station, on 2 February 1900, this title was changed to Naval Station, Hawaii. The creation of the Naval Station allowed the Navy Department to explore territorial outposts, in October 1899, Nero and Iroquois made extensive surveys and sounding of the waterways to Midway and Guam. One of the reasons for these explorations was to select a possible route to Luzon. A coal famine and an outbreak of the plague were the only two incidents that hindered the Commandant from fulfilling his duties. Because of the coal shortage in September 1899, the Commandant sold coal to the Oahu Railway and Land Company. Approximately 61 deaths were recorded in Honolulu for this period, work was consequently delayed on nascent Navy projects in Honolulu Harbor.
From 1900 to 1908, the Navy devoted its time to improving the facilities of the 85 acres that constituted the naval reservation in Honolulu, under the Appropriation Act of 3 March 1901, this tract of land was improved with the erection of additional sheds and housing. Improvements included a shop and foundry, Commandants house and stables, cottage for the watchman, fencing, 10-ton wharf crane
Cecil D. Haney
Cecil Eugene Diggs Haney, is a retired United States Navy admiral who previously served as Commander, United States Strategic Command from November 15,2013 through November 3,2016. Prior to STRATCOM, he served as Commander, United States Pacific Fleet, was born and raised in Washington, D. C. graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1978, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Ocean Engineering. He holds masters degrees in Engineering Acoustics and System Technology from the Naval Postgraduate School, and he served as engineer in USS Hyman G. Rickover, executive officer in USS Asheville, and assistant squadron deputy at Submarine Squadron 8 before taking command of USS Honolulu in June 1996. Haney commanded Submarine Squadron 1 from June 2002 to July 2004, Pacific Fleet, and director, Submarine Warfare Division, Naval Warfare Integration Group and deputy commander, U. S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. He assumed his assignment as Commander, United States Pacific Fleet on January 20,2012 and he relinquished command of the U. S.
Strategic Command on November 3,2016 to General John E. Hyten. Haney was the 1998 Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership recipient and this article incorporates public domain material from the United States Navy document Admiral Cecil D
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U. S. –Mexico border. The highly urbanized land adjacent to the bay includes the city of San Diego and four cities, including National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach. Considered to be one of the best natural harbors on the west coast of North America, San Diego Bays commercial port has two container ship facilities and a cruise ship terminal. A second cruise terminal opened in December 2010. The port handles more than 3 million metric tons of cargo yearly, San Diego International Airport is adjacent to the bay, across Harbor Drive from the Coast Guard Station. The bay is spanned by the San Diego–Coronado Bridge, built in 1969, the bridge curves and rises to a height of 200 feet above the water so that Navy ships can pass under it. The bridge was originally a bridge, toll collection was discontinued in 2002. Americas Cup Harbor has several boat yards and marinas for private sailing yachts, numerous resorts and the San Diego Convention Center are adjacent to the Bay.
Several parks and nature preserves are found at locations along the shoreline. Sightseeing boats depart from the downtown area, commercial sport fishing and whale watching tours depart from Shelter Island. Ten museum ships call San Diego Bay home and they include the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier museum, and the Star of India, the oldest iron-hulled merchant ship afloat and the worlds oldest active sailing ship. In the northern part of the bay there are two islands called Harbor Island and Shelter Island. They were built up from former sand bars and now hold hotels, restaurants and public parkland. Small boat sailing is extremely popular, and the bay is lined by dozens of marinas and nine yacht clubs, an inlet of the bay was renamed Americas Cup Harbor to commemorate that occasion. An annual fireworks display called the Big Bay Boom is held on the Fourth of July over the waters of the Bay, fireworks are launched simultaneously from four barges in the Bay as well as from a pier in Imperial Beach.
It is one of the largest annual fireworks displays in the United States and is viewed by half a million each year. The Parade of Lights is a parade of more than 80 small boats with holiday decorations, the parade has been held annually since 1972. The parade starts off Shelter Island and proceeds past Harbor Island and Downtown, a one-time special event was the Parade of Flight in February 2011, celebrating the 100th anniversary of naval aviation
United States
United States Navy
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