Pennsylvania Class Battleship - World War II

World War II

The Pennsylvanias were both present during Japan's 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Arizona suffered a catastrophic detonation of the forward powder magazines when a bomb from a Hiryƫ Nakajima B5N "Kate" bomber hit between and to port of Turrets No. 1 and 2, resulting in the most dramatic and costly casualty of the raid. Arizona sank after a massive explosion that destroyed the forward part of the ship.

Pennsylvania was only lightly damaged, and she served in the Pacific throughout World War II. Fitted with a new secondary battery of twin-mounted 5-inch (127 mm) 38-caliber guns in late 1942, she supported many amphibious invasions and was present during the world's last battle between big-gun warships, the Battle of Surigao Strait on 25 October 1944. A torpedo hit in August 1945 damaged her propulsion beyond economical repair, wrecking three out of four shafts. With other obsolete battleships, Pennsylvania was a target of the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb test in 1946 and was scuttled at sea two years later.

Read more about this topic:  Pennsylvania Class Battleship

Famous quotes containing the words world and/or war:

    Stevenson had noble ideas—as did the young Franklin for that matter. But Stevenson felt that the way to implement them was to present himself as a thoughtful idealist and wait for the world to flock to him. He considered it below him, or wrong, to scramble out among the people and ask them what they wanted. Roosevelt grappled voters to him. Stevenson shied off from them. Some thought him too pure to desire power, though he showed ambition when it mattered.
    Garry Wills, U.S. historian. Certain Trumpets: The Call of Leaders, ch. 9, Simon & Schuster (1994)

    Every country we conquer feeds us. And these are just a few of the good things we’ll have when this war is over.... Slaves working for us everywhere while we sit back with a fork in our hands and a whip on our knees.
    Curtis Siodmak (1902–1988)