USS Idaho (BB-42) - Inter-War Period

Inter-War Period

Idaho sailed on 13 April 1919 for shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, and after returning to New York City received President of Brazil Epitácio Pessoa for the voyage to Rio de Janeiro. Departing on 6 July with her escort, the battleship arrived Rio on 17 July. From there she set course for the Panama Canal, arriving Monterey, California, in September to join the Pacific Fleet. She joined other dreadnoughts in training exercises and reviews, including a Fleet Review by President of the United States Woodrow Wilson on 13 September. In 1920, the battleship carried Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and the Secretary of the Interior (either Franklin K. Lane or John B. Payne) on an inspection tour of Alaska.

Upon her return from Alaska on 22 July 1920, Idaho took part in fleet maneuvers off the California coast and as far south as Chile. She continued this important training until 1925, taking part in numerous ceremonies on the West Coast during the interim. Two of the original 14 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns were removed in 1922. Idaho took part in the fleet review held by President Warren Harding in Seattle shortly before his death in 1923. The battleship sailed on 15 April 1925 for Hawaii, participated in war games until 1 July, and then got underway for Samoa, Australia, and New Zealand. On the return voyage, Idaho embarked gallant Commander John Rodgers and his seaplane crew after their attempt to fly to Hawaii, arriving San Francisco, California on 24 September.

For the next six years, Idaho operated out of San Pedro, California, on training and readiness operations off California and in the Caribbean Sea. She sailed from San Pedro on 7 September 1931 for the East Coast, entering Norfolk Navy Yard on 30 September for modernization. The earlier 3 in (76 mm) anti-aircraft guns were replaced by eight 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal guns. The veteran battleship also received better armor, "blister" antisubmarine protection, better machinery, and tower masts during this extensive overhaul, and was readied for many more years of useful naval service. After completion on 9 October 1934, the ship conducted shakedown in the Caribbean before returning to her home port, San Pedro on 17 April 1935.

As war clouds gathered in the Pacific, the fleet increased the tempo of its training operations. Idaho carried out fleet tactics and gunnery exercises regularly until arriving with the battle fleet at Pearl Harbor on 1 July 1940. The ship sailed for Hampton Roads on 6 June 1941 to perform Atlantic neutrality patrol, a vital part of US policy in the early days of the European fighting. She moved to Iceland in September to protect American advance bases and was on station at Hvalfjörður when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December catapulted America into the war.