Construction
Authorized along with her sister ship in 1911 under the Naval Appropriation Act, 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.
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. By 12 December 1912, she was 11.2 percent complete, and by 13 July 1913 she was at 33 percent. 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. 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. 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. The fire delayed the completion of the battleship such that Nevada was able to conduct her sea trials and be commissioned before Oklahoma.
On 23 October 1915, she was 98.1 percent complete. She was commissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 2 May 1916 with Captain Roger Welles in command.
Read more about this topic: USS Oklahoma (BB-37)
Famous quotes containing the word construction:
“There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“No construction stiff working overtime takes more stress and straining than we did just to stay high.”
—Gus Van Sant, U.S. screenwriter and director, and Dan Yost. Bob Hughes (Matt Dillon)
“When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)