WWII USN U.S.S. ARIZONA BB-39 MODEL

USS Arizona history specifically (BB-39) was laid down on March 16, 1914. The USS Arizona BB 39 was launched on June 19, 1915, and was commissioned on October 17, 1916. After shakedown off the east coast and the Caribbean, she worked out of Norfolk, Virginia.

On December 13, 1918, Arizona served in the honour escort convoying of President Woodrow Wilson in Brest, France. In January 1920, it joined Battleship Division 7 for winter and spring maneuvers in the Caribbean. The ship worked out of Guantanamo Bay during this period, and also visited Bridgetown, Barbados, in the British West Indies, and Colon, Panama in the Canal Zone, before it sailed north to New York, where it arrived on May 1.

Placed in reduced commission on July 15, 1929, Arizona remained in yardhands for the next 20 months. Upgrades include new masts, new anti-aircraft guns and armor. USS Arizona BB39 also received new boilers and new main cruising steam turbines. It was placed in full commission on March 1, 1931.

Arizona was moored in Pearl Harbor s ""Battleship Row"" on the morning of December 7, 1941, when Japanese aircraft carrier attacked. It was hit by several bombs, and the explosion totally destroyed the forward hull, collapsing its forward superstructure, causing it to sink, with the loss of more than 1100 of its crew members. The wreckage of the battleship remains at Pearl Harbor. In 1950, it began to be used as a site for memorial ceremonies, and early 1960, a memorial structure was built through the ship s sunken remains. Arizona won a battle star for service in World War II.