sign in sign up
<<
Home , Ship of the line, USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4), USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)

Keystone Proud Four throughout history ennsylvania has a long and distinguished bear the name , including the fact that four U.S. naval vessels have by Bart A. Stump Pproudly borne the name Pennsylvania. With more than 113 years of service among them, these vari- ous vessels have been some of the most powerful warships ever afloat. In its different forms, Pennsylvania has been the largest ever built for the , aided with foreign diplomacy, created naval aviation history, hosted presidential visits, survived the Pearl Harbor attack, island-hopped the Pacific, been manned by a popular talk show host, survived atomic bomb tests and set Navy records. The Largest Sailing The construction of the first Pennsylvania was authorized on April 29, 1816, by a Congress seeking to bolster the nation’s follow- ing the . Designed as a ship of the line with three masts and three gun decks, it could carry up to 140 guns and a complement of 1,100 men, which put it on par with the strongest of its European contemporaries. However, 21 years of funding issues slowed its construction at the Naval . When finally launched on July 18, 1837, it was the largest sailing warship ever On March 15, 1913, built for the U.S. Navy. Elizabeth Kolb of Ironically, as heavily Germantown said the armed as it was, Ship of words, “I christen the Line Pennsylvania thee Pennsylvania,” never saw military action. just prior to breaking In fact, it sailed only once, a bottle of champagne to the Norfolk Navy Yard on the bow of the in Virginia. Arriving Jan- ship at its launching uary 2, 1838, it was placed in Newport News on dry dock to have its

Shipyards in Virginia. coppered and was used as a library of congress image LC -H261-4985

30 Vol. 38, No. 1 | www.pa-mag.com Pennsylvania Magazine | January/February 2015 31 The most recent vessel named after the Keystone State, USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735) heads to its home port in Puget Sound, Washington, after com- pleting a strategic deterrence patrol. nication S pecialist Ah ron A rendes/ R eleased p h oto by Ch ief M ass C omm u nication U. S . N avy receiving ship until the outbreak of the military officials ordered it burnt to the Foreign Diplomat and Naval sandbags on a 133- wooden runway , was built in Newport News, On December 7, 1941, Pennsylvania, the Civil War. on April 20, 1861. A 32-pound Aviation History-Maker built on the stern of Pennsylvania. Va., and launched on March 16, 1915. Nick- of the entire U.S. fleet, was dry With Virginia’s secession from the chambered retrieved from the The next Pennsylvania was born On August 27, 1912, in preparation for named the Pennsy or Mighty Penn, the docked at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Union, the heavily armed Pennsylvania remains of this first Pennsylvania is on as the era of wooden-hulled sailing the construction of a new des- ship carried a complement of 1,358 officers and when the Japanese attacked, it was was now in enemy territory. To prevent display today in Trophy Park at the Nor- faded away and new generations tined to carry the name Pennsylvania, and sailors. Armed with 12 14-inch guns, it one of the first ships to return fire on the the Confederates from obtaining its guns, folk Naval Shipyard. of steam-powered all-metal warships Armored #4 was renamed USS was one of the most powerful warships in enemy. However, the attacking bombers reigned the seas. Built in Philadelphia . Under this new title, it served the world at the time. “[It] can fire at one and planes heavily strafed the and launched on August 22, 1903, USS as the flagship of a squadron of armored nine tons of steel a distance of flagship, and a bomb destroyed one of Pennsylvania was the lead ship of a class patrolling off the coast of South 16 miles,” stated the July 25, 1916, edition its 5-inch gun batteries. At the end of Eugene B. Ely lands his Curtiss of six 13,680-ton armored cruisers. Des- America during . Pittsburgh of the Ogden Standard. the day, the ship suffered the loss of 15 pusher biplane on USS Penn- ignated Armored Cruiser #4, it housed a also played a role in the Chinese Civil War, As a state-of-the-art warship, Penn- seamen, with 14 missing in action and 38 sylvania (Armored Cruiser #4), complement of 829 officers and seamen. putting ashore landing parties in 1927. sylvania earned the title of flagship of wounded, while the ship itself avoided anchored in Bay, While in San Francisco in 1908, Penn- This proud warship met its fate in De- the Atlantic fleet on October 12, 1916. major damage. California, on January 18, 1911. sylvania briefly joined Teddy Roosevelt’s cember 1931 when it was sold for scrap. However, it was not able to participate in Following repairs, Pennsylvania began Great White Fleet of battleships, which Today, the bow ornament is on display European action in World War I because its primary mission of shelling enemy were circumnavigating the globe in a show at Soldiers and Sailors National Military it was too modern. While the rest of the positions in preparation and support of goodwill and naval strength. The fleet’s Museum and Memorial in Pittsburgh. aging fleet bound for burned coal, of amphibious landings by marine and moniker came from the ships’ peacetime Pennsylvania burned fuel oil, and there army units throughout the Pacific. The color scheme of white hulls. This Pennsyl- Presidential Host and weren’t enough tankers available to carry bombardment operations included the vania also made naval aviation history on Pearl Harbor Survivor fuel to the British Isles. Nevertheless, the Aleutians, , Marshall January 18, 1911, in San Francisco Bay when A radical evolution in battleship navy showcased Pennsylvania’s promi- Islands, Marianas, Western Caroline

gene b. ely scrapbooks p h oto N H 1385, otograp from e u gene b. ely U. S . N avy civilian pilot Eugene Ely, flying a Curtiss design brought about the creation of the nence during the late teens and early 1920s Islands, Leyte and Luzon. The last two biplane, made the first successful aircraft most well-known USS Pennsylvania. The when it hosted a variety of high-ranking operations helped Gen. Douglas MacAr- landing on a ship. Hooks on the plane’s 31,400-ton BB 38, the lead ship of two dignitaries, including Presidents Wilson thur fulfill his promise of returning to axle were used to snag ropes secured by Pennsylvania-class Superdreadnought and Harding. and liberating the Philippines.

32 Vol. 38, No. 1 | www.pa-mag.com Pennsylvania Magazine | January/February 2015 33 As the final days of the war approached, the planned invasion of the Japanese board. Ensign Johnny Carson, the future Pennsylvania joined other U.S. ships mainland. However, plans dramatically host of the Tonight Show, served as the amassing at Okinawa in preparation for changed when atomic bombs were ship’s communications officer, decoding dropped on Hiroshima August 6, 1945, encrypted messages. His first task was to and Nagasaki three days later. In the supervise the removal of 20 dead sailors (top) A Currier and Ives lithograph shows aftermath of the bombs’ destruction, a who were casualties of the torpedo attack. the 140-gun U.S. Ship of the Line Pennsylva- Japanese plane torpedoed Pennsylvania Carson’s wartime service on Pennsylvania nia that was launched on July 18, 1837, the while the ship lay anchored near Okinawa, was cut short as the next day, August 15, largest sailing warship ever built for the U.S. leaving a nearly 30-foot hole in its stern 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies. Navy. (bottom photos) Two of the 14-inch guns and killing 20 men and injuring another 10. No longer battle-worthy, Pennsylvania and the munitions from the third ship named On August 14, 1945, during repairs to performed its final mission in July 1946 after Pennsylvania can be found today at the the ship following this tragedy, Pennsylva- when it served as a target vessel at Opera- Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg. nia’s best-known crew member came on tion Crossroads, the atomic bomb testing at . Surviving two nuclear tests but still leaking from the torpedo damage suffered at Okinawa, Pennsylvania met its fate when it was towed to deep water and sunk off Kwajalein on February 10, 1948. USS Pennsylvania (BB 38) ended a dis- tinguished career, having earned a Navy Unit Citation and eight battle stars. One of its bells and a 1:48 scale model of the The Organic Farming Program is ship as it appeared in 1916 are on display a one-year certificate program today at Penn State University’s Wagner offered through a partner- building, which serves as home to the ship between Delaware university’s ROTC program. Another bell Valley College and and two of its 14-inch guns are displayed Rodale Institute.

at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in college and all u re west st dios valley p h oto co u rtesy of delaware Boalsburg, Centre County. Naval Record Holder The final warship to bear the name of our commonwealth is the USS Pennsyl- vania (SSBN 735), an Ohio-class ballistic library of congress image LC -U S Z C 2-3122 missile . Launched April 23, 1988, this nuclear-powered sub carries 24 veterans Trident ballistic missiles and a comple- ment of 154 officers and crew. Stationed at Bangor, Wash., Pennsylvania set a record for the longest patrol (140 days) by an to Ohio-class sub in June 2014. farmers All told, the four warships named PennsylvanIA have honorably served our nation throughout the 19th, 20th and he 2012 agricultural census tells 21st centuries. Ranging from the largest A new program is helping veterans the tale of the aging farmer in in the navy, to the first ship America. Most recent data re- to host a plane landing, to a battleship veals that the average farmer is that survived the Pearl Harbor attack, to gain the skills and knowledge 58.3 years old and 32 percent are a record-setting nuclear submarine, these Tover the age of 65. Now, consider that nearly extraordinary fighting ships aptly sum to become organic farmers 45 percent of our military comes from a rural up the spirit of our state motto: Virtue, background and that many veterans return Independence and Liberty. by Cindy Ross home after active duty seeking a vocation that will support them and their families. —Bart A. Stump is a freelance writer from York. With the hope of turning veterans into

bart a st u mp (2) farmers, the Rodale Institute in Berks

34 Vol. 38, No. 1 | www.pa-mag.com Pennsylvania Magazine | January/February 2015 35