In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 19th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S.sailors who died defending their county:
"When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay..."
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 | 52k | Utah (BB-31) launching at New York Shipbuilding Corp. Plant. The ship is not identifiable, but, the bow curve suggests an early American dreadnought such as Utah , launched in 1909. | Photo & text courtesy of New York Shipbuilding., yorkship.home.comcast.net. | |
 | 56k | Underway, possibly during her trials in 1911. | USNHC # NH 63201. | |
 | 132k | The ship as completed in late 1911. | USN photo. | |
 | 250k | The crew of the Utah (BB-31) dressed in whites, probably during her shakedown cruise-a voyage that took her to Hampton Roads, Va.; Santa Rosa Island and Pensacola, Fla.; Galveston, Tex.; Kingston and Portland Bight, Jamaica; and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, circa Sept. 1911 / Feb. 1912. | USN photo by O.W. Waterman, courtesy of Robert M. Cieri. | |
 | 151k | Officers and crew of the Utah (BB-31) in 1912. | Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints & Photos Division, Photo # 6a33021. | |
 | 26k | Utah (BB-31) at anchor, Brooklyn, N.Y., 9 Oct 1912. | Courtesy of Vern Maxson, LCDR,USNR-RETIRED (SS). | |
 | 64k | The Utah (BB-31) Number One Turret's crew posing under their turret's 12"/45 guns in 1913. Chief Turret Captain Abraham DeSomer seated at right in the center of the front row. To his right is the Turret Officer, Ensign Arthur S. Carpender. DeSomer received the Medal of Honor for his "extraordinary heroism" during the seizure of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 21-22 April 1914. | USNHC photo # NH 103835, from the collection of Lieutenant Commander Abraham DeSomer, USN. Donated by Lieutenant Colonel Russell DeSomer, U.S. Air Force (Retired), 1975. | |
 | 59k | Taking green water over the bow in the Atlantic, while returning from the Mediterranean Sea in December 1913. A severe storm had just passed and seas were still heavy. Photographed by E. Muller, Jr. | USNHC # NH 63650. |  | 71k | U.S. Atlantic Fleet battleships steaming toward Mexican waters in 1914. Photograph copyrighted in 1914 by E. Muller, Jr., and Pach. The following battleships that were dispatched to Mexican waters included the: Ohio (BB-12), Virginia (BB-13), Nebraska (BB-14), Georgia (BB-15), New Jersey (BB-16), Rhode Island (BB-17), Connecticut (BB-18), Louisiana (BB-19), Vermont (BB-20), Kansas (BB-21), Minnesota (BB-22), Mississippi (BB-23), Idaho (BB-24), New Hampshire (BB-25), South Carolina (BB-26), Michigan (BB-27), Delaware (BB-28), North Dakota (BB-29), Florida (BB-30), Utah (BB-31), Wyoming (BB-32), Arkansas (BB-33), New York (BB-34) & Texas (BB-35) . In insets are (left to right): Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Rear Admiral Frank F. Fletcher, Rear Admiral Charles J. Badger. | USNHC # NH 60322. |
 | 79k | Vera Cruz Incident, 1914. The Utah (BB-31) battalion marches along the Vera Cruz waterfront while returning to their ship, circa April-June 1914. Battleship in the center distance is Minnesota (BB-22). Ship in the left distance is either Dixie (1898- 1922) or Prairie (1898-1923). Photographed by Hadsell. | USNHC # NH 100622. | |
 | 74k | The Utah (BB-31) prior to 1914. | USNHC # NH 90359. | |
 | 89k | View looking forward from atop # 4 gun turret, while coaling simultaneously from two colliers at the rate of 841 tons per hour, prior to World War I. The ship's band is stationed on top of # 3 12" gun turret. Note Utah's (BB-31) searchlights and the boat cranes flanking her "cage" mainmast. | USNHC # NH 61262. | |
 | 45k | "The Utah (BB-31) with crew maninig the rail, passing in review before the Secretary of War on the battleship Wyoming (BB-32) in Massachusetts Bay." | USN photo by O.Waterman, courtesy of memory.loc.gov. Text courtesy of N.Y. Times, 5 September 1915, Page 7. Photo added 02/16/08. | |
 | 124k | Closeup view of the main masthead, prior to World War I, with sailors in gunfire spotting positions and the U.S. flag flying from the gaff. Halftone reproduction, copied from United States Navy Illustrated, published in New York in 1917. | USNHC # NH 79494. | |
Utah (BB-31) History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The Hazegray & Underway Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Contact Utah (BB-31) Association Web Site Webmaster
Note About Contacts.
The contact listed, was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Battleship Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Utah (BB-31) Report of Pearl Harbor Attack.
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