Please Report Any Broken Links Or Trouble You Might Come Across To The Webmaster
Please Take A Moment To Let Us Know So That We Can Correct Any Problems And Make Your Visit As Enjoyable And As Informative As Possible.


NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

BB-33 USS ARKANSAS
1927 - 1940

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Charlie - Tango

To Additional Pages

1910 - 1914
1915 - 1919
1920 - 1926
1941 - 1943
1944 - 1945
Post War - Sinking


Wyoming Class Battleship: Displacement 26,000 Tons, Dimensions, 562' (oa) x 93' 3" x 29' 7" (Max). Armament 12 x 12"/50, 21 x 5"/51, 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 11" Belt, 12" Turrets, 3" Decks, 11 1/2" Conning Tower. Machinery, 28,000 SHP; Direct Drive Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 20.5 Knots, Crew 1063.

Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York, Shipbuilding, Camden, NJ., January 25, 1910. Launched January 14, 1911. Commissioned September 17, 1912. Decommissioned July 29, 1946. Stricken August 15, 1946.
Fate: Sunk July 25, 1946, During Atomic Bomb Test "Baker" at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.

Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
BB-33 Arkansas 246k Arkansas (BB-33) during the Presidental review in Hamption Roads. The Presidental review was on 4 June 1927. Courtesy Navy Recruiting Bureau, New York. Submitted by Darryl Baker.
BB-33 Arkansas 52k In May 1928, Arkansas (BB-33),again embarked midshipmen for their practice cruise along the eastern seaboard and down into Cuban waters. USN photo courtesy of Joseph Sandling via Fred Willshaw. Text courtesy of DANFS.
Battlefleet122kWatercolor of a Presidential review during President Hoover's term of office, 1928-32.
Crews line the rails of a Colorado class (BB-45-48) battleship as the ships pass in line astern of the reviewing stand with the airship Los Angeles (ZR-3) piercing the clouds accompanied by 9 biplanes.
Courtesy of Michael Schwarz.
Battlefleet56kView of the U.S. Battlefleet from above, possibly from the airship Los Angeles (ZR-3). Photo courtesy of periscopefilm.com.
BB-33 Arkansas 48k Photographed during the late 1920s or early 1930s, following modernization. USNHC photo # NH 61322.
BB-33 Arkansas 69k Arkansas (BB-33) towing battle raft during target practice circa 1928-29. Note range device in front of crewman sitting on top of turret # 5. USN photo courtesy of Joseph Sandling via Fred Willshaw.
BB-33 Arkansas 87k Officers and Crew of the Arkansas (BB-33), circa 1931. The CO was CAPT G. B. Lancenberger, USN. The photo might be in Phila. Pa., where she was from 20 October 1931 through early 1932. USN photo courtesy of Robert M. Cieri.
BB-33 Arkansas 132k The rebuilt Arkansas (BB-33) is shown in October 1931. Note her three turret-top range finders, two of which survived to the end of her career. Her one cage mast carried a main battery fire control station at its head, with an antiaircraft control station inside the mast atop the torpedo defense station (5-inch fire control). A flag plotting room occupied the base of the cage mast.
The structure abaft the funnel was the after control station, with a range finder atop it, the structure on the mainmast carrying controls for the searchlight above it. The Arkansas was the last reconstructed battleship to retain her cage mast, and by 1941 replacement by a tripod (for a configuration similar to that of New York (BB-34) was planned.)
Photo and text courtesy of U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman.
BB-33 Arkansas 86k Arkansas (BB-33), starboard view under way. Photographed circa 1930-33. Courtesy of Bob Mabin.
BB-33 Arkansas 91k Cropped, close up of the Arkansas (BB-33) passing through Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal in the early 1930's. USNI / USN photo.
BB-33 Arkansas 70k Uncropped photo of the Arkansas (BB-33) passing through Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal in the early 1930's showing the tracks of the accompanying trolleys as the ship passes through the stages of the locks. USNI / USN photo.
BB-33 Arkansas 107k Late 1930s photo of the Arkansas (BB-33) moored at Casco, Maine showing her aft 12" turrets and turret mounted panes and catapults amidships. USN photo.
BB-33 Arkansas 141k Overhead view of the Arkansas (BB-33) in a 1930's photo clearly shows her cage foremast, turret placement, and scout planes. The Arkansas was the last battleship to mount 12" guns. USN photo.
BB-33 Arkansas 96k Underway, 1930's portside view. Hyperwar WWII.
BB-33 Arkansas 108k A reserve cruise detachment on the Arkansas (BB-33) in 1935 poses for a photo at the Boston Naval Yard (Charlestown, MA) 5th Division Naval Reserves. The photo was taken sometime between 28 September to 11 October 1935. The reserve cruise that year sailed from Charlestown, MA to Charleston, S.C.
Ed Cokely is the fifth from the left in the middle row of sailors.
Photo from the collection of Edmund Cokely, WO2 USN, Retired & submitted by John Dupre.
BB-33 Arkansas 185k In January 1936, Arkansas (BB-33) participated in Fleet Landing Exercise No. 2 at Culebra, and then visited New Orleans for the Mardi Gras festivities before she returned to Norfolk for a navy yard overhaul which lasted through the spring of 1936. USN photo courtesy of Robert M. Cieri.
BB-33 Arkansas 146k Arkansas (BB-33) as she appeared in 1937, when she made a midshipman practice cruise to European waters, visiting ports in Germany and England, before she returned to the east coast of the United States for local operations out of Norfolk. During the latter part of the year, the ship also ranged from Philadelphia and Boston to St., Thomas, Virgin Islands, and Cuban waters. USN photo, text courtesy of DANFS.
BB-33 Arkansas 88k Arkansas (BB-33) as she enters the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, Kiel, Germany, 6 June 1937, during a midshipman training cruise. Text from U.S Naval Historical Centre Photo # NH 57691. Photo i.d. courtesy of Robert Hurst.
Kiel, Germany448kDawn in the harbor of Kiel, Germany. Left to right - training ships Gorch Fock and Horst Wessel, [Now USCGC Eagle], New York (BB-34), Wyoming (BB-32) and Arkansas (BB-33). USNIP., Jan.1938. USNI Photo Navy Recruiting Bureau, N.Y.. Photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels.
BB-33 Arkansas 53k Commander John L. Hall, Jr. achieved the rank of Captain in July 1940 and was given command of the old battleship Arkansas (BB-33). This was followed by staff duty with elements of the Atlantic Fleet.
He is pictured here in a portrait photograph, taken circa 1942-1945. as a Rear Admiral.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-302404, now in the collections of the National Archives. Photo courtesy of Bill Gonyo. Photo added 08/31/08.
BB-33 Arkansas 178k Arkansas (BB-33) & Texas (BB-35) sail in tandem. Arkansas departed Norfolk on 11 January 1940, in company with Texas and New York, and proceeded thence to Guantanamo Bay for fleet exercises.
The easiest feature for distinguishing the Texas from the New York is the size of the navigation bridge which is located in the foremast one platform level above the roof of the conning tower. The bridge of the New York is short and extends only to the aft edge of the conning tower. The Texas' bridge extends to the forward edge of the conning tower with a single stanchion supporting its forward edge. These enclosed navigation bridges were added in 1917 at the "suggestion" of the Royal Navy who expressed the opinion that the open deck bridges found on American warships would be ill-suited for sailing in the North Sea or North Atlantic - they were right.
USN photo courtesy of Robert M. Cieri. Partial text courtesy of DANFS. Photo i.d. & text courtesy of Chris Hoehn.
BB-33 Arkansas 53k Arkansas (BB-33) in New York in August, 1940. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-33 Arkansas 120k "Spinning a Yarn" in the casemate of 5"/51 Gun Number Eleven of Arkansas (BB-33) on 27 October 1940. The men are (from left to right): Gunner's Mate Second Class N.I. Fewell; Boatswain's Mate First Class R.D. Dennies; Coxwain G.E. Lehto and Gunner's Mate First Class W.A. Crook. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 101674, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Additional Arkansas Images
1 General View Of Arkansas From The Library Of Congress Server.

USS ARKANSAS BB-33 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 Name: Mr. John R Meyer
Address: None Listed
Phone: 630-968-4991
E-mail: None


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.
U.S.S. ARKANSAS-Bikini Able and Baker Test Underwater Images.

Back To The Main Photo Index Back To The Battleship Photo Index Page

This Page Is Created And Maintained By Michael Mohl
All Pages Copyright © 1996-2009 Paul R. Yarnall © 2009NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.