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NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

BB-37 USS OKLAHOMA
November 1943 - May 1947

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Delta - November
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1912 - 1926
Dec 7, 1941 - October 1943
1927 - Dec 6, 1941
Post War

Nevada Class Battleship: Displacement 27,500 Tons, Dimensions, 583' (oa) x 95' 3" x 29' 7" (Max) Armament 10 x 14"/45 21 x 5"/51, 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 13 1/2" Belt, 18" Triple Turrets, 16" Dual turrets, 3" Second (armor) Deck, 2 1/2" Third (splinter) Deck 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 24,800 IHP; 2 vertical, Triple expansion engines, 2 screws. Speed, 20.5 Knots, Crew 864.

Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York, Shipbuilding, Canden, NJ., October 26, 1912. Launched March 23, 1914. Commissioned May 2, 1916. Decommissioned (War Loss). Stricken September 1, 1944.
Fate: Sunk by Japanese aircraft during attack on Pearl Harbor Hawaii, December 7, 1941. Her hulk was raised in 1943, Sold for scrap December 5 1946. Hulk sank while under tow to breakers, 540 miles NE, Pearl Harbor, May 17, 1947. 20 Officers and 395 Men were lost with the ship and remain on duty.

In Memorium:

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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BB-37 Oklahoma 148k Aerial view from off the port side, 6 November 1943, after the ship had been refloated. Note the large cofferdam patch installed from frames 43 to 75 to seal the extensive torpedo damage in that area, and cofferdams built around the main deck edge by the after turrets to increase the waterplane area and improve stability during the refloating process. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 64496, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-37 Oklahoma 148k View from off the port side, 24 December 1943, more than a month and a half after refloating and four days before the ship entered drydock. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 64497, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-37 Oklahoma 94k Oklahoma (BB-37) after being refloated from the bottom of Pearl Harbor. In order to aide in refloating Oklahoma, everything above the main deck was removed in order to lighten her. USN photo.
BB-37 Oklahoma 74k Stern view of the Oklahoma (BB-37) after being refloated from the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Photo from the book Parallel Fates, written by Harvey M. Beigel, courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-37 Oklahoma 146k The Oklahoma (BB-37) is seen entering Dry Dock #4 on 28 December 1943, two years and three weeks after being sunk. The ship reached the dry dock after a slow, precarious tow around Hospital Point and there was a general sense of relief when she entered the safe confines of the dry dock. From the book "Resurrection-Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor", by Dan Madsen. National Archives photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-37 Oklahoma 73k The Oklahoma (BB-37) at Dry Dock #4 on 28 December 1943, two years and three weeks after being sunk. National Archives photo courtesy of USNI.
BB-37 Oklahoma 115k In Drydock Number Two at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 1 January 1944, after removal of patches. This view looks aft from about Frame 35 and shows the extensive torpedo damage to her port side. Note displaced armor plate sections, with some missing. Debris on the drydock floor is mainly concrete used to seal the patches. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 63917, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-37 Oklahoma 106k Pencil plan of the ship's midships section, showing arrangements for ballasting and refloating. Probably drawn at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard in late 1943 or early 1944, after the ship had been drydocked. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 92097, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
BB-64 Wisconsin374k Wisconsin (BB-64) tied up alongside the Oklahoma (BB-37) at Pearl Harbor. The size of the Iowa class can be readily seen when compared with the earlier classes. The Oklahoma is over 300 feet smaller and 18,000 tons lighter than the Wisconsin, which seems to dwarf her, 11 November 1944.
Note the single and double barreled 5 inch guns lying on shore off the Oklahoma's starboard bow and the absence of her superstructure.		USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Photo added 03/20/08.
BB-37 Oklahoma 8k "We were some 500 miles at sea when we turned around and headed back. I would say we had returned 100 miles or so when toward the end of my 6-to-midnight watch 17 May. I saw her unaccountably straighten up. Then suddenly I was aware we were going astern and gaining speed. Behind us the lights of the Oklahoma (BB-37) disappeared... I made a dash for the stern, reaching it just in time to see the end of our...towing wire slip through the guides in a shower of sparks." Captain George O. Anderson,CO of tugboat Monarch. U.S. Navy photo submitted by Kevin King, courtesy of ussoklahoma.com
USS OKLAHOMA BB-37 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. PAUL GOODYEAR
Address:1138 AVE OF COTTON CASA GRANDE AZ 85222
Phone: 520 421 0055
E-mail: PAUL GOODYEAR


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.
ussoklahoma.com
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