Allied Warships

USS Pennsylvania (BB 38)

Battleship of the Pennsylvania class


USS Pennsylvania as modified during the war.

NavyThe US Navy
TypeBattleship
ClassPennsylvania 
PennantBB 38 
Built byNewport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. (Newport News, Virginia, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down27 Oct 1913 
Launched16 Mar 1915 
Commissioned12 Jun 1916 
End service29 Aug 1946 
History

USS Pennsylvania (Capt. C.M. Cooke, Jr.) was at Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941, she was in dry dock but the Japanese failed to torpedo the dry dock and destroy the ship. She was damaged by lighter ordnance but not seriously though. 15 killed, 14 missing and 32 wounded in action.

On 20 December she sailed for San Francisco for repairs, lasting until 30 March 1942. She saw extensive service in the Pacific in the war, including shore bombardments.

Used as a target during Operation Crossroads atom bomb tests in June/July 1946 but survived. Decommissioned 29 August 1946 but retained at Kwajalein for examination and for use as an experimental and target ship. Sunk as a target off Kwajalein on 10 February 1948. Stricken on 19 February 1948.

 

Commands listed for USS Pennsylvania (BB 38)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Capt. Elwin Fisher Cutts, USN19 Jun 193927 Feb 1941
2Capt. Charles Maynard Cooke, Jr., USN27 Feb 19413 Apr 1942
3Capt. Thomas Starr King, 2nd, USN10 Apr 19428 Feb 1943
4Capt. William Anderson Corn, USN8 Feb 194323 Apr 1944
5Capt. Charles Franklin Martin, USN23 Apr 19445 Jun 1945
6T/Capt. William Moultrie Moses, USN5 Jun 19455 Nov 1945
7T/Cdr. William Metcalfe Kaufman, USN5 Nov 194523 Jan 1946
8T/Capt. Carl Hilton Bushnell, USN23 Jan 19461 Jun 1946

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