 Nevada (right) and Oklahoma (left) steaming in the Atlantic in the 1920s
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Nevada-class battleship |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by | New York class |
| Succeeded by | Pennsylvania class |
| Built | 1912–1916 |
| In commission | 1916–1946 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 1 |
| General characteristics (Original configuration) | |
| Type | Dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 95 ft 2.5 in (29.0 m) |
| Draft | Normal: 28 ft 6 in (8.7 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 20.5 knots (38 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 8,000 nmi (9,206 mi; 14,816 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | |
| Armor |
|
| General characteristics (After 1927–1930 refit) | |
| Displacement |
|
| Installed power |
|
| Range | 15,700 nmi (29,100 km; 18,100 mi) at 10 knots |
| Complement | 1,374 |
| Armament |
|
| General characteristics (Nevada after 1942 refit) | |
| Sensors and processing systems | SC air search radar |
| Armament |
|
The Nevada class comprised two dreadnought battleships—Nevada and Oklahoma—built for the United States Navy in the 1910s.[a] They were significant developments in battleship design, being the first in the world to adopt "all or nothing" armor, a major step forward in armor protection because it emphasized protection optimized for long-range engagements before the Battle of Jutland demonstrated the need for such a layout. They also introduced three-gun turrets and oil-fired water-tube boilers to the US fleet. The two Nevadas were the progenitors of the standard-type battleship, a group that included the next four classes of broadly similar battleships that were intended to be tactically homogeneous.
Nevada and Oklahoma deployed to Ireland in 1918 to escort convoys during World War I but saw no action. After the war, they were transferred to the Pacific Fleet, where they spent most of the 1920s and 1930s. During this period, they conducted extensive training operations and made several long-distance cruises, including to Australia and New Zealand in 1925 and Oklahoma's voyage to Europe in 1936. Both vessels were extensively modernized between 1927 and 1930, having their armament improved, protection scheme strengthened, and new boilers installed. They were moored in Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on 7 December 1941; Oklahoma was sunk in the attack while Nevada was able to get underway before being forced to ground herself to avoid sinking in deeper water.
Only Nevada was salvageable, and she was repaired and modernized by mid-1943 when she joined the Aleutian Islands campaign. She then supported the Normandy landings in June 1944 and Operation Dragoon in August before returning to the Pacific in time for the Battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945, followed by the Battle of Okinawa from March to June. Worn out by the end of the war, she was allocated to Operation Crossroads in late 1945 for use in the nuclear weapons tests in mid-1946. She survived both of the Crossroads blasts and was ultimately sunk with conventional weapons off Hawaii in 1948. Oklahoma, meanwhile, was raised over the course of 1943, partially dismantled in 1944, and sold to ship breakers in 1946. While under tow to San Francisco in May 1947, she became separated from the vessel towing her and foundered.
- ^ "The Nevada Leaves Quincy". The New York Times. 23 October 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
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