USS Arizona Timeline

In mid-1919, Arizona was deployed to represent American interests during the Greco-Turkish War, protecting American lives and property in the region.

Image source: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

During this time, Arizona was fitted with a flying-off platform similar to the one given to Texas in March 1919, allowing her to launch aircraft.

Image source: USS Texas (BB-35)

Work was completed in January 1920 and the battleship sailed south to Guantanamo Bay for crew training. In August she became the flagship of Battleship Division Seven, though it was only later in 1920 that she was refitted as an admiral's flagship.

In company with six battleships and eighteen destroyers, Arizona was sent south again to transit the Panama Canal in January 1921.

Image source: Panama Canal

After Chase returned to Peru in the summer of 1921, Arizona began operating from her new home port of San Pedro, Los Angeles, where she was based until 1940.

Image source: San Pedro, Los Angeles

On July 27, 1923 the ship, under new command, participated in fleet activities as the annual Fleet Problems, which began in 1923, simulated large fleet actions across the Pacific.

Sometime in early March 1924 a prostitute named Madeline Blair stowed away aboard Arizona, trading sex for a free voyage to San Pedro until she was discovered on April 12 while the ship was anchored in Balboa, Panama.

Despite her age, Arizona managed to reach 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph) during a full-power trial in September 1924.

The first two Fleet Problems simulated an attack on the Panama Canal from the west, while in 1925 they attempted to defend the Hawaiian Islands, testing American naval strategy.

Image source: Fleet problem

Four months after Fleet Problem IX in January 1929, Arizona underwent comprehensive modernization at the Norfolk Navy Yard, lasting until early 1931.

On March 19, 1931, even before Arizona was put through post-modernization sea trials, she hosted President Herbert Hoover for a brief vacation in the Caribbean.

Image source: Herbert Hoover

In February 1932, Arizona participated in Grand Joint Exercise No. 4, which simulated a carrier attack on Pearl Harbor — a rehearsal eerily prescient of events to come.

Image source: USS Lexington (CV-2)

After returning from Fleet Problem XIV, Arizona was anchored in San Pedro when an earthquake struck nearby Long Beach, California on March 10, 1933. She provided relief support including medical facilities and supplies.

Image source: 1933 Long Beach earthquake

In early 1934, Arizona and her crew were filmed for the James Cagney/Warner Brothers film Here Comes the Navy, which made extensive use of exterior footage and on-board location shots.

Image source: Here Comes the Navy

Pettengill relieved Bryant on March 4, 1935, and two months later the ship participated in Fleet Problem XVI off Hawaii.

Budget cuts led to significant periods in port from 1936 to 1938. In Fiscal Year 1936–37, the ship was anchored for 267 days; the following year she was in port for 255 days.

Arizona made a port visit to Balboa in May 1936 during Fleet Problem XVII, continuing her interwar training cycle.

On January 2, 1937, Rear Admiral John Greenslade assumed command of Battleship Division Two from Bloch and transferred his flag to the battleship Maryland on April 13.

Image source: USS Maryland (BB-46)

Captain Isaac Kidd assumed command of the ship on September 17, 1938, later rising to rear admiral commanding Battleship Division One aboard Arizona.

Image source: Isaac C. Kidd

Nimitz was relieved on May 27, 1939 by Rear Admiral Russell Willson, who took over as commander of Battleship Division One aboard Arizona.

Image source: Chester W. Nimitz

Captain Train assumed command of the ship on February 5, 1940, as tensions in the Pacific continued to rise.

Image source: Franklin Van Valkenburgh

In April 1940, the Pacific Fleet's home port was moved from California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a deterrent to Japanese imperialism. Arizona's last fleet problem was held off Hawaii around this time.

Image source: United States Pacific Fleet

Arizona was overhauled at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington, from October 1940 to January 1941, receiving updated equipment before returning to Hawaii.

Image source: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Her last flag change-of-command occurred on January 23, 1941, when Willson was relieved by Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd.

Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh relieved Train on February 5, 1941, becoming the ship's final commanding officer.

On October 22, 1941, during an exercise taking place in heavy fog, Arizona was hit in the bow by the Oklahoma, requiring repairs before returning to duty.

Image source: USS Oklahoma (BB-37)

Shortly before 08:00 local time on December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft from six carriers struck the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Arizona was hit by several air-dropped armor-piercing bombs, one detonating her forward magazine and sinking her with the loss of over 1,100 men.

Image source: Attack on Pearl Harbor

Arizona was placed 'in ordinary' (temporarily out of service) at Pearl Harbor on December 29, 1941, and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on December 1, 1942.

A 1944 Navy Bureau of Ships report suggested that a hatch leading to the black powder magazine was left open, possibly with flammable materials stocked nearby, contributing to the catastrophic explosion.

Her surviving superstructure was scrapped in 1942, and her main armament was salvaged over the next year and a half. Guns from Turret II were straightened, relined, and installed on Nevada in the fall of 1944.

Battery Pennsylvania fired its guns for the first and last time on V-J Day in August 1945 during training, while the nearby Battery Arizona was never completed.

Image source: List of Pennsylvania units in the American Civil War

On March 7, 1950, Admiral Arthur W. Radford ordered that the American flag be flown over the submerged wreck of Arizona, beginning the tradition of honoring those lost there.

Image source: Arthur W. Radford

A push by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and support following Elvis Presley's benefit concert resulted in the designation of the wreck as a national shrine in 1962, with the USS Arizona Memorial dedicated above it.

Image source: USS Arizona Memorial

The national memorial was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

Image source: National Register of Historic Places

The three-foot-tall (90 cm) bronze trophy on a black marble base was provided to the Navy by the citizens of the state of Arizona on December 7, 1987, honoring the ship's memory.

The ship herself was designated a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1989, recognizing her significance in American history.

Image source: National Historic Landmark

In 2004, the US Navy and the National Park Service oversaw a comprehensive computerized mapping of the hull, being careful to honor its role as a war grave.

As of 2020, the bell is no longer rung due to the risk of damaging it, ending a long tradition of commemoration aboard the memorial.

The last survivor of Arizona, Lou Conter, died in April 2024 at the age of 102, marking the passing of the final living link to the ship's tragic sinking.

Image source: Lou Conter