Arkansas (CGN 41) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS ARKANSAS BB-33 The Invasion of France — June 1944 “We Were There” About mid-afternoon, Tuesday. September 17, 1912, a brand new battleship, the pride of the Fleet, was commissioned amid much ceremony and speech-making. Many Fine things were said about her and many Fine things were predicted of her. Thirty-two years later, after a flawless career, though still more or less unstained by the rigors of war, and despite the pessimistic predictions of Doubting Thomases” and arm-chair strategists, the U.S.S. Arkansas entered active combat and received her Baptism of Fire. After more than a quarter of a century, the “Arkie” made those Fine predictions come true. It was early Spring, the eve of the greatest invasion of all history and the Arkansas was an important part of that greatest Armada involved. As one privileged to have been a part of that gallant ship’s crew, let me relate here a small part of what I saw: accustomed to the electric tension in the air. We were in a constant state of alertness those few hours previous to H-hour, for we were passing through heavily mined waters all the time. As H-hour drew nearer, there was a marked quietness about the ship. It was still very dark, and every turn of the engines brought us nearer to, we knew not what. Over in the east, there was only the faintest hint of approaching dawn. At last, what had appeared to have been an unusually high horizon, and toward which I had been steadily training my binoculars, began to take on definite shapes and outlines, and I realized that it was not more water, but the coast of France — Normandy. When the sky finally began to get lighter, it did so quickly. The old saying, “The hour is always darkest before dawn,” is certainly true, and I believe that particular hour is the darkest I have ever witnessed. When we started into the channels leading ultimately to the landing area, we were all keyed-up to a high pitch; and then, when D-day had to be postponed for a day because of unfavorable seas and weather, we were left hanging high and dry in an emotional pitch, having steeled ourselves for what was to come. As the weather opened up and, once more, we began to move toward the landing area, gathering ships as we went; we became During the blackest hours just prior to early morning light, our bombers began to come over in droves; so that there was a steady hum of engines overhead. Though we could not sec them, the sound was a comforting one. There were hundreds of them. They had been bombing the beachhead area heavily for twenty-four hours prior to our arrival. From USS ARKANSAS War Diary (BB-33)

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 During World War I ARKANSAS patrolled along the eastern seaboard and served the 6th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet at Rosyth, Scotland. The ship witnessed the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet on November 20, 1918. ARKANSAS served effectively during World War II, First on the Neutrality Patrol in June 1941 when escorting the first Marines to Iceland. Between December 1941 and April 1944. the ship escorted nine convoys and saw service at Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion. ARKANSAS also participated in the bombardment of Cherbourg and the invasion of southern France. After an overhaul in Boston in 1944, ARKANSAS was moved to the Pacific theatre and performed the indispensable battleship function of overwhelming shore bombardment. It played a vital role at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the war the ship ferried servicemen from Pearl Harbor back to the States. In early 1946 ARKANSAS was prepared for final service — as a target vessel in Operation Crossroads, the Bikini atomic bomb experiments. It was sunk on July 25,1946 as a result of the Baker test explosion. ARKANSAS was the oldest American battleship to see active service during World War II, and it received four battle stars. 8 BB-33 in ‘ Measure 32” Camouflage

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The Present USS ARKANSAS (CGN-41) Significant Dates 1. Congressional funding Authorized 2. Construction Authorized 3. Keel Laying 4. Launching 5. Sea Trials 6. Commissioned On January 17, 1977, in the Newport News Shipyard, construction of the USS ARKANSAS (CGN-41) began. As steel plates and metal cables were welded the ship grew to a length of 585 ft. and a displacement of 11,600 tons. 1969 1971 17 January 1977 21 October 1978 24 August 1980 18 October 1980