Warship that survived Pearl Harbor, atomic bomb tests found in Pacific. Also the only ship present at Pearl Harbor and Normandy
Stephen Smith
CBS NewsMay 13, 2020, 8:33 AM EDT
Ocean Infinity, which coordinated the mission.
40mm-dual-mount-antiaircraft-gun0.jpg
By the end of World War II,,Nevada carried thirty-two 40mm Bofors antiaircraft guns.This 40mm gun, still in its gun "tub," is mounted next to a partly fallen, standard-issue Mark 51 "gun director" used by the crew todirect the fire of these guns Ocean Infinity/SEARCH, Inc.
Commissioned in 1916 in Massachusetts, the USS Nevada sailed to the British Isles two years later for World War I service, according to the Navy. But it was on December 7, 1941 that the battleship's legacy would be made.
Stationed next to the USS Arizona, the USS Nevada was the only vessel able to pull away from a line of moored U.S. ships during the surprise Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor. Seaman Second Class Charles T. Sehe, who was 18 years old at the time, recalled "a tremendous, fiery explosion ripped the Arizona apart, showering the decks of the Nevada with hot, searing, metallic debris, burning many of them to death."
15-8b05021r.jpg
Severely damaged and beached during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Nevada gets ready to leave her Hawaiian anchorage for permanent repairs at a U.S. port. The Library of Congress
"We got hit by eight bombs, but still got underway — the only battleship to get underway," he told the Associated Press in 2015. "Most of that crew was 17 to 23 years of age. But they were trained and able to carry out their duties."
The USS Nevada lost 60 of its 1,500-member crew in the attack, and more than 100 were wounded. But the crew was able to ground the vessel, preventing it from completely sinking.
The ship was repaired, upgraded and put back in service. She ultimately took part in the D-Day landings, becoming the only battleship to be present at both Normandy and Pearl Harbor, according to Ocean Infinity.
The USS Nevada also played a key role in the invasion of Okinawa, where a Japanese kamikaze attack on March 27, 1945 left 11 of the ship's crew members dead and 41 wounded. A shell attack just nine days later on Okinawa killed two of the crew and damaged the ship.
days later on Okinawa killed two of the crew and damaged the ship.
medical officer, left, and a corpsman, right, check casualties following a Japanese suicide attack on the USS Nevada off Okinawa on March 27, 1945. / AP
After the war, in 1946, the USS Nevada was among about 100 veteran warships used for target practice for atomic bomb experiments at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. On July 1, 1946, a 23-kiloton bomb dropped by a B-29 left the vessel badly damaged and scorched by fire — but still floating. A few weeks later, an underwater detonation sank many ships, but not the Nevada.
In 1948, the damaged vessel was towed to sea off the Hawaiian islands and used as target practice for a Navy gunfire exercise. The Nevada finally went down on July 31, 1948.
The warship was recently discovered by Pacific Constructor, an Ocean Infinity vessel that has been forced to remain at sea for about four months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. James Delgado, SEARCH's lead maritime archaeologist on the mission, said the warship "speaks to American resilience and stubbornness."
"It survived torpedoes, bombs, shells and two atomic blasts," he said. "This is why we do ocean exploration to seek out these powerful connections to the past."
uss-nevada.jpg
USS Nevada (BB-36) underway off the Atlantic coast of the United States, September 17, 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, Naval History and Heritage Command
https://www.navytimes.com/off-duty/...iscovered-nearly-3-miles-beneath-the-surface/
Stephen Smith
CBS NewsMay 13, 2020, 8:33 AM EDT
Ocean Infinity, which coordinated the mission.
40mm-dual-mount-antiaircraft-gun0.jpg
By the end of World War II,,Nevada carried thirty-two 40mm Bofors antiaircraft guns.This 40mm gun, still in its gun "tub," is mounted next to a partly fallen, standard-issue Mark 51 "gun director" used by the crew todirect the fire of these guns Ocean Infinity/SEARCH, Inc.
Commissioned in 1916 in Massachusetts, the USS Nevada sailed to the British Isles two years later for World War I service, according to the Navy. But it was on December 7, 1941 that the battleship's legacy would be made.
Stationed next to the USS Arizona, the USS Nevada was the only vessel able to pull away from a line of moored U.S. ships during the surprise Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor. Seaman Second Class Charles T. Sehe, who was 18 years old at the time, recalled "a tremendous, fiery explosion ripped the Arizona apart, showering the decks of the Nevada with hot, searing, metallic debris, burning many of them to death."
15-8b05021r.jpg
Severely damaged and beached during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Nevada gets ready to leave her Hawaiian anchorage for permanent repairs at a U.S. port. The Library of Congress
"We got hit by eight bombs, but still got underway — the only battleship to get underway," he told the Associated Press in 2015. "Most of that crew was 17 to 23 years of age. But they were trained and able to carry out their duties."
The USS Nevada lost 60 of its 1,500-member crew in the attack, and more than 100 were wounded. But the crew was able to ground the vessel, preventing it from completely sinking.
The ship was repaired, upgraded and put back in service. She ultimately took part in the D-Day landings, becoming the only battleship to be present at both Normandy and Pearl Harbor, according to Ocean Infinity.
The USS Nevada also played a key role in the invasion of Okinawa, where a Japanese kamikaze attack on March 27, 1945 left 11 of the ship's crew members dead and 41 wounded. A shell attack just nine days later on Okinawa killed two of the crew and damaged the ship.
days later on Okinawa killed two of the crew and damaged the ship.
medical officer, left, and a corpsman, right, check casualties following a Japanese suicide attack on the USS Nevada off Okinawa on March 27, 1945. / AP
After the war, in 1946, the USS Nevada was among about 100 veteran warships used for target practice for atomic bomb experiments at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. On July 1, 1946, a 23-kiloton bomb dropped by a B-29 left the vessel badly damaged and scorched by fire — but still floating. A few weeks later, an underwater detonation sank many ships, but not the Nevada.
In 1948, the damaged vessel was towed to sea off the Hawaiian islands and used as target practice for a Navy gunfire exercise. The Nevada finally went down on July 31, 1948.
The warship was recently discovered by Pacific Constructor, an Ocean Infinity vessel that has been forced to remain at sea for about four months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. James Delgado, SEARCH's lead maritime archaeologist on the mission, said the warship "speaks to American resilience and stubbornness."
"It survived torpedoes, bombs, shells and two atomic blasts," he said. "This is why we do ocean exploration to seek out these powerful connections to the past."
uss-nevada.jpg
USS Nevada (BB-36) underway off the Atlantic coast of the United States, September 17, 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, Naval History and Heritage Command
https://www.navytimes.com/off-duty/...iscovered-nearly-3-miles-beneath-the-surface/
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