The USS Oklahoma

History

Pre-War Service

The Oklahoma began its service during World War I escorting supply and troop ships across the Atlantic Ocean. German submarines, called U-boats, were threatening to sink any ship they could find, so the Oklahoma protected them as they sailed back and forth from Europe and America. The Oklahoma even escorted President Woodrow Wilson as he traveled to Europe to negotiate the Treaty of Paris to end the war.

The USS Oklahoma sliding into the Delaware River after its christening

The USS Oklahoma was christened March 23, 1914. During World War I, its primary job was to escort supply and troops across the Atlantic Ocean (2012.201.B0927.0345, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS).

After World War I, the Oklahoma traveled the world providing help to those in need. In 1925 the Oklahoma and ten other battleships, along with their destroyer escorts and support ships, traveled around the Pacific Ocean. They sailed all over the Pacific, including places like Samoa, Australia, and New Zealand. The sailors on board the Oklahoma enjoyed the trip and even had a special celebration to mark their crossing of the Equator. When Long Beach, California, experienced a disastrous earthquake in 1933, the commander of the Oklahoma sent sailors ashore to help police and firefighters. They helped to keep the peace so that the firefighters could do their job. In 1936, the Oklahoma traveled to Spain to help evacuate American and European refugees. A refugee is someone who is forced out of his or her home because of a natural disaster or war. That year was the start of the Spanish Civil War, so many American, British, and French citizens needed to escape the fighting. One woman who left Spain on the Oklahoma delivered a baby while traveling home. It was the first baby ever born on an American battleship.

Soldiers in formation with rifles on their shoulders on the deck of the USS Oklahoma.

Members of the US Marine Corps who were assigned to the USS Oklahoma, along with members of the US Navy. The ship was stationed in Port Townsend, WA, c. 1924 (23288.11, Oklahoma Historical Society Photograph Collection, OHS).

A row of sailors in a football formation on the a battleship's deck. Several men are lined up to watch the activity.

Crewmen practice their football skills on the deck of the Oklahoma in their free time (22895.99, Lyman T. Branch Collection, OHS).

USS Oklahoma pictured from overhead that shows the addition of modern weapons and towers following modernization in the 1930s.

Modernization of the USS Oklahoma in the 1930s included adding eight, five-inch, 25-caliber guns and additional armor meant to withstand torpedoes (2012.201.B0927.0327, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS).