NEVADA

                                                                  



Nevada – the name, the state and the Navy.
As you may know, Nevada has limited water resources. With the exception of several lakes, including man-made Lake Mead, neither of them salt-water (yet), our shoreline is simply not sufficient for use by naval forces. In fact, Lake Mead is becoming shallower and that will probably lessen Nevada’s impact on naval history even more.
October 2014 marked the 150^th Anniversary of Nevada. There were articles about the Battleship Nevada’s 100^th Anniversary back in July in papers up north that were quite good. [Reno Gazette-Journal Guy Clifton via AP July 11^th 2014]. I thought I might expand on them a little. Several States and communities have former U.S. Navy ships permanently anchored as memorials – museums in their waters. Our memorial ship rests at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, having survived enemy attacks, and as a target ship, two nuclear blasts. It took determined efforts to finally sink her. The ship Nevada and the State Nevada had the atomic age stamped on their histories.
On the 14^th of July 1914, the battleship USS Nevada (BB-36) slipped into the water with a band playing and the traditional champagne christening at " at the Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts. Nevada Gov. Tasker Oddie, was there and commemorated the event with these words:

"I believe we all share a pride that the nation has selected Nevada as the name of a ship that will be one of the greatest of our navy or of any navy. There is no citizen of the state who will not follow the vessel's career with close, personal interest, whatever port she may enter and whatever sea she may sail."

The Name of Nevada on U.S. Navy ships is a unique story. Here is a little bit of it. The material is from the Naval History site and some can be found in Wikipedia.
The artwork and technical history from Wayne Scarpaci, a renown Nevada Artist and military technical advisor. His artwork for the 150^th Sesquicentennial of Nevada will live as memorials to the U.S.S. Nevada and its crews over the years.
The first U.S. Navy ship to be named Nevada was the USS Neshaminy . It’s keel was laid in 1865, was renamed U.S.S. Arizona in May 1869, then it became U.S.S. Nevada in August 1869. Perhaps the name Arizona was not fitting as Arizona was not a State yet.
After all, the Arizona Territory supported the Confederacy during the Civil War, and had the Colorado River providing water to it. The incumbent government of President Lincoln transferred a chunk of the territory into Nevada that gave it some much needed water resources, and also gave it a seat in the house (although the population was only around 40,000 (7,000 by official census). which by law required a head count of at least 60,000 to have a representative in Washington. Once the Nevada representative was seated, Nevada voted itself a state in support of the Union. That politically acquired area was mostly today’s Clark County. This happened during the Civil War, in 1864 and we celebrate our motto “Battle Born” and our 150th year here in 2014 as a State with politics having as much of an impact on its creation as the war itself. So it seems to pay choosing the winning side in a civil war.
Defense contracting was a problem during the Civil War (one hears of this today occasionally). The U.S.S. Neshaminy may be a costly example of this. While under construction, the name was changed to U.S.S. Nevada. It was a large and powerful 3,850-ton screw frigate built of wood, with a length of 335 feet that was under construction at the Philadelphia Navy Yard when she was inspected by Navy officials who found her construction work to be poor. So poor that construction was halted by the Navy, which eventually sold her for scrap. That was unfortunate as her gun battery and two large steam engines were very powerful for their time. So the first U.S.S. Nevada passed into obscurity.

The USS Nevada (BM-8), was a monitor commissioned in 1902. The U.S.S. Monitor was the first of this class and made famous with her Civil War Battle to a draw with the C.S.S. Virgina, formerly the U.S.S.Merrimack. The monitor was a revolutionary design for its time – ironclad and with a low silhouette, it was a difficult target to hit while she was under steam and moving.

The U.S.S. Monitor ca 1865. This basic concept design served the US Navy as well as other navies , several serving until the mid 1900s and later as River Monitors in Vietnam. See Wikipedia for an account.

In armament, it had conventional cannon mounted in a rotating turret that allowed more efficient gunnery without the need to maneuver the entire vessel to stay on target. The monitor class grew in size and armament, becoming small shallow-draft battleships or large gunboats. The shallow draft permitted their use in inland waterways. The latest large-scale use of monitors were on the inland waterways of Vietnam

as part of the Mobile Riverine Force. They have also been used by many countries on their inland waterways.

Originally built as the Conneticut, the name was changed to USS Nevada on 2 March 1909. The Monitor Nevada was renamed Tonopah (for Tonopah, Nevada) to allow Battleship Number 36 to be named Nevada. Apparently the town of Tonopah was one of the more influential Nevada towns of the time with a population around 4,,000. Henderson was not born yet and Las Vegas only started counting heads in 1920 (2,304) and was not incorporated until 1911. Clark County that was created in 1909 only had a population of 3,321. So the picture of Nevada is that mining areas were the most well. known since gaming came along later. Las Vegas did have a ship named after her with the  US Navy Cargo Ship USS Las Vegas Victory AK229. during World War II.

Like a mother hen watching over her chicks, Tender USS Tonopah tends to her submarines – Charleston Harbor. WWI.

One can see the turret design that eventually became standard for most warships.
The Nevada/Tonopah was equipped with a turret design housing two large naval rifles that was efficient and something of a prototype for later and larger classes of naval ships such as the Nevada Class Battleship.
Not destined for life as a coastal defense battle monitor, and although well-armed, she was assigned to life in the Atlantic as a submarine tender until 1918. This was Tonopah’s namesake’s place in U.S. Naval history. Not quite as famous as some of the boxing matches or silver and gold mining around Tonopah, but significant anyway

.

Riverine Force Monitors, Vietnam

USS Nevada (BB-36) Now this was a battleship. This was the real thing. Big, at 27,000 tons, over 600 feet long well-armed and armored, it was commissioned in 1916. Newspaper articles described her as “The Nevada (BB-36), newest, largest and longest dreadnought of the U.S. Navy, and considered the most powerful warship afloat, on her official speed and engine test off Rockland, Maine."
This most powerful warship in the world introduced the two forward, one rear layout of the later BB classes. The Nevada class "as-built" design characteristics:
 Displacement: 27,500 tons (normal)
 Dimensions: 583' (length overall); 95' 3" (extreme beam)
 Powerplant: 26,500 horsepower geared steam turbines , twin and a 20.5 knot maximum speed
 Armament (Main Battery): Ten 14"/45 guns in two triple and two twin turrets
 Armament (Secondary Battery): Twenty-one 5"/51 guns in single casemate mountings (ten guns on each side of the ship, plus one in the stern); soon reduced to twelve 5"/51 guns. In the late 1920s, eight 5"/25 anti-aircraft guns were added.

   

 
Her use of oil fired engines gave her a much greater operational range than other battleships of her time. She was also one of the first US warships to use the all or nothing armor scheme which opted for thick armor over vital locations and very little armor elsewhere. This armor configuration would later become common on most Battleship designs.

The entire crew of the U.S.S. Nevada in the 1920s.
Nevadans were proud to have a namesake ship and a 65-piece silver service set was produced, crafted from 250 pounds of silver from Tonopah and gold from the mines of Goldfield.
During WWI, Nevada performed convoy escort duties across the Atlantic was
on hand in case enemy capital ships attempted engagement. She never had to engage the enemy
Throughout this little historical item on the U.S.S. Nevada, you will find the great art of Wayne Scarpaci. A Nevada artist who painted the U.S.S. Nevada’s career as a part of her 100^th birthday.

Nevada Leads the Way – Wayne Scarpaci
The Nevada escorted President Wilson to France Dec 1918 at the end of WWI and in 1919 for the Peace Talks. Nevada was considered the most powerful warship in the world when completed in 1916. Between the two world wars, the Nevada was involved with several “show the flag” missions, displaying the U.S. Navy’s leading edge to many countries.

Battle Division 2 Into the Storm by Wayne Scarpaci




The Nevada was modernized at Norfolk Naval Shipyard May 1929 to January 1930. Tripod masts, surmounted by three-tiered fire control tops, replaced the
old cage masts. The Nevada fire control upgrades must have been pretty good as she earned the reputation as “The best shot in the Navy” during WWII.

DECEMBER 7^TH, 1941 THE DAY OF INFAMY

Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. On Christmas Day he toured Pearl Harbor. When asked about what he thought of the massive damage, he shocked all around him with the following analysis: “The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make or God was taking care of America . 
Nimitz explained:
Mistake number one: the Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk–we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.
Mistake number two: when the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships.  If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to the American mainland . And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.
Mistake number three: every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That’s why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America.
Japanese officers urged Admiral Nagumo to conduct a third strike but he feared retaliation from U.S. land based bombers as the time to prepare for another strike would take considerable time.
On December 7^th, 1941, Nevada was anchored in Battleship Row with eight other ships of the line to include Arizona off Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. She was attacked from the air with aerial bombs and torpedoes.

Dash for the Sea – Wayne Scarpaci

   

At least six Japanese bombs and a torpedo which opened a 45-by-35 foot gash in the side of the ship. Crews were able to make her seaworthy in just a few days to allow transiting the Pacific to Washington State

.

Seriously damaged during the Pearl Harbor attack, the Nevada was the only capitol ship to get underway and was ordered run aground out of fear of blocking the harbor entrance if sunk. As the Nevada moved out, the Japanese turned their attack to her. The crew of the Nevada responded and they were the first to shoot down Japanese attacking aircraft.
During the attack, Warrant Officer Donald Ross the ships' electrical power officer, singlehandedly kept the electrical dynamos operating during Nevada's sortie. WO Ross was rendered unconscious twice but refused to leave his station until ordered to do so. For his efforts he was awarded the Nevada's first Medal of Honor, which was also the first Medal of Honor to be awarded in World War II. The guided missile destroyer USS Ross DDG 71 is named in his honor. Nevada's second Medal of Honor occurred during the grounding evolution when Chief Boatswains Mate Edwin J Hill disappeared in the explosion of a bomb on the exposed and damaged forward deck of the ship while attempting to 'let go' the ships anchors. For his heroic efforts Chief Hill was awarded Battleship Nevada's second (and last) Medal of Honor. In December 1942 the Destroyer Escort USS Hill DE 141 was named in his honor. (Wayne Scapaci).
Although the Navy felt the Nevada was too old to be repaired, President Roosevelt, a Naval advocate, ordered it. Quickly made seaworthy at Pearl’s repair facilities, she steamed to Puget Sound for further repairs, refitting and modernization. Along with the installation of the latest in electronics, she became America’s first “Super Dreadnaught.” Many of the features of the later Iowa Class Battleships built during WWII came from the Nevada’s refitting. These included Missouri, New Jersey and the Iowa. At the end of the battle, the Nevada suffered 50 deaths and 140 wounded. The names of the 50 sailors killed are listed on the USS Nevada Memorial at the Capitol in Carson City.

1 July 1943 The U.S.S. Nevada at anchor in San Francisco Bay just prior to her transfer to the Atlantic to support operations there. I was 4 and half years old at that time. My father took me to see the Navy one day. What I saw was a vast flotilla in the bay from Yerba Buena Island in the bay. Something I never forgot. In addition to warships, the shipyards were busy as well as most piers on both sides of the bay loading cargo ships.

Nevada saw combat action in three Theaters during WWII. She conducted fire support in Alaska during the re-taking of Attu, convoy escort duty in the Atlantic, and fire support for the Invasions at Normandy (Operation Neptune for Overlord ) and Southern France (Operation Dragoon)in June of 1944. She later served in the Pacific Theater.
She attained notoriety battling and German shore emplacements along the French Coast, silencing many shore batteries. She received no hits from the enemy guns.

The artist Wayne Scarpaci is also a writer and historian. He has provided technical assistance to various forms of media. He served with a land-based 8” Howitzer unit. He relates the complaints of a captured German field commander at Normandy who tried several times to form up a counter attack against the beachhead but was thwarted by accurate naval gunfire he said was mostly from the U.S.S. Nevada. In support of Operation Dragoon, the large-scale landing in the South of France, it was much the same story with the U.S.S. Nevada providing accurate fire support that silenced enemy coastal and ship batteries.
During Dragoon on the 19th of September 1944, after 5 other battleships had tried. Nevada single handedly neutralized the damaged Vichy French Battlecruiser Strasbourg at Toulon with a single 14" hit on the fantail. This caused such a list that the Strasbourg's guns were rendered inoperable. 
With no more beachheads to support in Europe in Allied plans, she was sent back to the U.S. for gun refitting where she the received newer 14” naval rifles salvaged from her near sister ship the Arizona.
The Nevada then headed back to the Pacific to support the attacks on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She provided naval gunfire support to the amphibious landings and protective fires for transports and supply ships.

Nevada off of Okinawa. By Wayne Scarpaci She received 5 hits from Japanese 4.7mm shells from a shore battery without serious damage while again providing effective for the invasion fleet.

USS Nevada just after being crashed by an Acchi 99 Val dive bomber off Okinawa 27 Mar 1945. She suffered 11 killed in this last combat action of the war.

Off the coast of Japan 2 September 1945 After the end of the war, Nevada was assigned to the occupation force in Japan but was soon transferred back to Pearl Harbor. She transported service personnel back to California.

USS Nevada arriving at San Pedro CA after WWII.
Nevada spent 389 days in combat zones

 

.Photos aboard Nevada

 

 

 

Bravo Zulu by Wayne Scarpaci
U.S.S. Nevada displays B Z at Flag Hoist that means “Well Done.”
Victorious in war, U.S.S. Nevada is passing Angel’s Gate Light and is waiting to be assisted to berth at Long Beach.
Soon after it was decided that she was no longer fit for duty and she was selected to be one of the test ships for the Bikini Atomic Experiments – Operation Crossroads. The ship joined the nuclear age as did the State at the Nevada Test Site. .

Nevada was in relatively close proximity to both Nuclear Bomb tests yet managed to survive both experiments.  She received damage and was heavily irradiated but she remained afloat and was towed back to Pearl Harbor. She was then used as target practice for the USS Iowa. The Nevada took everything the Japanese and Germans could throw at her. Even painted Orange, the USAAF bomber still missed hitting her dead on.
After almost 40 years of service, it was finally an aerial torpedo that finished her off. The Nevada proved to be a tough old girl. Her resilience was matched only the men who sailed her. The Nevada is remembered by most as one of the ships that was at Pearl Harbor during the attack. However, she was far more than that. She was one of the most advanced and powerful ships of her time. She proved to be a fine ship and served with distinction throughout her career, may she and the brave men who sailed on her rest in peace.

The famous Nevada artist, Wayne Scapaci, painted the thumbsketches shown here of the U.S.S.Nevada and her Naval career. He paints in Gardnerville, Nevada. If interested in things military and technical, his website http://artbywayne.com. And Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Art-by-Wayne-Wayne-Scarpaci/416725845052893. are well worth your time to visit. He has also painted U.S. ships from World War II named after several Nevada towns as well as ships from other navies. He has written and illustrated several books on Naval ships and history as well as railroad art, aviation art, and even a book on fitness for the over 60 crowd. His book “USS Nevada: the Remarkable Ship of Extraordinary Firsts” is an

excellent look at our historical namesake battleship.

This Wayne Scarpaci painting of the U.S.S. Manchester CL 83, a Heavy Cruiser brought back memories of successful naval gunfire missions in my area in Vietnam in 1966-1967. The 8” guns were more than accurate. From a Bird Dog, it was an experience to provide a target, watch the ship fire and view the shells in their flight and then land right on the eight-digit coordinate we provided. I learned that bombs are fine in good weather but naval gunfire is there in the worst of a monsoon rain.

ART b y

Now stay tuned for the rest of the story…Unveiling the plaque commemorating the centennial of the USS Nevada are from left, Craig Williams, Bud Hicks, Jim Ferrigan, Joe Uccelli, David Stephenson, Chief of the Boat, USS Nevada, SSBN 733; and Robert Crowell, Carson City mayor. On the State Capitol building grounds.

The U.S.S. Nevada The name lives on. As an Ohio Class Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine. SSBN 733

Her Home port is Bangor, Washington.

U.S.S. Nevada Commissioning 16 Aug 1986. In the middle photo, a WWII Navy Veteran from the U.S.S. Nevada (BB-36) and a current Nevada crewman request permission to board. Below, postal issues commemorating the commissioning of the U.S.S. Nevada

While in Home Port, the Nevada hosts some local residents.

While in Home Port, the Nevada hosts some local residents.