Chapter II: Historical Record
(continued)

The USS UTAH

Construction and Operational History

The UTAH has been almost forgotten. Seldom honored by public visits, it rests in the waters of Pearl Harbor as a distant memory of America's most remembered day, a sad epitaph for a fine battleship.

The construction of the USS UTAH was part of an early 20th-century arms race, at the time when global military supremacy was determined by control of the seas. The rise of the battleship as the super weapon of the world's navies had roots in the era of wooden vessels but commenced in earnest with the combat between the USS MONITOR and the CSS VIRGINIA (MERRIMACK) during the American Civil War, though the first true American "battleship" did not slide from the ways until 1895. The first battleships, of which the famous USS MAINE was one of four, were key in the United States' victory in the Spanish-American War and were in turn followed by other vessels, many built during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, whose 16-vessel "Great White Fleet" circled the globe in a show of American naval might. Despite the great number of American battleships, new developments in the years just preceding the First World War rendered them obsolete. These developments -- steam turbines, multiple turrets mounting increasingly large-bore rifled guns (from 10- to 12- to 14-inches) and improvements in armor -- made the battleship an even more formidable weapon and the focus of naval arms races.

Figure 2.33. The USS UTAH as battleship before conversion. (NPS: USAR Collection)

The United States and other naval powers were alarmed by British plans to construct a new battleship, HMS DREADNOUGHT, that would embody the new developments with 10 12-inch guns and steam turbines driving the ship at 22 knots. Even as the last of Roosevelt's Great White Fleet slid from the ways and embarked on a world tour, plans for new American "dreadnoughts" were on the drawing boards. Named for the first vessel of the new class, the USS FLORIDA, these new battleships mounted multiple 12-inch guns, and with turbines (and unfortunately in some cases with old-fashioned reciprocating steam engines) they proved a match for the European dreadnoughts; in concert with the British they showed their mettle in the First World War (Stern 1980:4).

Second of the FLORIDA class, the USS UTAH was laid down on March 6, 1909, at the Camden, New Jersey yard of the New York Shipbuilding Co. Completed nine months later, the UTAH was launched on December 23, 1909. Work to prepare the ship for sea took longer, and the UTAH was not placed in commission until 1911. Assuming command of the ship was Captain William Benson. The UTAH statistics were impressive for the "Dreadnought era" -- 21,825 tons that drew approximately 28 feet. Top speed was estimated at 20 knots. The crew consisted of 60 officers and 941 men. Fire power was measured by five gun turrets, armed with two 12-inch guns. Supplementing the main armament were 16 5-inch, 51-caliber guns and two 21-inch submerged torpedo tubes. Armor 12 inches thick surrounded the vital areas of the vessel. After a shakedown cruise south along the coast, into the Gulf and then the Caribbean, the UTAH was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet in March 1912. For the next two years the battleship was assigned to regular duties in the Atlantic Fleet: drilling and engaging in training cruises.

Figure 2.34. The USS UTAH in heavy seas when still a battleship. (Courtesy Norm Harp)

In 1914 the UTAH played an important role in the American landings at Veracruz, Mexico. Mexico, torn by civil war and revolution, was the scene of considerable American intervention, much of it centered at Veracruz and Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing's forays into northern Mexico. The UTAH was deployed twice at Veracruz, first from February to April 1914, when it anchored off Veracruz and transferred refugees to nearby Tampico, and again in late April to June 1914 when it joined other American ships in an attempt to contravene the landing of arms shipped from Germany to Mexican president Victoriano Huerta, who had succeeded the assassinated legal president, Francisco I. Madero. President Woodrow Wilson, eager to support Madero backers and anti-Huerta revolutionaries as part of his international campaign for human rights, and seeking the means to stabilize war-torn neighboring Mexico, sent in troops. Marines and sailors landed from the U.S. Naval vessels, including UTAH, took Veracruz on April 21, 1914, seized the customhouse and prevented the landing of the arms. In the action, seven members of the UTAH's crew distinguished themselves and received Medals of Honor. Considerable Mexican casualties embarrassed the United States and led to an American withdrawal, but the action was one of a series of maneuvers that led to Huerta's downfall and the installation of a new government (Mooney 1982:421-422).

Until the outbreak of World War I, the UTAH continued with fleet battle practices and maneuvers in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Once the war was underway, the UTAH became a training ship for gunnery and engineering for hundreds of new recruits.

On September 10, 1918, new orders moved the UTAH to the theater of war. On that day, it arrived at Bantry Bay, Ireland, to become the flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas S. Rodgers, commander of Battleship Division Six. From Ireland the UTAH was directed to protect convoys and secure naval approaches to the British Isles.

The war ended that year. The UTAH was ordered to serve as honor escort for the transport GEORGE WASHINGTON that was carrying President Woodrow Wilson to the Versailles Peace Conference. Conspicuously present with the honor escort was the USS ARIZONA. President Wilson arrived in Brest, France, on December 13. The following day the UTAH departed for home and overhaul in the Boston Navy Yard.

For the next 12 years the UTAH served with distinction in the Atlantic Fleet. It sailed to several South American ports to "show the flag" and to serve as transport for diplomatic and goodwill missions. In 1924-1925 it earned the Navy Battle Efficiency Award "E" for outstanding gunnery. Summers of those years saw many a midshipman from the Naval Academy scramble around its decks as the ship served with the Midshipman Practice Squadron.

The London Naval Conference set limits for naval armaments, particularly the number of battleships that a nation could have in its naval arsenal. The UTAH was one of those condemned as a battleship and was designated to be removed from service in order to comply with the London treaty. In 1934 the ship was saved at the last moment from demolition when Navy officials decided to remove the armament and convert the vessel to an experimental mobile target ship at the Norfolk Navy yard.

Figure 2.35. The UTAH underway as bombing target ship in 1939. (NPS: USAR Collection)

On July 1, 1931, the UTAH was redesignated a miscellaneous auxiliary ship, and the hull was reclassified from BB 31 to AG-16. Conversion took nearly a year, but as a result the UTAH became one of the most sophisticated technical marvels of the period. Certainly the installation of the radio-controlled steering and steaming apparatus bears witness to the scientific advances of the 1930s. The mechanism allowed the UTAH to be controlled from another ship or aircraft. The ship could steam at varying rates of speed, alter course and lay smoke screens. It could maneuver as a ship would during battle. All this was accomplished by electric motors that could open and close throttle valves, position the steering gear and regulate the supply of oil to the boilers in order to generate smoke for laying down screens. This "robot" man-of-war was steadied by a Sperry "metal mike" or gyro pilot in order to keep the ship on course.

By April 1, 1932, the UTAH was ready and placed in full commission by Commander Randall Jacobs. Six days later it left Norfolk, Virginia to begin the shakedown cruise to train the shipboard cruise engineers and to test the radio control equipment under trial conditions. Although the UTAH could operate without the touch of human hands, it did have to be monitored. The maximum time for unassisted operations was four hours.

In the past it had taken 500 men, including officers and seamen, to operate the vessel. The UTAH broke new ground in the field of remote control, and that groundwork was used for space exploration and guided missiles more than a generation later.

The UTAH left the waters of the Atlantic in June 9, 1932, as it set sail for San Pedro, California via the Panama Canal. Twenty-one days later it joined Training Squadron One, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

During this period the UTAH realized its full potential as a target ship. In retrospect, a common misunderstanding about the UTAH is its role and appearance. During those years the ship's role was to duplicate conditions of battle maneuvering that could test the skills of those who were being trained to attack from air or sea. Air attack on the UTAH was not without hazards during remote and manual operation. It has been estimated that dive bombers scored hits 15 percent of the time and high-altitude horizontal bombers about 5 percent. The practice bombs were inert but struck the ship with such velocity and force that it could penetrate the steel decks. In an effort to prevent this damage from occurring, huge wooden timbers were placed on the ship's deck. Needless to say, when the air attack took place, the crew exercised great caution. A majority of the crew found protection within the ship's armor. The spotters sought protection and visibility in the armored conning tower near the bridge.

Figure 2.36. The UTAH as target ship with timbers protecting deck from practice bombs. (NPS: USAR Collection)

When a bombing run was completed, a marking party came on deck to mark and score hits. However, this routine nearly ended in tragedy when a number of sailors were standing on the deck and a group of planes appeared suddenly out the clouds and let missiles fly. Bad aim and quick feet prevented wounding or death to members of the crew.

Surface vessels such as battleships, cruisers and destroyers found the UTAH useful in long-range firing exercises. Although they never fired directly on the UTAH, they did direct their aim at the target rafts that the ship towed. This training allowed surface warships to maneuver in battle conditions that honed surface-firing skills. Submarines found the UTAH excellent training, because the ship responded like high-speed prey.

On April 30, 1935, the UTAH joined other elements of the Pacific Fleet for a cruise to the Hawaiian Islands. On the voyage to Pearl Harbor, the ship was readied for a new training task -- amphibious operations at Hilo Bay on the island of Hawaii, where it debarked 223 officers and men from the fleet's Marine contingent, along with full equipment and armament.

The UTAH was changed over in August 1935 to an antiaircraft training ship for the Pacific Fleet, a status ultimately more important than the category of mobile target ship. Fleet officials established a machine-gunners' school that month, and trainees came aboard the UTAH from several cruisers and the aircraft carrier RANGER. The skill in particular of the RANGER's gunners was hailed by the Commander Aircraft Pacific Fleet Battle Force. Thus the UTAH embarked on a new phase of training that would occupy the remaining years of the ship's life until its demise in December 1941.

Notable among the experimental achievements was the development of a reliable fire-control system for 50-caliber machine guns for shipboard antiaircraft systems. This system would later be integrated in the use of the 1.1-inch antiaircraft gun. That same type of weapon was slated to be installed on board the ARIZONA in mid-December 1941.

In April 1940, the UTAH proceeded up the coast from San Pedro, California to Puget Sound for installation of a 5-inch 25-gun battery, considered by many as the best antiaircraft weapon in existence. From Washington the UTAH sailed for Hawaiian waters to conduct an advanced antiaircraft gunnery school. Trainees arrived aboard from the battleships WEST VIRGINIA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, and OKLAHOMA and the cruisers NEW ORLEANS, PHOENIX, NASHVILLE, and PHILADELPHIA. For several weeks the crews practiced loading and controlling the 5-inch batteries, 50-caliber machine guns, and 1.1-inch guns.

After the training was completed, UTAH returned to the West Coast and eventually went back to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The UTAH entered the docks on May 31, 1941. For nearly three months the ship underwent massive changes to the shipboard training armament. Two turreted 5-inch 38-caliber guns were placed on top of the original 12-inch gun turrets, Nos. 4 and 5. An advanced gun director was secured to the top of gun turret No. 5. Amidships were placed two 5-inch 38-caliber guns on the port side and two on the starboard side. In order to fill the antiaircraft armament gap between the 5-inch batteries and 50-caliber machine guns, the Navy installed experimental, advanced 20mm automatic antiaircraft weapons. The testing and the proficiency with these guns enabled the Pacific Fleet to prepare for a war that appeared to loom even closer as the summer of 1941 wore on.

Figure 2.37. UTAH receiving new coat of camouflage paint shortly before attack. (NPS: USAR Collection)

Before leaving Puget Sound, the UTAH war colors were applied in the form of Measure 14 paint scheme. Dark sea gray was painted on the hull and lower super structure and light haze gray to the upper main tops. The UTAH eventually made its way along the West Coast to San Pedro. It was never to return to those familiar waters. It set sail for the last time for Hawaii on September 14, 1941. For six weeks it held an advanced antiaircraft firing practice in Hawaiian waters. For the weekend of December 6-7, the UTAH returned to Pearl Harbor and moored at berth F-11 on the west side of Ford Island.

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