Battleships: Wyoming Class

[Brian James]

An interesting aerial view of Gunnery Training Ship USS Wyoming AG-17,pictured in the Atlantic on April 30th, 1945.

[designeraccd]

Some earlier views of the old WYOMING, still with some of her 12". This is the form I built my model of her in.....BIG GUNNS!!
Note the different types of 5" on her. DFO

[Brian James]

Wyoming Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Arkansas pictured at San Pedro in January 1945,at this time she was the oldest serving ship in the US Fleet.
She was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and was laid down in January 1910, launched in January 1911, and commissioned into the Navy in September 1912. Arkansas was armed with a main battery of twelve 12-inch guns and capable of a top speed of 20.5 knots.
Arkansas served in both World Wars. During the First World War, she was part of Battleship Division Nine, which was attached to the British Grand Fleet, but she saw no action during the war. During the interwar years, Arkansas performed a variety of duties, including training cruises for midshipmen and goodwill visits overseas.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Arkansas conducted Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic prior to America's entry into the war. Thereafter, she escorted convoys to Europe through 1944; in June, she supported the invasion of Normandy, and in August she provided gunfire support to the invasion of southern France. In 1945, she transferred to the Pacific, and bombarded Japanese positions during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the end of the war, she ferried troops back to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Arkansas was expended as a target in Operation Crossroads, a pair of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship,Dreadnought Battleship USS Wyoming AG-17 (Ex BB-32),in her role as a Training Ship,pictured under refit at New York Navy Yard,Brooklyn in 1938.
Wyoming was laid down at the William Cramp & Sons Shipyards at Philadelphia in February 1910, was launched in May 1911, and was completed in September 1912. She was armed with a main battery of twelve 12-inch guns and capable of a top speed of 20.5 knots.
During the First World War, she was part of the Battleship Division Nine, which was attached to the British Grand Fleet as the 6th Battle Squadron. During the war, she was primarily tasked with patrolling in the North Sea and escorting convoys to Norway. She served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets throughout the 1920s, and in 1931–1932, she was converted into a Training Ship according to the terms of the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
Wyoming served as a Training Ship throughout the 1930s, and in November 1941, she became a Gunnery Ghip. She operated primarily in the Chesapeake Bay area, which earned her the nickname 'Chesapeake Raider'. In this capacity, she trained some 35,000 gunners for the hugely expanded US Navy during World War II. She continued in this duty until 1947, when she was decommissioned on August 1st and subsequently sold for scrap; she was broken up in New York starting in December 1947.

[designeraccd]

The old WYOMING made a interesting, as a training ship, model for my little Fleet. Choosing a specific time and therefore weapons fit was interesting to do as well! Near the end of WW2 she became the flagship for Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee to develop AA weapons and tactics to minimize damage from the "divine wind". By then she only had 5" and light weapons on board.

I modeled her, of course, with 3 twin 12" turrets still on board...BIG GUNS as the 2 earlier views show!!! DFO

[Brian James]

Wyoming Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Arkansas pictured undergoing her modernisation refit in Philadelphia Naval Yard on October 15th 1926.
Starting in 1925, Arkansas was modernized in the Philadelphia Navy Yard.Her displacement increased significantly, to 26,066 long tons standard and 30,610 long tons full load. Her beam was widened to 106 ft, primarily from the installation of anti-torpedo bulges, and draft increased to 29 ft 11.75 in. Her twelve coal-fired boilers were replaced with four White-Forster oil-fired boilers that had been intended for the ships cancelled under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty; performance remained the same as the older boilers. Her deck armour was strengthened by the addition of 3.5 in (of armour to the second deck between the end barbettes, plus 1.75 in of armour on the third deck on the bow and stern. The deck armour over the engines and boilers was increased by 0.75 in and 1.25 in, respectively. Five of the 5-inch guns were removed and eight 3-inch/50 caliber anti-aircraft guns were installed. The mainmast was removed to provide space for an aircraft catapult mounted on the Number 3 turret amidships.

[Brian James]

USS Wyoming AG-17 (Ex BB-32) pictured in her role as a Gunnery Training Ship,underway in the Atlantic on April 30th 1945...*Note target drone catapult on her stern.

[Brian James]

USS Wyoming AG-17 (Ex BB-32) pictured in her role as a Gunnery Training Ship,underway in the Atlantic on April 30th 1945.

[Brian James]

Wyoming Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Arkansas,Narwhal Class Submarine USS Nautilus with Danae Class Light Cruiser HMS Delhi pictured at San Diego,September 26th 1932.

[Brian James]

Wyoming Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Arkansas underway on April 11th 1944.