Bill Hill used a torch to cut open Utah’s bottom and free Vaessen. In November 1942, a series of surveys was completed that included establishment of a mud line from bow to stern. Second, the equipment used initially to right
the vessel had been sold.
Enter your email below to start!Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? The battleship USS Utah was the first ship named after the state of Utah. USS Utah (BB-31) was the sixth dreadnought battleship commissioned by the U.S. Navy.
The immediate problem faced by the salvage teams was to determine the extent of damage and whether the ship could be righted. At the onset of World War I, the ship had been operating off of Chesapeake Bay as an engineering and gunnery training ship before setting sail for the coast of Ireland to serve as an escort ship for convoys approaching the British Isles.After the armistice was signed and the cessation of war on Nov. 11, 1918, the USS Utah returned to conducting regular battle practices, maneuvers, and for a time, serving as the flagship for the United States Naval Forces in European waters.Although the ship underwent a 1925 modernization retrofit that included the ability to burn oil instead of coal as fuel, and improvements to her armament, Utah’s days were numbered.Under the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, Utah was selected for conversion to a floating target for other ships as well as carrier-based airplanes and in 1939 a target for submarines.
When she was launched on Dec. 23, 1909, she displaced nearly 22,000 tons.The ship was built during a time of rapid naval expansion under the Teddy Roosevelt administration.“The Roosevelt administration was intensely concerned about great powers going to war,” Branden Little, associated professor of history at Weber State University told St. George News. Closer
examination determined that the UTAH simply could not hold enough
compressed air to make such a trip.Another approach was considered. In the port cities such as Veracruz, the main challenge the U.S. government was experiencing was a direct threat to American lives and property from revolutionary violence.”Under the Wilson administration, America was poised to invade Mexico, ordering National Guard units from across the county including a contingent from Utah to the border.Although a widespread invasion never occurred, on April 9, 1914, Mexican officials in the port of Tampico, Tamaulipas, arrested a group of U.S. sailors, including at least one taken from on board his ship which was considered U.S. territory.After Mexico refused to apologize in the terms that the U.S. had demanded, the U.S. navy bombarded the port of Veracruz and occupied the city for seven months.The USS Utah remained at Veracruz for almost two months before returning to New York in late June 1914 for a major overhaul.Three years went by, with Utah conducting battle exercises from the eastern seaboard to the Caribbean.
Pearl Harbor 1941 Pearl Harbor Hawaii Pearl Harbor Attack Naval History Military History Uss Oklahoma Remember Pearl Harbor Uss Arizona Battle Ships. “The internal cohesion of Mexico was in disarray.
Salvage. Work on the UTAH
proceeded slowly but effectively until early in 1944. The immediate problem faced by the salvage teams was
to determine the extent of damage and whether the ship could be righted. Salvage attempts left the vessel listing to port about 38 degrees with the deck facing the channel and the starboard side facing shore. For obvious safety reasons, the ship was fitted with a radio-controlled apparatus to sail these maneuvers.Along with its many lives, the USS Utah became a floating school for gunnery students who trained on the ship’s five-inch batteries, firing at radio-controlled drones as well as firing with .50-caliber machine guns and 1.1-inch pounders, a projectile about the size of a fist.On Sept. 14, 1941, she sailed into Pearl Harbor to carry out antiaircraft training and gunnery training through the late autumn. Along with a past life as a musician, David enjoys traveling on Amtrak – it’s all about the journey and not about the destination – cooking and painting. Although salvage efforts began in 1943, the ship was later deemed a lost cause because of its lack of seaworthiness.
She was a total loss. Marines from other ships also joined the improvised fighting force known at the First Marine Brigade.Newspaper reports at the time noted that a battle was inevitable.When the smoke cleared, Utah’s bluejacket battalion had distinguished themselves in battle. USS Utah - Salvage NASPH #120337 - 10 Feb 1944. The first of two torpedos crippled the ship, sinking it just off its berth at F-11.Men below deck scrambled to leave the dying ship. Seven Medals of Honor were awarded to the crew of the ship including its battalion commander and several company commanders.“During this time, the government of Mexico had undergone a series of revolutionary leadership change,” Little said. Today, visitors to the northwest shore of Ford Island can view what has become “the forgotten ship”.
Perhaps in an
effort to make his case more solid, the commandant suggested that the
UTAH obstructed navigation in the channel and should be removed. In all, 52 sailors were killed while 461 survived the sinking.“I still have flashbacks,” said Clark Simmons in a 2009 interview with Deseret News. Enter your email below to start! USS UTAH, SALVAGE EFFORTS WERE EVENTUALLY ABANDONED.
In preparation, during the month of January 1943,
workers removed ordnance material, painted frame marks on the hull,
constructed a floating walkway to the F-11-N quay, installed a landing
for boats, and drilled access holes to remove the ship's oil supply.Like the OKLAHOMA, a series of 17 electric winches,
cables and wooden struts was used to right the ship.
The UTAH rested on its side at a 38-degree angle.In 1956, a new effort to remove the UTAH was
rekindled by the commandant of the Fourteenth Naval District, who felt
that ESSEX-class carriers had insufficient space to initiate transfer of
ammunition, special weapons and guided missile components.