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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 63201:  USS Utah underway, possibly during her trials

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Utah (Battleship # 31, later BB-31 and AG-16), 1911-1941 --
Overview and Special Image Selection

USS Utah, a 21,825-ton Florida class battleship, was built at Camden, New Jersey. Commissioned in August 1911, she operated in the Atlantic during her first years of service, made a voyage to the Mediterranean in 1913 and took part in the Vera Cruz incident a year later. Utah remained in the Atlantic during World War I and, in September-November 1918, was based in southern Ireland to provide a covering force for Allied convoys as they neared the British Isles.

Post-war, Utah operated along the U.S. east coast and in the Caribbean, but was assigned to European waters during 1921-22. In 1924-25, she made a good-will visit to South America. Extensively modernized later in 1925, Utah was employed as a unit of the U.S. Scouting Fleet. She went to the South Atlantic in late 1928 to carry President-Elect Herbert Hoover on the homeward-bound leg of his South American tour.

Converted to a radio-controlled target ship in 1931, and redesignated AG-16, Utah spent the rest of her career in this role, with additional duties as an anti-aircraft gunnery training ship beginning in the mid-1930s. In 1941, she was given additional guns to enhance her gunnery training mission, and was active with the U.S. Fleet in the Hawaiian area later in that year. On 7 December 1941, while moored at Pearl Harbor, Utah was hit by Japanese aerial torpedo attack, rolled over and sank. A few years later her hull was partially righted and moved closer to Ford Island, where she remains today.

This page features selected views of USS Utah and provides links to additional pictures concerning the ship.

For comprehensive image coverage of USS Utah, see:

  • USS Utah in 1911-1917;
  • USS Utah in 1917-1925;
  • USS Utah After Modernization, 1925-1941;
  • USS Utah Actions and Activities, 1911-1944;
  • USS Utah -- Onboard and Closeup Views, Part I (Exterior Views); and
  • USS Utah -- Onboard Views, Part II (Interior Views).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 63201

    USS Utah (BB-31)


    Underway, possibly during her trials in 1911.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 565 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 50227

    USS Utah (BB-31)


    Photographed circa the later 1920s, following modernization.

    Courtesy of Commander Harold C. Train, USN, 1930.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 530 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-416384

    USS Utah (AG-16)


    Anchored off Long Beach, California, 18 April 1935, while serving as a target ship.
    Three heavy cruisers are in the middle distance, with the city of Long Beach beyond them.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 63651

    USS Utah (BB-31)


    Firing her fifth salvo, 26 June 1920, during exercises with her main battery 12"/45 guns.
    Photographed by A.E. Wells.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 89730

    USS Utah (BB-31)


    Crew of a 5"/51 secondary battery gun in action during early 1920s exercises.
    Note gas masks in use, and breeches of two 3-pdr saluting guns at the bottom of the picture.

    Courtesy of Edward Page, 1979.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-266626

    USS Utah (AG-16)


    Capsizing off Ford Island, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, after being torpedoed by Japanese aircraft .
    Photographed from USS Tangier (AV-8), which was moored astern of Utah.
    Note colors half-raised over fantail, boats nearby, and sheds covering Utah's after guns.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    For comprehensive image coverage of USS Utah, see:

  • USS Utah in 1911-1917;
  • USS Utah in 1917-1925;
  • USS Utah After Modernization, 1925-1941;
  • USS Utah Actions and Activities, 1911-1944;
  • USS Utah -- Onboard and Closeup Views, Part I (Exterior Views); and
  • USS Utah -- Onboard Views, Part II (Interior Views).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 9 November 1998
    Links added 18 April 2007