page_title: USS Arkansas (BB-33)
section_title: 1919–1927
hierarchical_section_title: USS Arkansas (BB-33) / Service history / Inter-war period / 1919–1927
caption_attribution_description: USS Arkansas (BB-33) c. 1920
context_page_description: USS Arkansas (BB-33) was a dreadnought battleship, the second member of the Wyoming class, built by the United States Navy. She was the third ship of the US Navy named in honor of the 25th state, and was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She 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 World War I, 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.
context_section_description: The peacetime training regimen for Arkansas consisted of individual training, an annual fleet maneuver, and periodic maintenance in drydock. She also participated in gunnery and engineering competitions. After returning to the United States, Arkansas went into drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard for an extensive overhaul. She then rejoined the fleet to conduct training exercises off Cuba, after which she crossed the Atlantic, bound for Europe. She reached Plymouth, on 12 May 1919, and then took weather observations on 19 May, and later served as a reference vessel to guide the Navy Curtiss NC flying boats flying from Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, to Europe. After completing that task, she steamed to Brest, on 10 June, and picked up Admiral William S. Benson, the Chief of Naval Operations, and his wife. Arkansas carried them back to New York, after Benson was finished at the Peace Conference in Paris, arriving on 20 June.
  On 19 July, Arkansas departed Hampton Roads, to join her new assignment, the US Pacific Fleet, bound for San Francisco. She arrived 6 September, via the Panama Canal, and embarked Secretary and Mrs. Josephus Daniels. She took Daniels and his wife to Blakely Harbor, Washington, on 12 September, and the following day, participated in a naval review for President Wilson. On 19 September, Arkansas entered the Puget Sound Navy Yard for a general overhaul. She returned to the fleet in May 1920 for training operations off California. The Navy adopted a hull classification system, and on 17 July, assigned Arkansas the designation "BB-33". She steamed to Hawaii, in September, the first time she went to the islands. In early 1921, Arkansas visited Valparaíso, Chile, where she was received by President Arturo Alessandri Palma; the ship's crew manned the rail to honor the Chilean president.
  In August 1921, Arkansas returned to the Atlantic Fleet, where she became the flagship of the Commander, Battleship Force, Atlantic Fleet. Throughout the 1920s, Arkansas carried midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy on summer cruises. She went on a tour of Europe in 1923; there, on 2 July, she stopped in Copenhagen, and was visited by King Christian X of Denmark. She also stopped in Lisbon and Gibraltar. Another midshipmen cruise to Europe followed in 1924; the cruise for the next year went to the west coast of the United States. On 30 June 1925, she stopped in Santa Barbara, California, to assist in the aftermath of the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake. Arkansas, the destroyer McCawley, and the patrol craft PE-34 sent detachments ashore to help the police in Santa Barbara. They also established a temporary radio station in the city.
  After returning from the 1925 cruise, the ship was modernized at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. She had her twelve old coal-fired boilers replaced with four oil-fired models, which were trunked into a single larger funnel. She also had more deck armor added to protect her from plunging fire, and a short tripod mast was installed in place of the aft cage mast. The modernization was completed in November 1926, after which Arkansas conducted a shakedown cruise in the Atlantic. She returned to Philadelphia, where she ran acceptance trials before she could rejoin the fleet. On 5 September 1927, Arkansas was present for ceremonies unveiling a memorial tablet honoring the French soldiers and sailors who died during the Yorktown campaign in 1781.
caption: Arkansas underway in 1920
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