USS Wyoming ( BB - 32 ) USS " Wyoming " ( BB - 32 ) was the lead ship of her class of dreadnought battleship s and was the third ship of the United States Navy named Wyoming , although she was only the second named in honor of the 44th state . " Wyoming " was laid down at the William Cramp and Sons in Philadelphia in February 1910 , was launched in May 1911 , and was completed in September 1912 . She was armed with a main battery of twelve guns and capable of a top speed of . 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 ship . 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 1 August and subsequently sold for scrap ; she was broken up in New York starting in December 1947 . Design . " Wyoming " was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced as designed and up to at full combat load . The ship was powered by four - shaft Parsons steam turbines and twelve coal - fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers rated at , generating a top speed of . The ship had a cruising range of at a speed of . The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 12 inch / 50 Mark 7 guns in six twin gun turret s on the centerline , two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward . The other four turrets were placed aft of the superstructure in two superfiring pairs . The secondary battery consisted of twenty - one 5 - inch / 51 guns mounted in casemate s along the side of the hull . The main armored belt was thick , while the gun turrets had thick faces . The conning tower had thick sides . Refits . In 1919 , a refit reduced the secondary armament to 16 5 inch / 51 caliber ( 127 mm ) guns and added two 3 inch / 50 caliber ( 76 mm ) anti - aircraft ( AA ) guns . The 5 inch guns were reduced as the mounts near the ends of the ship were difficult to work in any kind of sea . Modernization took place in 1926 . This included anti - torpedo blisters giving " Wyoming " a broader beam and greater displacement , and also thicker deck armor . Four White - Forster oil - fired boilers replaced the 12 previous Babcock and Wilcox coal - fired boilers with no loss of power , resulting in only a single smoke stack . The masts were reduced to a single cage mast . The modernization included newer gunfire controls . Some of the 5 " secondary battery was moved to the superstructure . The 3 " AA battery was increased to eight guns and the torpedo tubes were removed . An aircraft catapult on Turret 3 and facilities for three floatplane s were added . Due to the Washington Naval Treaty , " Wyoming " was partially disarmed in 1932 and used as a gunnery training ship for the rest of her career . She was redesignated with the hull classification symbol AG - 17 . Much of the belt armor was removed . Six 12 inch ( 305 mm ) guns were retained in Turrets 1 , 2 , and 6 ( A , B , and Y in British parlance ) . The sixteen 5 inch / 51 caliber guns and eight 3 inch AA guns were retained , and the aircraft catapult was removed . By 1942 , six 5 inch / 38 caliber ( 127 mm ) dual - purpose guns were added and all 5 inch / 51 caliber guns and six of the eight 3 inch AA guns were removed . The 5 inch / 38 caliber guns were in three types of mountings for training purposes ( one twin enclosed , two single enclosed , and two single open ) . " Wyoming " ' s light AA armament varied greatly throughout World War II , but by mid - 1942 six 40 mm Bofors guns in one quadruple and one twin mounts were fitted , along with eight 1 . 1 inch ( 28 mm ) guns in two quadruple mounts and ten 20 mm Oerlikon guns in single mounts . In January – April 1944 " Wyoming " received her final refit to research anti - Kamikaze tactics . The remaining 12 inch guns were replaced by six 5 inch / 38 caliber guns in enclosed twin mounts for a total of twelve . The obsolescent 1 . 1 inch mounts were replaced by directors for the 5 inch mounts . Service history . " Wyoming " was laid down at the William Cramp and Sons shipyard in Philadelphia on 9 February 1910 , and was launched on 25 May 1911 . She was completed a year and four months later , on 25 September 1912 . After her commissioning , the final fitting - out work was completed at the New York Navy Yard over the next three months . She then proceeded to join the rest of the fleet at Hampton Roads on 30 December , where she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Charles J . Badger , the commander of the Atlantic Fleet . " Wyoming " left Hampton Roads on 6 January 1913 , bound for the Caribbean . She visited the Panama Canal , which was nearing completion , and then participated in fleet exercises off Cuba . The ship was back in port in Chesapeake Bay on 4 March . " Wyoming " then took part in gunnery drills off the Virginia Capes , and on 18 April , entered drydock at the New York Navy Yard for some repairs , which lasted until 7 May . She joined the rest of the fleet for maneuvers off Block Island that lasted from 7 to 24 May . During the maneuvers , the ship ' s machinery proved troublesome , which necessitated repairs at Newport from 9 – 19 May . At the end of the month , she was in New York harbor , to participate in the ceremonies for the dedication of the monument to the armored cruiser , which had been destroyed in Havana harbor on 15 February 1898 . On 4 June , " Wyoming " steamed to Annapolis , where she took on a crew of naval cadets from the Naval Academy for a summer midshipman cruise . After returning the cadets to Annapolis on 24 – 25 August , " Wyoming " took part in gunnery and torpedo training over the next few weeks . On 16 September , she returned to New York for repairs , which lasted until 2 October . She then ran full - power sea trials before proceeding to the Virginia Capes , where she participated in another round of fleet maneuvers . Next , she departed for a European goodwill cruise on 26 October . She toured the Mediterranean Sea , stopping in Valletta , Malta , Naples , Italy , and Villefranche , France . She departed France on November 30 , and arrived in New York on 15 December . There , she went into dock at the New York Navy Yard for periodic repairs , which lasted until January 1914 . On the 6th , " Wyoming " left for Hampton Roads , where she took on coal in preparation for the annual fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean . The exercises lasted from 26 January to 15 March , and the fleet was based out of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba . " Wyoming " and the rest of the fleet then proceeded to Tangier Sound for additional training , including gunnery drills . On 3 April , " Wyoming " left the fleet for an overhaul in New York , which lasted until 9 May . She then returned to Hampton Roads , where she took on a contingent of troops and ferried them to Veracruz , arriving on 18 May . The US had intervened in the Mexican Revolution and occupied Veracruz to safeguard American citizens there . " Wyoming " cruised off Veracruz into the Autumn of 1914 , at which point she returned to the Virginia Capes for exercises . On 6 October , she entered New York for repairs ; this work lasted until 17 January 1915 . " Wyoming " then proceeded to Hampton Roads , and then to Cuba , where she joined the fleet for the annual maneuvers off Cuba . These lasted until April , when she returned to the US . She participated in more exercises off Block Island over the next several months , and on 20 December , she returned to New York for another overhaul . On 6 January 1916 , she emerged from dry dock , and then proceeded to the Caribbean . On 16 January , she reached Culebra , Puerto Rico , then visited Port - au - Prince , Haiti on 27 January . She entered port at Guantanamo the next day , and took part in fleet maneuvers until 10 April , after which she returned to New York . Another round of dockyard work took place from 16 April to 26 June . After returning to service , " Wyoming " took part in more maneuvers off the Virginia Capes for the remainder of the year . She left New York on 9 January 1917 , bound for Cuban waters for exercises that lasted through mid - March . She left Cuba on 27 March , and was cruising off Yorktown , Virginia when the US declared war on Germany on 6 April , formally entering World War I . World War I . " Wyoming " operated out of the Chesapeake Bay area for the next seven months , training engine - room personnel for the expanding American fleet . On 25 November , Battleship Division 9 ( BatDiv 9 ) , which at that time comprised " Wyoming " , , , and , departed the US , bound for Britain . BatDiv 9 was to reinforce the British Grand Fleet at its base in Scapa Flow . The American ships reached Scapa on 7 December , where they became the 6th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet . The American ships drilled with their British counterparts from December 1917 to February 1918 . On 6 February , " Wyoming " and the other American battleships undertook their first wartime operation , to escort a convoy to Stavanger , Norway , in company with eight British destroyer s . On 7 February , lookouts on several ships , including " Wyoming " , thought they spotted German U - boat s attacking the ships with torpedo es , though these proved to be incorrect reports . The convoy successfully reached Norway two days later ; the return trip to Scapa Flow took another two days . " Wyoming " patrolled in the North Sea for the next several months , watching for a sortie by the German High Seas Fleet . On 30 June , " Wyoming " and the rest of the 6th Battle Squadron covered a minelaying operation in the North Sea ; the operation lasted until 2 July . During the operation , jumpy crewmen again incorrect reported U - boat sightings , and " Wyoming " opened fire on the supposed targets . On the return voyage , the 6th Battle Squadron joined up with Convoy HZ40 , which was returning from Norway . On 14 October , " New York " collided with a U - boat and sank it . The collision nevertheless damaged her screws , which forced Rodman to transfer his flag from " New York " to " Wyoming " while the former was in dock for repair . On 21 November , after the Armistice with Germany ended the war , " Wyoming " and an Allied fleet of some 370 warships met the High Seas Fleet in the North Sea and escorted it into internment in Scapa Flow . On 12 December , " Wyoming " , now the flagship of Rear Admiral William Sims , the new BatDiv 9 commander , left Britain for France . There , she rendezvoused off Brest , France with , which was carrying President Woodrow Wilson to the peace negotiations in Paris . " Wyoming " then returned to Britain two days later before departing for the US , arriving in New York on 25 December . She remained there through the new year , and on 18 January 1919 , she became the flagship of BatDiv 7 , flying the flag of Rear Admiral Robert Coontz . Inter - war period . On 1 February , " Wyoming " steamed out of New York to join the annual fleet maneuvers off Cuba , before returning to New York on 14 April . On 12 May , she left port to help guide a group of Navy Curtiss NC flying boat s as they made the first aerial transatlantic crossing . The battleship was back in port by 31 May . She then took on a crew of midshipmen for a training cruise off the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia Capes . After finishing the cruise , " Wyoming " entered dry dock at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 1 July for a modernization for service in the Pacific . Her secondary battery was reduced to sixteen 5 - inch guns . After emerging from the shipyard , she became the flagship of BatDiv 6 of the newly designated Pacific Fleet . On 19 July , " Wyoming " and the rest of the Pacific Fleet departed the east coast , bound for the Pacific . The ships transited the Panama Canal later that month , and reached San Diego , California on 6 August . On 9 August , " Wyoming " moved to San Pedro , where she was based for the next month . She went to the Puget Sound Navy Yard for an overhaul that lasted until 19 April 1920 . On 4 May , she was back in San Pedro and resumed her normal routine of fleet maneuvers off the California coast . On 30 August , " Wyoming " left California for Hawaii , where she participated in more training exercises through September . She then returned to San Diego on 8 October for more maneuvers off the west coast . The ship left San Francisco on 5 January 1921 for a cruise to Central and South American waters ; the trip culminated in Valparaíso , Chile , where she was reviewed by the President of Chile Arturo Alessandri Palma on 8 February . " Wyoming " then returned north , arriving in Puget Sound for repairs on 18 March . On 2 August , " Wyoming " was in Balboa in the Canal Zone , where she picked up Rear Admiral Rodman and a commission traveling from Peru back to New York . She arrived in New York on 19 August and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet . There , she became the flagship of Admiral Hilary P . Jones , the commander of the Atlantic Fleet . " Wyoming " spent the next three and a half years on the normal routine of winter fleet exercises off Cuba , followed by summer maneuvers off the east coast of the US . Throughout the period , she served as the flagship of Vice Admiral s John McDonald , Newton McCully , and Josiah McKean in the Scouting Fleet . In the summer of 1924 , she conducted a midshipman training cruise to Europe , and stopped in Torbay , Great Britain , Rotterdam in the Netherlands , Gibraltar , and the Azores . In January and February 1924 , the Navy conducted Fleet Problem II , III , and IV concurrently . During the FP III maneuvers , " Wyoming " , her sister , and the two s stood in for the new s . During the FP IV portion of the maneuvers , " Wyoming " served in the " Blue " force , which represented the US Navy . She was attacked by " Black " aircraft , but the umpires judged " Wyoming " s anti - aircraft fire and the escort fighters provided by to have effectively defended the fleet . On 14 February 1925 , " Wyoming " again passed through the Panama Canal to return to the Pacific . There , she joined fleet exercises off California . She then proceeded to Hawaii , where she remained from late April to early June . She visited San Diego on 18 – 22 June , and then returned to the east coast via the Panama Canal , arriving in New York on 17 July . A cruise to Cuba and Haiti followed , after which " Wyoming " returned to the New York Navy Yard for an overhaul that lasted from 23 November to 26 January 1926 . During this period , then - Commander William F . Halsey , Jr . came aboard as the ship ' s executive officer ; he served on " Wyoming " until 4 January 1927 . " Wyoming " then returned to the routine of winter maneuvers in the Caribbean and training cruises in the summer . In late August , the ship went to Philadelphia for an extensive modernization . Her old coal - fired boilers were replaced with new oil - fired models and anti - torpedo bulge s were added to improve her resistance to underwater damage . The work was completed by 2 November , after which " Wyoming " conducted a shakedown cruise to Cuba and the Virgin Islands . She was back in Philadelphia on 7 December , and two days later , she returned to her post as the flagship of the Scouting Fleet , flying the flag of Vice Admiral Ashley Robertson . " Wyoming " spent the next three years in the Scouting Fleet . She conducted training cruises with Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps ( NROTC ) cadets from various universities , including Yale , Harvard , Georgia Tech , and Northwestern . These cruises went throughout the Atlantic , including to the Gulf of Mexico , to the Azores , and to Nova Scotia . While on one of these cruises in November 1928 , " Wyoming " picked up eight survivors from the wrecked steamship ; she took them to Norfolk on 16 November . On 19 September 1930 , " Wyoming " was transferred from the Scouting Force to BatDiv 2 , where she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Wat T . Cluverius . She served here until 4 November , when she was withdrawn from front - line service and became the flagship of the Training Squadron , flying the flag of Rear Admiral Harley H . Christy . Thereafter , she conducted a training cruise to the Gulf of Mexico . After returning to Philadelphia on 1 January 1931 , " Wyoming " was placed on reduced commission . Under the terms of the London Naval Treaty signed the previous year , " Wyoming " was to be demilitarized . During the demilitarization process , her anti - torpedo bulges , side armor , and half of her main battery guns were removed . She was back in service by May , and on the 29th , she took on a crew of midshipmen from Annapolis for a training cruise to Europe , which began on 5 June . While en route on 15 June , " Wyoming " rescued the disabled submarine and took it under tow to Queenstown , Northern Ireland . While in Europe , she stopped in Copenhagen , Denmark , Greenock , Scotland , Cadiz , Spain , and Gibraltar . The ship was back in Hampton Roads on 13 August ; while on the cruise , " Wyoming " was reclassified as " AG - 17 " , to reflect her new role as a training ship . " Wyoming " spent the next four years conducting training cruises for midshipmen and NROTC cadets to various destinations , including European ports , the Caribbean , and the Gulf of Mexico . On 18 January 1935 , she carried the 2nd Battalion , 4th Marine Regiment , from Norfolk to Puerto Rico for amphibious assault exercises . On 5 January 1937 , the ship left Norfolk and steamed to the Pacific via the Panama Canal . She took part in more amphibious assault exercises and gunnery drills at San Clemente Island . On 18 February , during the exercises , a 5 - inch shrapnel shell exploded as it was being loaded into one of her guns . The blast killed six Marines and wounded another eleven . " Wyoming " immediately steamed to San Pedro and transferred the wounded Marines to the hospital ship . On 3 March , " Wyoming " left Los Angeles , bound for the Atlantic . She reached Norfolk on 23 March , where she served as the temporary flagship for Rear Admiral Wilson Brown , the commander of the Training Squadron , from 15 April to 3 June . On 4 June , she left port to conduct a goodwill cruise to Kiel , Germany , arriving on 21 June . There , she visited the " Admiral Graf Spee " . She left Germany on 29 June , stopping in Torbay , Britain , and Funchal , Madeira , and arrived in Norfolk on 3 August . " Wyoming " resumed her training ship duties for Naval and Merchant Marine Reserve units . She returned to Norfolk Navy Yard for an overhaul that lasted from 16 October to 14 January 1938 . " Wyoming " performed her typical routine of training cruises in the Atlantic through 1941 . The cruises included another European trip in 1938 ; she took the midshipmen to Le Havre , France , Copenhagen , and Portsmouth . After the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939 , " Wyoming " was assigned to a naval reserve force in the Atlantic , alongside the battleships " New York " , " Arkansas " , and and the aircraft carrier . " Wyoming " became the flagship of Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs , the commander of the Training , Patrol Force on 2 January 1941 . In November , " Wyoming " became a gunnery training ship . Her first cruise in this new role began on 25 November ; she was cruising off Platt ' s Bank when she received word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December . World War II . Following the United States ' entrance into World War II , " Wyoming " performed her normal duties as a gunnery training ship with the Operational Training Command , United States Atlantic Fleet starting in February 1942 . She operated primarily in the Chesapeake Bay area , and frequent sightings of the ship steaming around the bay earned her the nickname " Chesapeake Raider " . " Wyoming " was very busy , training thousands of anti - aircraft gunners on weapons ranging from light . 50 caliber ( 12 . 7 mm ) guns to medium - caliber 5 - inch guns for the rapidly expanding American fleet . Early in the war , the Navy briefly considered converting " Wyoming " back to her battleship configuration , but decided against the plan . These duties continued throughout the rest of the war . " Wyoming " was modernized at Norfolk Navy Yard from 12 January to 3 April 1944 ; the reconstruction removed the last of her three 12 - inch gun turrets , and replaced them with four twin and two single enclosed mounts for 5 " / 38 caliber gun s . New fire control radars were also installed ; these modifications allowed " Wyoming " to train anti - aircraft gunners with the most modern equipment they would use while in combat with the fleet . She was back in service in the Chesapeake Bay by 10 April . Over the course of the war , " Wyoming " trained an estimated 35 , 000 gunners on seven different types of guns : 5 - inch , 3 - inch , 1 . 1 - inch , 40 - milimeter , and 20 - milimeter weapons . Due to her extensive use as a gunnery training ship , she claimed the distinction of firing more ammunition than any other ship in the fleet during the war . " Wyoming " finished her gunnery training duties in the Chesapeake area on 30 June 1945 , when she left Norfolk for the New York Navy Yard , for further modifications . Work was completed by 13 July , after which she left for Casco Bay . There , she joined Composite Task Force 69 ( CTF 69 ) , under command of Vice Admiral Willis A . Lee . " Wyoming " was tasked with developing tactics to more effectively engage the Japanese kamikaze suicide aircraft . The gunners conducted experimental gunnery drills with towed sleeves , drone aircraft , and radio - controlled targets . On 31 August , CTF 69 was renamed Operational Development Force , United States Fleet . " Wyoming " continued in this unit through the end of the war , and began to be used to test new fire control equipment . In the summer of 1946 , then - Ensign Jimmy Carter , the future President of the United States , came aboard as part of the final crew of the old battleship . On 11 July 1947 , " Wyoming " put into Norfolk and was decommissioned there on 1 August . Her crew was transferred to the battleship , which was also serving in the gunnery training unit . " Wyoming " was stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry on 16 September , and she was sold for scrapping on 30 October . She arrived in New York on 5 December , where she was dismantled by Lipsett , Incorporated . Notes . Footnotes Citations