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USS Nevada Was the Only Battleship to Get Underway During Pearl Harbor Attack

At about 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, several hundred Japanese fighter planes, torpedo and dive bombers began their surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  

Within an hour, the crew of the battleship USS Nevada was struggling to coax the wounded battleship from its mooring.  

In drydock a battleship undergoes repairs during a partly cloudy day.
Nevada Docked
The battleship USS Nevada is in drydock at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Hawaii, 1935.
Credit: Navy
VIRIN: 351207-O-D0439-001

USS Nevada
Commissioned: 1916
Place Built: Quincy, Mass., 1912
Early Cruises: Protected convoys ferrying materiel from the U.S. to Great Britain during World War I.
Decommissioned: By the end of World War II, the Nevada was considered too old for further service. It was decommissioned Aug. 29, 1946, and was intentionally sunk off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu by naval gunfire in 1948.
Legacy: A large model of the Nevada was built for the 1970 film "Tora! Tora! Tora!" 
  
The next day, the United States declared war on Japan. 

Eight battleships were struck, along with 13 other vessels and nearby airfields. The attack, which launched from six aircraft carriers and came in two waves, resulted in 2,403 killed and 1,178 wounded. 

In the opening minutes of the attack, the Nevada was struck by a torpedo and began to take on water. The crew managed to get the ship underway at 8:40 a.m. — the only battleship able to do so that day — despite five subsequent bomb hits causing significant damage and fire. The crew later beached the sinking ship in shallow water so it could be salvaged later. 

A battleship at sea is sinking with smoke pouring out.
Beached Nevada
The battleship USS Nevada sinks after it is beached during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1941.
Credit: Navy
VIRIN: 411207-O-D0439-001W

In a 2016 interview with DOD News, USS Nevada survivor Geb Galle, who worked in the engine room, said it was a smart decision to keep two boilers online instead of just one so the ship could get underway in a half-hour instead of two hours. 

"I always felt that that quartermaster and that chief engineer had enough foresight and knew how to get things going when things got tough," he said. 

As a result of the action that day, two sailors from the Nevada were awarded Medals of Honor. 

A sailor in uniform poses for a photo.
Navy Chief
Medal of Honor recipient Navy Chief Edwin J. Hill.
Credit: Navy
VIRIN: 400710-O-D0439-001

During the height of the strafing and bombing, Navy Chief Edwin J. Hill "led his men of the line-handling details of the USS Nevada to the quays, cast off the lines and swam back to his ship. Later, while on the forecastle, attempting to let go of the anchors, he was blown overboard and killed by the explosion of several bombs," his citation said. 

Despite being knocked unconscious twice from smoke, steam and heat, Navy Lt. Donald K. Ross remained at his post in the dynamo room, where he managed to keep the Nevada steaming away from battleship row, according to his citation. The dynamo room is where the ship's electricity is generated for the propulsion and other systems. 

A sailor in uniform poses for a photo.
Honor Recipient
Medal of Honor recipient Navy Lt. Donald K. Ross in 1944.
Credit: Navy
VIRIN: 440710-O-D0439-001

Of the Nevada's crew of about 1,500, 76 sailors and Marines were killed during the attack or resulting from wounds suffered. Most were recovered and identified in the 1940s, but nine are still unaccounted for. 

The Nevada was salvaged, enabling it to return to combat during World War II. 

After participating in the battle of Attu, Alaska, in May 1943, the battleship was transferred to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in mid-1943. It participated in the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings in Normandy, France, and in the August and September landings in southern France of that year. 

The Nevada then returned to the Pacific, participating in the 1945 invasions of the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.  

A battleship at sea fires guns as fire and smoke spew from them.
D-Day Shots
The battleship USS Nevada fires on German positions during the D-Day landing on Utah Beach, Normandy, France, June 6, 1944.
Credit: Navy
VIRIN: 440606-O-D0439-001

The ship's name lives on in the Ohio-class, ballistic missile submarine USS Nevada, commissioned in 1986 and still in service. 

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