U.S.S. UTAH

BB-31 USS UTAH

The Navy, upon her commission, in August 1911 brought USS Utah into service. During the first few years of her service, the ship patrolled the Atlantic with a trip to the Mediterranean in 1913. She remained part of the Atlantic Fleet during the First World War with noted service off the coast of Ireland in 1918. After the war, USS Utah served in various locations including along the Eastern Seaboard, Caribbean, South America, and Europe. After a modernization project in 1925, she became part of the Scouting Fleet in the Atlantic.

As USS Utah aged, the Navy decided to make her a radio-controlled target ship in 1931. With the new designation of AG-16, the ship began her final mission as a training ship. She also helped train anti-aircraft gunnery personnel in later years. By 1941, she had joined the Pacific Fleet near Hawaii carrying on her training duties. On December 7, 1941, USS Utah became part of the Pacific Fleet hit so hard at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese hit her with aerial torpedoes. The damage sustained was too much and she sank. Some years later, the Navy had her hull brought up and moved towards Ford Island. That is her final resting place.