USS Maryland

The USS Maryland (BB-46) was one of three Colorado-class battleships. She was commissioned on July 21, 1921. The USS Maryland was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. She was moored next to Ford Island inboard of the USS Oklahoma, about 1.5 miles from where USS Arizona Memorial Monument is located today and just about the same distance from the present Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. She managed to destroy two Japanese aircraft that had torpedoed the Battleship Oklahoma. After the USS Oklahoma capsized, some survivors climbed aboard the USS Maryland to assist with manning the anti-aircraft guns. She received two hits by armor-piercing bombs, which caused heavy damage and killed two officers and two enlisted men. Immediately after the Japanese attack, damage control parties rushed over to the USS Oklahoma to assist in the attempts to rescue the crew trapped inside the overturned battleship. 

As the USS Maryland’s damage was not as serious as other ships, she was one of the first to make it to the U.S. West Coast for repairs and refit. Her modernization was completed on February 24, 1942. She participated in many of the major amphibious operations of the Pacific War, providing gunfire support for landing troops. She was one of the last battleships to ever fire guns at another battleship when she participated in the battle of Surigao Strait. Under the command of Admiral Jesse Oldendorf, she and five other battleships took part in the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamashiro. In the latter half of the Philippines campaign, as well as during the battle of Okinawa, she was hit by Kamikaze attacks. She was on her way back after repairs from the last attack when news arrived that the war was over. She took part in Operation Magic Carpet bringing troops home from the war. She was decommissioned on April 3, 1947.