USS NEVADA BATTLESHIP CASUALTIES

BB-36

Pearl Harbor Attack

The USS Nevada BB-36 was commissioned on March 11, 1916. She was the first of two Nevada-class battleships, her sister ship being the USS Oklahoma. She served in WWI, being among the ships selected to assist the Royal Navy as part of the sixth battle squadron. In August of 1927, she underwent modernization work, including new engines and revised turrets, allowing for greater gun elevation. On December 7, 1941, the USS Nevada was moored at battleship row just behind the USS Arizona battleship. As chance would have it, one of Nevada’s boilers was lit when the Japanese attack began. She was hit by a torpedo that caused flooding. She was able to get underway and was heading for the harbor entrance. This made her a prime target for Japanese bombers hoping to sink her in the channel, effectively blocking the harbor. Several bomb hits caused the fire aboard her and could have led to the loss of the ship by magazine detonation if her magazines had not been empty. Her ammunition had been unloaded as her shells were being replaced with improved shells, and the crew had not yet loaded the new shells and powder. When it became evident that the USS Nevada was beginning to sink, she was ordered to shallower water. With the assistance of a tug and a minesweeper, she was grounded off Hospital Point. She was refloated and sent to Puget Sound for repair and refit. Her modernization was completed in October of 1942. The USS Nevada provided naval gunfire support for the landings in the Aleutian Islands Campaign, D-Day landings in Normandy, Operation Dragoon, the landings in Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. She was decommissioned on August 29, 1946. She was spent as a target in Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. Below is a list of the personnel killed on December 7, 1941. Please view the list to learn the names of those who lost their lives on that day.

The U.S. Navy battleship USS Nevada (BB-36) afire off the Ford Island seaplane base, with her bow pointed up-channel during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The destroyer USS Shaw (DD-373) is burning in the floating dry dock YFD-2 in the left background. The photo was taken from Ford Island, with a dredging line at left., U.S. Navy (photo 80-G-32457), National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 295999., PD-USGov

USS Nevada (BB-36) underway off of the U.S. Atlantic coast on 17 September 1944. Photographed from a blimp of squadron ZP-12. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives., Unknown Author, Photo #: 80-G-282709, PD-USGov

S. No. Name, Rank S. No. Name, Rank
1 Arnold L. Anderson, Sea1c 26 James R. Bingham, Sea2c
2 Lyle L. Briggs, EM2c 27 Joseph W. Cook, GM3c
3 Leo P. Cotner, Sea2c 28 Lonnie W. Dukes, Sea1c
4 Harry L. Edwards, Sea1c 29 Kay I. Fugate, Sea1c
5 Thomas R. Giles, EM3c 30 Arthur K. Gullachson, Sea2c
6 Charles W. Harker, FC3c 31 Edwin J. Hill, Chf Bosn
7 Zoilo Aquino, MAtt1c 32 Herman Bledsoe, MAtt2c
8 Harold J. Christopher, Ens 33 Leon J. Corbin, GM1c
9 Frederick C. Davis, Ens (VO-1) 34 Edward W. Echols, Cox
10 George L. Faddis, GM3c 35 Samuel M. Gantner, BM2c
11 Herman A. Goetsch, Sea1c 36 Johnie W. Hallmark, Sea1c
12 Gerald L. Heim, Sea2c 37 Edgar E. Hubner, Sea1c
S. No. Name, Rank S. No. Name, Rank
13 Robert C. Irish, Sea2c 38 Flavous B. M. Johnson, GM3c
14 Kenneth T. Lamons, BM2c 39 Wilbur T. Lipe, Sea2c
15 John K. Luntta, Sea1c 40 Andres F. Mafnas, MAtt1c
16 Dale L. Martin, SC1c 41 Frazier Mayfield, MAtt1c
17 Lester F. McGhee, Sea1c 42 Edward L. McGuckin, Sea1c
18 William F. Neuendorf, Jr., Sea1c 43 Alwyn B. Norvelle, CSK (AA)
19 Elmer M. Patterson, OC2c 44 Eugene E. Peck, Sea2c
20 Mark C. Robison, MAtt1c 45 Emil O. Ronning, Cox
21 Harvey G. Rushford, Sea2c 46 Herbert C. Schwarting, Sea1c
22 Donald R. Shaum, Sea1c 47 Adolfo Solar, BM1c
23 Herman A. Spear, Sea1c 48 Delbert J. Spencer, Sea1c
24 George J. Stembrosky, Sea1c 49 Charles E. Strickland, Sea1c
25 Lee V. Thunhorst, Sea2c 50 Ivan I. Walton, Cox