THE FIRST U.S. WARSHIP SUNK ON 7 DECEMBER 1941: NEW JERSEY-BUILT BATTLESHIP, USS OKLAHOMA (BB 37)
By Captain Lawrence B. Brennan, U.S. Navy (Retired)
The first and last U.S. warships sunk in the Pacific during World War II were violently destroyed with the massive loss of life; both were built by New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey; both suffered fatal damage from multiple torpedoes; both capsized within 12 minutes. The battleship, USS Oklahoma (BB 37), was sunk at Pearl Harbor on the morning of Sunday, 7 December 1941, with the loss of 429 officers and men; suffering the second greatest number of casualties that morning…
