The U.S.S. Utah and her sister-ship Florida were among the first generation of American battleships. Constructed before World War I, Utah had the standard 12" battleship guns that were soon supplanted by much bigger guns on much larger ships. After commissioning in 1911, Utah conducted the usual cruises and gunnery training as part of the Atlantic Fleet. From February to April 1914, Utah operated off the coast of Mexico during the Mexican Revolution; her Marine and navy landing parties taking part in the occupation of Vera Cruz. Returning to New York following this action, Utah spent the next three years in fleet cruises, battle exercises and maneuvers. During World War I, Utah served as training ship until 1918, when she became flagship of Battleship Division 6, operating with the battleships of the British Grand Fleet until war’s end.
Utah was one of the escorts for President Woodrow Wilson’s trip to the Paris Peace Conference in 1918 aboard transport George Washington. Peacetime service followed in a variety of roles until 1926, when Utah entered the yard for modernization. New tripod masts were installed and Utah’s boilers were modified to burn oil instead of coal. Utah returned to service on November 21, 1928. Oil-fired boilers greatly improved Utah’s utility to the fleet, but she was still outclassed by her more modern sisters.
In 1930, under the terms of the London Naval Treaty, Utah was removed from the active list of battleships and was converted to serve as a mobile target ship at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Conversion to a target ship involved removing all Utah’s 12" guns, although the turrets remained aboard. Re-designated from BB-31 to AG-16, Utah was no longer a battleship. Utah’s operations as a target began in 1932. By 1935 Utah was attached to the Pacific Fleet and her role as a target ship was expanded to include serving as an anti-aircraft gunnery training ship. Various types of gun mounts from 5" to .50 cal. machine guns were installed on the ship during May - August 1941.
On December 7th, 1941, Utah was moored on the west side of Ford Island, opposite Battleship Row. She took two torpedoes within five minutes of the opening of the attack and quickly capsized to port. Fifty-eight men died, including Chief Watertender Peter Tomich, who remained below in the engineering spaces to ensure that all his men were evacuated. Chief Tomich received the Medal of Honor, one of sixteen awarded for combat action at Pearl Harbor. Most of Utah’s casualties remain aboard the ship.
The capsized Utah partially blocked the west channel, so large winches mounted on Ford island dragged her stern closer to shore, but she was never salvaged. Utah remains visible at Pearl Harbor . A small but elegant pier, flagpole and Roll of Honor on the west side of Ford Island memorializes the ship and her men. (DBoyer 2007)
