Not many Navy ships were older than the USS Utah the morning of 7 December 1941. Commissioned in 1911, she served for 19 years as BB-31. Following the London Naval Conference of 1930, her armament was removed, and in July 1931 she was redesignated AG-16, destined to serve out her final years as a target ship.
For the next four years, she served primarily as a mobile, radio-controlled, target for aerial bombing and surface gunnery by the Pacific Fleet. In June 1935, Commander Training Squadron One ordered a Fleet Machine Gun School to be established on board the Utah.
Of primary importance during the first years or the gunnery school was the development of the .50-caliber antiaircraft machine gun and its accompanying fire control system as a formidable weapon system. Similar developments were made later with the 1.1-inch antiaircraft gun, and by the summer of 1941, ten new 5-inch/38 caliber guns were installed.
In addition to the practical aspects of providing training with antiaircraft weapons, the ex-battle- wagon contributed significantly to the state of the art in ship maneuvering tactics while under aerial attacks. Such tactics were used widely by Pacific Fleet surface ships during the early months of World War II. Her evasive steering tactics were so effective that the training gained by aircraft squadrons in the Pacific was considered a major factor in the development of aerial attack tactics used later in the Battles of Coral Sea and Midway.
About the same time, the Utah began participating in exercises with Marine Corps units which were putting into practice the Tentative Manual for Landing Operations published in 1934. Throughout the next few years, she participated regularly with the Corps in various amphibious exercises, thus contributing to the development of tactics employed during World War II.
On Thursday afternoon, 4 December 1941, the Utah steamed into Pearl Harbor after several weeks’ target ship duty. Spread across her decks were a number of large timbers designed to absorb the impact of the 100-pound water bombs used in practice. Over the 5-inch gun mounts, heavy steel sheds known as "dog houses” were secured for additional protection.
On arrival, the Utah was assigned to berth Fox-11, located on the northwest side of Ford Island. The berth was normally occupied by an aircraft carrier, but none was scheduled to be in port over the weekend. The crew spent all day Friday and most of Saturday unfastening the timbers to facilitate a fast offload at the shipyard, where the ship was to move on Monday.
Shortly after 0800 the morning of 7 December, two torpedoes slammed into the port side of the Utah, blowing massive holes through the fuel tanks and sending torrents of seawater and fuel cascading into the open compartments and passageways. From above, Lieutenant Hirata Matsumura, a Japanese squadron leader, watched with disgust as several torpedo bombers converged on the Utah, vaguely resembling a carrier with the timbers spread on her decks. He had warned his men to leave the target ship alone and save their torpedoes for more important targets.
The port list rapidly increased to 15° as water continued to pour into the ship. Realizing that the Utah was going to capsize, Lieutenant Commander Solomon S. Isquith, the executive officer, made the decision in the absence of the captain to abandon ship. At 0803, the word was passed, "All hands on deck and all engine room and fireroom, radio and dynamo watch to lay up on deck and release all prisoners.”
Amidst the pandemonium topside, Chief Water- tender Peter Tomich brushed by his shipmates and headed below to get his men out and secure the boilers. His efforts succeeded and prevented a boiler explosion. His act of heroism resulted in the posthumous award of a Congressional Medal of Honor.
After the order to abandon ship had been passed, crew members still on the messdecks scrambled up the wide ladders leading to the main deck where strafing Japanese aircraft made any further progress extremely difficult. Once at the rail, most crewmen climbed over the side and slid down the bulging armor into the harbor. Others went hand over hand down the stretching hawsers to the concrete mooring quays.
By 0805, the list had increased to 40° and the unfastened timbers lying loose on the deck were becoming extremely hazardous. As the list grew steeper, they began to slide and tumble, seriously injuring several crew members and trapping still more behind jammed watertight doors. Electric voltage dwindled rapidly, and as the ship continued to roll, the lights flickered and went out.
At 0810, the ship was listing 80° to port when Lieutenant Commander Isquith arrived in the captain’s cabin with two men who had accompanied him on a last tour of the ship. Finding the door leading to the forecastle jammed by timbers, the trio made its way to the captain’s bedroom where a porthole was open almost directly overhead. One by one, they crawled out. As Isquith made the final escape, the bed broke loose from under his feet and crashed into the bulkhead below. They then joined the Utah’s remaining survivors and made their way to Ford Island where they took cover in an open ditch near the Ford Island bachelor officers’ quarters. By 0812, the old ship was bottom up.
Deep inside the ship, Fireman Second Class Vaessen felt his way through the darkness. Finding his flashlight and wrench, he climbed up into a compartment in the bottom of the ship and began pounding with his wrench. A hole was cut through the hull, freeing the last man to leave the Utah alive.
The Utah remained in her inverted position until 1943 when efforts were begun to salvage the ship- By 13 March 1944, she had been pulled back to an angle of 37° to port and all salvageable machinery, gun mounts, and ordnance removed. Hopes of raising the Utah much the same as had been done with the Oklahoma (BB-37) gradually faded during the salvage operations as the Utah’s lack of seaworthiness became more apparent.
In 1956, the Commandant of the 14th Naval District again raised the issue in hopes of clearing Fox-11 for berthing Essex-class carriers. However, by then all of the equipment used in 1944 had either been sold or scrapped and a new salvage operation was estimated at approximately $4 million. Aside from the cost factor, the Chief of Naval Operations ruled against the matter in view of the fact that the ship was the final resting place for 54 men still entombed in her hull.
In 1970, Congress authorized construction of a memorial over the Utah, and today visitors to the northwest shore of Ford Island can view one of the two remaining hulks that remind us of the tragedy of Pearl Harbor.