Trivial Pursuit Question (which means you can't Google!): What year was the USS Arizona built?

Googling not allowed? I’m going to go with my best guess – 5 BCE !!!

(Please don’t hate me, Val. I love you too much for that.)

I have no idea. Anything after Hastings is really outside my area of expertise.

I’ll guess… 1928? right before the Depression?

1940?

Had to be after 1912, since Arizona wasn’t a state yet.

1939?

I’m guessing the Arizona was built sometime before or during WWI due to the shape of the hull, especially the bow. The bow rises almost 90 degrees out of the water unlike the sweeping bow technology of the later decades.

1917. From memory.

If not the Arizona, then another of her class like (I think) the Pennsylvania was from that year.

I think @Call_Me_Jay has it, at the end of WWI .

No, I missed, question still open.

1927

1916?
most of our navy, on entering WWII, were relics of WWI

1532!

128 BC a Thursday around teatime

@zenvelo I like your rationale that we wouldn’t name a ship Arizona until after statehood but, surprisingly, we have had USS Arizonas since 1858. (I had to peek, so I eliminate myself from the game).

I’m guessing 1921. Now I’m going to look it up.

@zenvelo
maybe they renamed it later?
like in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, after the prototype of the Defiant Class was destroyed, they renamed the U.S.S. Sao Paulo to Defiant.

I am going to guess 1914, though I am not entirely sure.

You guys are so awesome! I love the critical thinking skills you show. Especially “It had to be after 1912 because Arizona wasn’t a state until then.” !

The answer is 1915. June 14th to be exact.

I have some vague recollection of the ship being a “refitted” American version of the Jutland era Dreadnaught. So @zenvelo‘s priceless clue makes me guess 1912–16

I once visited the USS Arizona. The related exhibit is tastefully done, and the overall experience is very moving. For anyone who hasn’t been, it’s something I recommend.

My guess is 1915, and I swear to Bogus Being that I didn’t use Google. ;-o

I’d say both 1915 and 1916 are correct.

Launched in 1915, but that’s the hull. There was a lot of work to be done yet.

Commissioned in 1916. Here she is with the Brooklyn Bridge (she was built in Brooklyn).

And as @stanleybmanly remembered, she was modernized in 1929–1930, after which she looked like this.

Her keel was laid in March, 1914. She was launched in June, 1915. The period between the laying of the keel and the launch is traditionally considered the building period by maritime historians. The keel-laying is considered the birth of a ship. The period between the launch and commissioning, or acceptance by the buyer, is considered outfitting and shakedown.

Therefore, when the life of a ship is described on record, as in the case of the USS Arizona, it would read like this:

Laid Down: 16 March, 1914, as Hull No. BB-39, Brooklyn Navy Yard, NY.
Launched: 19 June, 1915, BNY, NY.
Commissioned into Service: USN as USS Arizona, 17 October 1916.
Refitted: 1929 – 1930, Norfolk Navy Yard, Norfolk, VA.
Fate: Sunk under hostile action at Ford Island, HI, 7 December 1941.
Decommissioned: 29 December, 1941.

According to tradition, anyone guessing either 1914 or 1915 would be technically correct as this was the building window.

@Call_Me_Jay What a terrific photograph (Brooklyn Bridge). Thank you so much for posting it.

1914 is what I was going to say if it hadn’t already been pointed out. I think it was the first of it’s class, too.

Yeah, that is a great photo, @Call_Me_Jay. No Empire State Building yet, no Chrysler Building yet. I believe the tallest building in the picture is the Woolworth’s Building. The squat building on the far right with the classical spire is probably the old NYC Municipal Building. Just to the right of the Brooklyn Bridge west tower is the old Singer Building on Broadway.

1930

Launched in 1915, Molley. Look at the posts above yours.

Lunchtime.