USS Pennsylvania was built by Newport News, and laid down on the 27th October 1913, launched 16th march 1915 and commissioned into the u navy on the 12th June 1916, , she was ordered as a flagship and was fitted with a special two-level Control tower. She was flagship to the Atlantic fleet 1916 to 1918. and escorted the liner carrying President Wilson to the Peace conference in France, in December 1918. on the 18th August 1921, she embarked 400 US marines to persuade Panama to accept American mediation in the border dispute with Costa Rica. The USS Pennsylvania received bomb damage at Pearl harbor and spent 3 months under repair, during this time she was used as a training ship. Until October 1942 when she was refitted at mare Island Navy Yard. Where her secondary armament was modernized,. In may 1943 USS Pennsylvania took par tin the Pacific island landing. On the 12th August 1945, at wake Island she was hit by an aerial torpedo and was close to sinking. She was towed back the US, for repairs. After the war she was selected as a target ship for the atomic tests at bikini Atoll, and was slightly damaged in the atomic explosions. she continued in use as a target ship until finally being sunk by conventional aerial bombing on the 10th of February 1948 
Displacement: 31,400 tons normal, and 32,560 tons full load. Compliment: 915, Spped 21 knots, Range 8,000 nautical miles at 10 knots. Armament: Twelve 14 - inch Guns in four turrets. Twenty two 5 - inch guns and Four 3 inch guns two 21-inch Torpedo Tubes submerged.
Information after refit. Displacement: 33,125 tons standard 36,500 tons full load. Compliment: 1,400 speed: 21 knots, Range 19,000 nautical miles at 10 knots, Armament: Twelve 14 - inch guns, Twelve 5 - inch guns (these five inch guns were removed in 1943) and Eight 5 - inch AA guns Right 1,1 inch AA (after 1943, Sixteen 5 - inch, 38 calibre. )
The Navy Earns its Wings by Stan Stokes. Stunt pilot Eugene B. Ely, a former race car driver, worked for the Curtiss Aircraft Company as a demonstration pilot in 1910, only seven years after the Wright Brothers first flight. Ely, a tall, lantern-jawed, individual was excited about the possibility of flying an aircraft off a ship. Glen Curtiss believed that such an attempt wood be fool hearty, and the Secretary of the Navy refused to allocate any funds for such a stunt. Although Ely couldnt swim, the pilot exuded the cocky self-confidence typical of early flyers. Ely persisted in his quest and finally got the Navys first Director of Aviation to allow Ely to utilize the USS Birmingham for one day. On November 14, 1910 an 83-foot ramp was constructed over the ships forecastle. Ely readied his Curtiss pusher biplane for the momentous attempt. As bad weather began to close in the impatient flyer decided that he could not wait for the Birmingham to get underway. Ely, appropriately suited in a football helmet, fired up the engine of his fragile aircraft, strapped himself aboard, and signaled for his plane to be released. The Curtiss pusher rumpled down the short ramp, which was unfortunately downward sloping. The observers gasped as the small airplane dropped over the bow, and skimmed over the waves, and finally made it into the air. A few months later in January of 1911 Ely was determined to make the first landing of an aircraft on a ship. This time the event would take place in San Francisco harbor, and the landing would take place on the USS Pennsylvania. The date was January 18, 1911 and the exact time was 10:00 AM. A platform of about 120 feet in length was build on the stern of the Navy cruiser. A series of ropes connected to sand bags on either end were run across this ramp. Ely took off in his Curtiss pusher from a local Army airfield in San Bruno. He was bundled in heavy clothing, and because he could not swim, Ely had fashioned a bicycle inner tube into a self-made life preserver. The pilot made his way out into the Bay in his fragile craft. Spotting the Pennsylvania surrounded by dozens of spectator ships, Ely lined-up his fragile craft with the stern of the vessel, which was crowded with seamen anxious to see a first. About fifty feet short of the deck, Ely cut his throttle, but a gust of wind ballooned his flying machine. Not losing his cool, Ely held his landing altitude and snagged the 26th rope with his simple landing hook. The Curtiss stopped in about thirty feet. The sailors and onlookers cheered the event, which was declared a milestone in flight by both the ships Captain and later that day by the San Francisco press. After a nice lunch with the Captain, Ely fired up his engine and took off from the Pennsylvania, having become Americas first naval aviator.Aloha Hawaii by Randall Wilson