The Arizona was built prior to the US entry into WWI and was pretty much the queen of the fleet for a while. She spent her war time career pretty much training gun crews as she was oil fired and it was felt that she might not be able to find sufficient fuel in Europe as the majority of ships of the time were coal fired.

Despite an initial cruise to Guantanamo Bay which showed that one of her turbines was defective and required the deck to be cut open to remove it for repairs, her career was generally quiet without any major issues. She was part of the fleet that escorted Woodrow Wilson to sign the Versailles Treaty, and was based on and off on both the east and west coasts of the US. Her final posting was when the Pacific Fleet moved from San Diego to Pearl Harbor. As most of you know, Pearl Harbor was and is her final resting place after being sunk during the Japanese attack in December 1941.

A goodly part of the historical section goes into detail about what happened to the Arizona during Pearl Harbor. Apparently, what did her in was an 800 kg bomb that was specifically designed to be used against battleships. It was one of two that actually hit the Arizona and dropped by B5N 'Kate' bombers. It penetrated four decks and exploded in a powder magazine with the expected results.

What makes this book truly remarkable is that there is not a single photograph anywhere within its pages. Instead, modern 3D graphic arts provides the reader with well over 100 renders of the ship's exterior in superb detail. It is as if you walked aboard her with a camera and started photographing everything. Even better, there are images from angles that a man with a camera would not be able to easily reproduce. Every aspect of the ship is covered from stem to stern. In addition, there is a double-sided A2 sheet of the plans of the ship in 1/350 scale. This additional sheet is a real boon for modelers and those who just like to pour over plans. But that is not all, there are a good dozen pages in the sort of 3D that requires the use of special glasses and those are included in with the book. 

What makes this book something special to your reviewer is that for his second re-enlistment, he took the oath of reenlistment on the USS Arizona Memorial with his reenlistment flag flying from the ship. It is a cherished memento. It is a great read from a historical standpoint and an outstanding visual treat. A book that every battleship fan should have in their collection.

May 2013

Review book courtesy of the fine folks at Kagero. Visit them for more books.

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