![]() ![]() By now Arkansas was very old, but rather than scuttle her the USN decided to expend her as an atomic bomb test ship during Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in July of 1946. Her last duty as an active warship was to ferry troops back home after the war was over as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Among the many actions in which she took part during World War II was the invasion of Normandy in June of 1944 and the subsequent invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945. Because of her age and slow speed when compared to more modern battleships she served mainly as a convoy escort and shore bombardment vessel. She had already been reassigned as a Naval Reserve training ship and was scheduled to be decommissioned when World War II broke out, which gave her another lease on life. ![]() She performed a variety of duties after the war ranging from fleet flagship to midshipman training vessel. ![]() Arkansas was commissioned into service just in time for World War I and was part of the American fleet sent over to help the British once the United States entered the war, although she saw no action. Only Germany's two operational pre-dreadnoughts Schleswig-Holstein and Schliesen were older, but they did not serve as battleships during World War II due to their extreme age and obsolescence. She was the second battleship in the Wyoming class and entered service with the United States Navy (USN) on 17 September 1912, making her even older than the three aged Russian Ganguts (*). USS Arkansas (BB-33) was the oldest battleship to serve AS a battleship during World War II. ![]()
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