Centennial marked for World War I era battleship named after Silver State

Her final resting place may lie somewhere at the bottom of the South Pacific Ocean, but the U.S.S. Nevada BB-36 will always have a memorial home here in Nevada's capital.

Two years ago, her memory was honored at the State Capitol with a plaque that commemorated the centennial of her initial launching.

Today, The Nevada was honored again on the State Capitol grounds with a second plaque commemorating the 100th anniversary of her completion and U.S. Navy commissioning.

Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell, a U.S. Navy veteran and former captain, served as master of ceremony.

"Welcome back to Nevada, Charles," Crowell said, gesturing to World War II veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Charles Sehe, who served aboard the U.S.S. Nevada BB-36 during the Pearl Harbor attacks and through the duration of World War II.

Today marked a return trip to Carson City for the 92-year-old Sehe, who was honored two years ago in a centennial ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the U.S.S. Nevada's launching.

At that time, Sehe had also donated historic documents and artifacts related to his service aboard the U.S.S. Nevada BB-36 to the Nevada State Museum.

Also attending was Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, who signed an executive proclamation marking the centennial as part of his address.

"Today we come together as a Nevada family to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the U.S.S. Nevada," Sandoval said. "She is a symbol and embodiment of our state's devotion to all for our country."

The governor called The Nevada's completion a turning in American history and a coming of age for the United States military, making note of technological advancements introduced with the U.S.S. Nevada BB-36 and her sister ship, the U.S.S. Oklahoma, which was sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

"She was a symbol of our country's strength," Sandoval said.

When the governor finished signing the proclamation, he introduced Sehe, a Minnesota resident and retired college professor emeritus, who was visibly emotional at the conclusion of Gov. Sandoval's speech and the standing ovation he received from a crowd of grateful attendees upon his introduction.

"How do you say thank you to so many people," Sehe said. "I was proud to serve on your ship, a ship you've never seen but have such love for and devotion to."

Sehe accepted a silver governor's coin, minted locally in Carson City, from Sandoval as a token of appreciation for his service to his country and on board the U.S.S. Nevada.

"The Nevada was like a mother to me," Sehe said. "She fed me, she clothed me, and she sheltered me."

With his head lowered and walking slowly back to his seat, Sehe lamented, "They should have saved her."

He was referring to The Nevada's demise. The ship was sunk in a naval exercise on July 31, 1948 somewhere off the coast of Hawaii in the South Pacific Ocean.

An 18-year-old second-class seaman at the time the United States entered World War II, Sehe was one of 1,500 crewmen aboard The Nevada on Dec. 7, 1941, and he avoided being among the ship's 50 casualties sustained during the aerial bomb assault carried out by Imperial Japan.

The U.S.S. Nevada BB-36 was launched on July 11, 1914 from Massachusetts. It was sponsored by 10-year-old Eleanor Anne Seibert, niece of then-Gov. Tasker Oddie of Nevada.

The Nevada was about 70 percent complete when she was launched and her Navy trials began. Those were completed in late 1915, and the Nevada received her commission on March 11, 1916 at Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts.

The U.S.S. Nevada BB-36 was designated the Navy's first "super-dreadnought," using state-of-the-art dreadnought technology, such as "all or nothing" armor plating, triple gun turrets on her deck, geared steam turbines, and oil fuel instead of coal. Her cruising range was greatly enhanced by the conversion to oil fuel.

The Nevada served in both world wars. During World War I, she was based in Ireland and served primarily as a transport vessel and escort ship.

She carries with her the meritorious distinction as the only battleship in the Pacific Fleet to have gotten underway during the Dec. 7, 1941 aerial assault by Japanese forces.

Although anchored very close to the U.S.S. Arizona at the time of the attack, The Nevada was the only battleship moored by itself along Battleship Row at Ford Island.

This allowed her to get underway and maneuver away from Battleship Row during the assault, but not before she had been struck by several bombs and showered with hot debris from the Arizona when her forward magazine took a direct and fatal hit.

The Nevada made a valiant attempt to leave the harbor, but torpedo and bomb damage forced her to beach off Hospital Point.

This was not the end for the U.S.S. Nevada BB-36, however.

She was a survivor, like her crewman Sehe and the state whose namesake she bore.

After the attack, Nevada was salvaged and patched with temporary repairs in dry dock for a couple of months until she was seaworthy enough to sail to Puget Sound, Washington, where she underwent a more extensive overhaul to make her battle-worthy again.

Although The Nevada did not serve in the same capacity she once had as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, she was still used as a support vessel in the invasions of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, of Southern France, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, Japan.

At the conclusion of the war, The Nevada was determined to be too old for continued active naval service, and she was reassigned in July 1946 as a target ship at Bikini Atoll during atomic bomb tests there.

Upon sustaining damage and radioactivity from the atomic blasts, she was decommissioned in August 1946 and towed back to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

From there, she was later towed out to sea, about 65 miles from Pearl Harbor and sunk. The exact whereabouts of her remains at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean are unknown.