Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 7, 2016
,_USS_Cassin_(DD-372)_and_USS_Pennsylvania_(BB-38)_in_Dry_Dock_No._1_at_the_Pearl_Harbor_Naval_Shipyard,_7_December_1941_(306533).jpg)
The Pennsylvania class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships, Pennsylvania and Arizona, named after American states. They were the newest American capital ships when the United States entered the First World War, but saw limited use at the time. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, both ships were present. Arizona suffered a massive magazine explosion and sank with the loss of 1,177 officers and crewmen; the remains now lie beneath a memorial site that attracts more than two million visitors annually. Pennsylvania, in dry dock at the time, received only minor damage; it spent most of the war as a shore bombardment ship before participating in the October 1944 Battle of Surigao Strait, the last battle ever between battleships. Pennsylvania was severely damaged by a torpedo on 12 August 1945, the day before the cessation of hostilities. With minimal repairs, it was used in Operation Crossroads, part of the Bikini atomic experiments, before being expended as a target ship in 1948. (Full article...)