Inter-war period USS Wyoming (BB-32)

wyoming transiting panama canal on 26 july 1919

on 1 february, wyoming steamed out of new york join annual fleet maneuvers off cuba, before returning new york on 14 april. on 12 may, left port guide group of navy curtiss nc flying boats made first aerial transatlantic crossing. battleship in port 31 may. took on crew of midshipmen training cruise off chesapeake bay , virginia capes. after finishing cruise, wyoming entered dry dock @ norfolk navy yard on 1 july modernization service in pacific. secondary battery reduced sixteen 5-inch guns. after emerging shipyard, became flagship of batdiv 6 of newly designated pacific fleet. on 19 july, wyoming , rest of pacific fleet departed east coast, bound pacific. ships transited panama canal later month, , reached san diego, california on 6 august.

on 9 august, wyoming moved san pedro, based next month. went puget sound navy yard overhaul lasted until 19 april 1920. on 4 may, in san pedro , resumed normal routine of fleet maneuvers off california coast. on 30 august, wyoming left california hawaii, participated in more training exercises through september. returned san diego on 8 october more maneuvers off west coast. ship left san francisco on 5 january 1921 cruise central , south american waters; trip culminated in valparaíso, chile, reviewed president of chile arturo alessandri palma on 8 february. wyoming returned north, arriving in puget sound repairs on 18 march.

on 2 august, wyoming in balboa in canal zone, picked rear admiral rodman , commission traveling peru new york. arrived in new york on 19 august , rejoined atlantic fleet. there, became flagship of admiral hilary p. jones, commander of atlantic fleet. wyoming spent next 3 , half years on normal routine of winter fleet exercises off cuba, followed summer maneuvers off east coast of us. throughout period, served flagship of vice admirals john mcdonald, newton mccully, , josiah mckean in scouting fleet. in summer of 1924, conducted midshipman training cruise europe, , stopped in torbay, great britain, rotterdam in netherlands, gibraltar, , azores. in january , february 1924, navy conducted fleet problem ii, iii, , iv concurrently. during fp iii maneuvers, wyoming, sister arkansas, , 2 florida-class battleships stood in new colorado-class battleships. during fp iv portion of maneuvers, wyoming served in blue force, represented navy. attacked black aircraft, umpires judged wyoming s anti-aircraft fire , escort fighters provided langley have defended fleet.

on 14 february 1925, wyoming again passed through panama canal return pacific. there, joined fleet exercises off california. proceeded hawaii, remained late april june. visited san diego on 18–22 june, , returned east coast via panama canal, arriving in new york on 17 july. cruise cuba , haiti followed, after wyoming returned new york navy yard overhaul lasted 23 november 26 january 1926. during period, then-commander william f. halsey, jr. came aboard ship s executive officer; served on wyoming until 4 january 1927.

wyoming underway in march 1930

wyoming returned routine of winter maneuvers in caribbean , training cruises in summer. in late august, ship went philadelphia extensive modernization. old coal-fired boilers replaced new oil-fired models , anti-torpedo bulges added improve resistance underwater damage. work completed 2 november, after wyoming conducted shakedown cruise cuba , virgin islands. in philadelphia on 7 december, , 2 days later, returned post flagship of scouting fleet, flying flag of vice admiral ashley robertson.

wyoming spent next 3 years in scouting fleet. conducted training cruises naval reserve officer training corps (nrotc) cadets various universities, including yale, harvard, georgia tech, , northwestern. these cruises went throughout atlantic, including gulf of mexico, azores, , nova scotia. while on 1 of these cruises in november 1928, wyoming picked 8 survivors wrecked steamship ss vestris; took them norfolk on 16 november. on 19 september 1930, wyoming transferred scouting force batdiv 2, became flagship of rear admiral wat t. cluverius. served here until 4 november, when withdrawn front-line service , became flagship of training squadron, flying flag of rear admiral harley h. christy. thereafter, conducted training cruise gulf of mexico.

after returning philadelphia on 1 january 1931, wyoming placed on reduced commission. under terms of london naval treaty signed previous year, wyoming demilitarized. during demilitarization process, anti-torpedo bulges, side armor, , half of main battery guns removed. in service may, , on 29th, took on crew of midshipmen annapolis training cruise europe, began on 5 june. while en route on 15 june, wyoming rescued disabled submarine o-12 , took under tow queenstown, northern ireland. while in europe, stopped in copenhagen, denmark, greenock, scotland, cadiz, spain, , gibraltar. ship in hampton roads on 13 august; while on cruise, wyoming reclassified ag-17 , reflect new role training ship.

wyoming in 1935, after conversion training ship

wyoming spent next 4 years conducting training cruises midshipmen , nrotc cadets various destinations, including european ports, caribbean, , gulf of mexico. on 18 january 1935, carried 2nd battalion, 4th marine regiment, norfolk puerto rico amphibious assault exercises. on 5 january 1937, ship left norfolk , steamed pacific via panama canal. took part in more amphibious assault exercises , gunnery drills @ san clemente island. on 18 february, during exercises, 5-inch shrapnel shell exploded being loaded 1 of guns. blast killed 6 marines , wounded eleven. wyoming steamed san pedro , transferred wounded marines hospital ship relief.

on 3 march, wyoming left los angeles, bound atlantic. reached norfolk on 23 march, served temporary flagship rear admiral wilson brown, commander of training squadron, 15 april 3 june. on 4 june, left port conduct goodwill cruise kiel, germany, arriving on 21 june. there, visited admiral graf spee. left germany on 29 june, stopping in torbay, britain, , funchal, madeira, , arrived in norfolk on 3 august. wyoming resumed training ship duties naval , merchant marine reserve units. returned norfolk navy yard overhaul lasted 16 october 14 january 1938.

wyoming performed typical routine of training cruises in atlantic through 1941. cruises included european trip in 1938; took midshipmen le havre, france, copenhagen, , portsmouth. after outbreak of world war ii in europe in september 1939, wyoming assigned naval reserve force in atlantic, alongside battleships new york, arkansas, , texas , aircraft carrier ranger. wyoming became flagship of rear admiral randall jacobs, commander of training, patrol force on 2 january 1941. in november, wyoming became gunnery training ship. first cruise in new role began on 25 november; cruising off platt s bank when received word of japanese attack on pearl harbor on 7 december.