September 17, 1912

The USS Arkansas (BB-33) was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Measuring 562 feet by 93 feet, the Arkansas was designed for a crew of 1,594. It was armed with twelve twelve-inch guns with a 16,000-yard range. The top speed was twenty-one knots. In December 1912, the USS Arkansas transported President Howard Taft to the Panama Canal Zone and then departed for crew training, later joining the U.S. Atlantic fleet. In April 1914, the Arkansas was ordered to Veracruz, Mexico, by President Woodrow Wilson. The Arkansas put ashore 330 men in four companies who participated in street-to-street fighting following the ascension to power of the Mexican dictator Victoriano Huerta.