Free State Battlewagon: U.S.S. Maryland (BB-46) (repost)
Free State Battlewagon: U.S.S. Maryland (BB-46) by Myron J. Smith
English | Apr 1986 | ISBN: 093312676X | 48 Pages | PDF | 59 MB
English | Apr 1986 | ISBN: 093312676X | 48 Pages | PDF | 59 MB
The battleship Maryland (BB-46) was the third, largest, and most famous ship to carry that name—and the last. She was christened in honor of the state of Maryland, whose star, the seventh, came into the Union on April 28,1788, 70 days before the official ratification of the United States Constitution.
Affectionately dubbed "Old Mary" or "Fighting Mary," she also may have been called the "Old Line" or "Free State Battlewagon" in honor of that famous Continental infantry unit enshrined in the state's nickname. She was the pride of America and the world's most powerful dreadnought when commissioned in 1921, and the least damaged of all the battleships at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7,1941. Quickly into the thick of the Pacific war, the ship was under attack 100 times more—with the Japanese reporting her sunk on three different occasions. From beginning to end, the vessel remained a worthy symbol of the people and state whose spirit was put into words by James Ryder Randall and matched to the music of an old German hymn: "Maryland, My Maryland!"
Free State Battlewagon: U.S.S. Maryland (BB-46) (repost)
