The Oklahoma at Long Beach
During the Great Depression, the ship anchored at Long Beach, California, which was home port, for months at a time. While docked at Long Beach in 1933, the earthquake struck. The ship shuddered and shook back and forth as if a turret had exploded.
Everyone came streaming from below decks to see what happened.
The saw dust rising from the city of Long Beach as the earthquake took its toll. Martial law was declared and the crew was sent ashore to prevent looting and help restore order. The Oklahoma rejoined the Pacific Fleet as soon as the civil authorities were able to control the situation.
The Midshipman's Cruise of 1936 was to be routine. The Marines aboard the OKEY were sent ashore to make room for the cadets from the Naval Academy and the fleet sailed to Europe. The cruise is an annual event and allows the cadets to gain "hands on" experience aboard a ship. Word was received in Sweden to remove the cadets and proceed immediately to Spain to rescue Americans who had been caught in the Spanish Civil War.
The cadets were placed the USS Arkansas and USS Wyoming and the OKEY proceeded to Spain.
She made stops at Bilbao, Cadiz, Malaga, and Barcelona on the coast of Spain picking up American citizens.
Because of rough seas a canvas bag was devised and attached to the airplane crane. The people were hauled aboard in the canvas bag from the boats.
The OKEY made two trips along the coast of Spain picking up US citizens, and the refugees were taken to France.
American refugees on the deck of the Oklahoma
During the rescue of the Americans the OKEY scored a "first" for a battleship. One of the women gave birth to a baby on the Oklahoma while being taken to France.
Young refugees
The ship returned to home port in Long Beach, and into dry dock on a regular schedule to repair and repaint the bottom of the ship.
Dry dock on the west coast was located in Bremerton, Washington.
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