From Bridge to Battleship: USS Arizona’s Maiden Voyage Under the Brooklyn Bridge, 1916

It is a moment preserved in grainy photographs and sepia-toned memories: the mighty hull of USS Arizona gliding gracefully beneath the arches of New York’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge—a newborn leviathan leaving her birthplace to face the sea. On that day in 1916, the United States Navy’s newest dreadnought symbolized not only the growing muscle of a nation poised to claim its place on the world stage, but also the optimism, promise, and power of a new century.

Today, USS Arizona is seared into the American memory as the tragic centerpiece of Pearl Harbor. Yet, before infamy, there was inception: a story of hard work, innovation, and a nation’s pride sailing resolutely into the unknown.

Forged in an Era of Change

In the early years of the 20th century, global powers competed to build bigger, faster, and more heavily armed naval vessels. The United States, with new ambitions across the Pacific and Atlantic, invested in a fleet of formidable warships. Among these, hull number BB-39, the second and last of the Pennsylvania-class super-dreadnoughts, stood as a technological marvel.

Laid down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1914—before the First World War had even drawn America in—Arizona was designed to carry twelve 14-inch guns, thick armor, and the promise of a nation on the rise. For two years, welders, shipwrights, and engineers labored around the clock, bending steel and crafting the ship destined to become legend.

A Ship Is Born

Commissioned on October 17, 1916, USS Arizona was not merely a weapon of war but a floating city, crewed by more than a thousand sailors. She stood 608 feet long—nearly the same length as the Brooklyn Bridge’s central span. Her turbines could propel her up to 21 knots, and her imposing batteries gave the ship a silhouette both intimidating and elegant.

Her commissioning drew dignitaries and dockworkers alike. The air that morning at the Navy Yard brimmed with excitement as “Old Glory” snapped in the autumn breeze, and the ship’s whistle sounded for the first time. It was not just the launch of a vessel, but of hope: the faith that American engineering and perseverance would carry the world through uncharted waters.

Beneath the Span: A Symbolic Passage

Shortly after commissioning, Arizona set out on her “shakedown” voyage—a testing journey for ship and crew alike. The most symbolic moment came as she passed beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, leaving the East River for the open sea. Hundreds stopped to watch, clustering on deck, pier, and promenade to gaze at the colossal battleship sliding silently beside the bridge’s stone towers and steel cables.

For many New Yorkers, this vision must have been electrifying. The Brooklyn Bridge—a marvel of its own day—framed by the Navy’s latest technological masterpiece. The old and the new, the fixed and the floating, bound together for a fleeting moment.

Children waved, the ship’s crew waved back. Some say the Arizona’s whistle echoed across Manhattan—an announcement, a benediction, a challenge. As the ship threaded the narrows, the city receded behind her, and the boundless Atlantic beckoned ahead.

Into Uncertain Seas

Arizona’s first voyage would not take her to the frontlines of World War I; by the time she was ready for action, the war was ending. But her presence at sea, off the Atlantic coast and then later in the Pacific, represented American might—deterrence in steel and steam.

She soon joined the Atlantic Fleet for training and exercises, preparing for threats both known and unforeseen. In between, she made public appearances—an emblem of modern naval architecture, inviting civilians onboard during Fleet Reviews, and even serving as the backdrop for silent film shoots.

In a peacetime Navy, the Arizona was a floating ambassador, showing Americans and the world that the United States intended to remain a dominant maritime power.

An Omen and A Legacy

Looking back on photographs of the Arizona beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, one might be struck by the ironic innocence of the moment. The sailors then could not know what fate awaited their vessel a quarter-century later amid the chaos and flames of December 7, 1941.

Yet in 1916, even as war raged elsewhere, hope glimmered beneath the bridge’s arches. It was an age when progress seemed unstoppable and the limits of possibility ever expanding. The world was changing, and with her first passage to sea, the USS Arizona became a part of that new world: modern, massive, awe-inspiring.

Remembering the First Voyage

We remember USS Arizona for her loss—her tragic end marking the dawn of America’s entry into World War II. Yet, to truly honor her, we should also remember those early days: the ingenuity that birthed her, the labor that built her, and the pride with which she sailed under the Brooklyn Bridge for the very first time.

In those moments, she was hope, ambition, potential incarnate. She was the future—gleaming in the waters of New York Harbor.

So, the next time you stand beneath the arches of the Brooklyn Bridge, let your imagination drift back to 1916. See the Arizona—freshly painted, flags flying, whistles blowing—slipping gracefully out to sea. And remember that every legend begins with a voyage, every monument with a morning, and every story with a humble passage beneath the bridge.