USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was an American battleship laid down in 1913, launched in March 1915, and commissioned in the US Navy in June 1916. The ship was 185 m long, 32.4 m wide, and had a full displacement of 36,500 tons. The top speed of the USS Pennsylvania battleship was up to 21 knots. The main armament was 12 356 mm guns in four turrets of three each, and the secondary armament was mainly 22 127 mm guns.
USS Pennsylvania was the first of two battleships of the same type. Pennsylvania type units belonged to the so-called standard battleships, i.e. ships with similar combat values, dimensions and capabilities, although divided into different classes, which entered service with the US Navy in the period 1916-1923. The Pennsylvania-class battleships were, in fact, a slightly enlarged Nevada-class warship. The main differences were the installation of more powerful main weapons (12 356 mm cannons instead of 10 cannons of the same caliber) and auxiliary weapons, as well as armor reinforcement and the enlargement of the size of the battleships. USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) took a very limited part in World War I. In the interwar period, the battleship underwent a major reconstruction in 1929-1931. As a result, first of all, the secondary armament was reduced to 12 127 mm guns, and the anti-aircraft armament was strengthened. At the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, the USS Pennsylvania was in the base at Pearl Harbor, where it was slightly damaged in a Japanese attack. She returned to the line in early 1942. A year later - in May and August - she assisted the American operations in the Aleutians. In 1944, USS Pennsylvania was intensively involved in American amphibious operations in the South Pacific, as well as participating in the initial phase of the Battle of Leyte Bay. The ships were decommissioned in 1946 and sunk two years later as a target ship as part of a nuclear test.