USS Arizona

Unit Card:

USSArizona.jpg

Set - Rarity - Number

Flank Speed - Rare - 12/40

History:

Laid down on 16 March, 1914 and commissioned on 17 October, 1917, the USS Arizona was the second in the Pennsylvania Class battleships and the first battleship named after the state of Arizona. She saw little service in World War One due to the fact that there was a shortage of oil in the British Isles. As such, the oil-burning USS Arizona was stuck stateside during the war. Shortly after the end of World War One, she took part in guarding American property and lives in Turkey during the brief conflict there. In the interwar years she was updated and modernized, replacing many of her 5"/51 guns with 5"/25 Dual-Purpose guns. She eventually based out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On December 7th, 1941, at approximately 07:55 in the morning, the USS Arizona came under attack by naval air forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy along with the rest of the battleships moored in Battleship Row. At 08:06, a bomb dropped from a B5N2 Kate from the Japanese carrier Hiryu hit between the #1 and #2 turrets. This proved to be the fatal hit on the Arizona, as the resultant explosions and fires gutted the ship as the magazine exploded. The Arizona sank at her mooring and took with her the lives of 1,177 of her crew. She can still be seen at Pearl Harbor, a testament to the bravery of American servicemen and those who lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Reviews:

Commissar JPH
With the introduction of the USS Arizona, the United States gets yet another good battleship at a cheap cost. At only 44 points, you finally get a US battleship with tertiary batteries. What does that mean and why is that better than "Bristling With Guns" that all other US battleships have, you ask? Well, it means that you can always fire off three shots, whereas other US battleships can be limited to just 2 shots if there's only 2 targets. Which means if you don't vital that pesky destroyer with your secondaries, you can use those tertiaries to finish it off! The Arizona is also the only US Battleship with secondaries out to range 3. With decent mains, secondaries that reach out to range 3, tertiaries, Flag 1, and an 8/14/5 armor-vital-hull, and all for 44 points, the only glaring weakness of the Arizona is her fairly weak AA-6. This means that you have to have an AA escort for her, because she is nowhere near the Anti-Air monster that most US ships are. A lot has been made of her special ability, "Inspire to Victory". Most of the noise is made because it isn't very historical, since she never had a chance to fire her guns in anger at another battleship. The ability, however, is a non-issue most games. Much like the Tone's buffing to guns, the Arizona does the same…if she hits an enemy battleship. Unlike the Tone's, the Arizona's buff only lasts one turn. Overall, the Arizona is a great ship for her price. If you can't afford a Massachusetts, Washington, or North Carolina, throw in the Arizona. Heck, throw in two of them since the class limit is two! Just don't expect her to go toe-to-toe with the Yamato or Musashi. But against most any other Axis battleship, she'll serve you faithfully if you keep enemy air off of you.

Hushpuppy
For people that want proof that the United States Navy is vastly over powered can look to this unit and compare it to the HMS Hood (many also site the cost for benefits between the USMC F4U-1A Corsair and the N1K1-J George. While both represented the failure of battleships, the Arizona gets a positive SA compared to the Hood's negative SA. But aside from all that, the Arizona is a solid piece as mentioned. With decent guns and tertiary guns, use her sinking anything but battleships and damaging even the most powerful battleship.

Plastic Figure Notes:

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